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blogging, culture, faith, insanitybytes, opinion, privilege, relationship
“Jesus Calls us to Give Up Our Seat,” I totally snagged those words from a guy on twitter, but they’re good ones and they really sum up much of what’s wrong with our culture today. So in the spirit of Rosa Parks, here’s how “privilege” is supposed to go down, at least in faith.
Jesus calls us to give up our seat, to the least of these, to those who are hurting, to those who carry burdens we don’t. It is just like riding on a bus, we surrender our seat to the elderly, to people who are disabled, to pregnant women, to moms with babies, to people who look like they’ve been on their feet all day.
Jesus calls us to give up our seat and our job is to actually seek out people who need our seat, to watch for them. The whole point of having the “privilege” of a seat in the first place is to be able to give it away. You don’t get a medal for simply having a seat of your own. There are no treasures in heaven called, “I got mine and to heck with you.”
Jesus calls us to give up our seat and in faith these days I see so, so many people who seem to not understand that. Our “seat” is actually our pride, our status, our need for control, our need for attention, our position, our envy, our navel gazing. We give up our seat because we’re called to love one another, but there’s a reward for us, too. Pride is a heavy burden to bear and when we are focused on our own selves too much, all our energy gets fed to fear, to lack, to scarcity, and to the offense around trying to protect and defend our seat.
Our seat is seldom about money, although that can sometimes play a role. It’s usually about other stuff however, status, a need for control, popularity, tribal allegiances, our own sense of self-worth.
Sometimes the sweetest people, the gentlest people, are actually heavily invested in protecting and defending their seat, and you see this sometimes with moms. They are overwhelmed with jobs, responsibilities, chores, but if you offer to help, you’ve just encroached on their territory. You become a threat to their seat.
In fact, women are notorious for having seat issues. One might even say it’s a part of our design. I mean, creating a safe nest for kids, is only about two toes from, I need to control everyone and everything in my whole, entire, environment and protect not only my seat, but all the other seats around me….
Men however, often have huge seat issues too. I just mention women, because sometimes our seat issues can be really repressed, passive aggressive, but they still serve the same purpose. They write our name across on an entire pew that no one else dare touch.
Jesus calls us to give up our seat, and sadly we have some people in faith who aren’t preaching that at all, they’re preaching about how to protect and preserve your “privilege.” I’m not going to name anybody, but I just read this kind of verbal yoga pose of scriptural nonsense that made me pull two muscles while trying to hang upside and see the world from their view.
Like dude, Jesus calls us to give up our seat. You just can’t try to rationalize that truth away. It is everywhere in the bible.
Our cultural issues around social justice, poverty, racism, sexism, are really nothing more than a scarcity mentality, nothing more than people feeling cast outside of “privilege,” people who can’t seem to get a seat on the bus. I get that, I’ve walked there, and there are a lot of reasons for that mindset, some quite real and physical, many totally unjust, and some having to do with spiritual wounding that has now been internalized.
The one cause of that mindset that I don’t want to see, the one I shouldn’t be seeing, is coming from Christians heavily invested in their own seat, off on this wild tangent where they seem to believe the kingdom is scarce and limited, and if they give up even an inch of their own status, someone unworthy is going to come along and get their seat.
So much for Philippians 2:3-4, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
This unwillingness to give up our seat comes from both ends of the spectrum. Today in the modern world there is status, power in victimization, in claiming the territory we call “persecution” or “oppression.” I put that in quotes because here in the West, we sometimes have a very skewed perception of what it really means to be “persecuted.” That status that stems from victimization, from feelings of persecution, seems to be heady stuff, very seductive, because we’re actually busy fighting over who gets to hold it.
Jesus calls us to give up our seat. “Our seat” is a foolish thing, a worldly thing, a thing that really serves no tangible purpose. We should let it go because our real seat is right next to Him, seated in victory at the right hand of the Father. If only people would look up, look at the abundance of the kingdom we inherit, and walk in our genuine, authentic privilege, not in way that tries to protect and preserve our territory, but in a way that invites others in.
Julie (aka Cookie) said:
a great lesson IB–one I need to recall daily…
It’s funny—I’ve always been such a creature of habit.
I can remember back in high school one day walking into one of my classes— the seats weren’t assigned but I always sat in one particular desk…I didn’t want to be on the first row but close enough and in the right row…
One day I walked into the room and some other kid was sitting in my desk… I didn’t think twice—I walked over to whoever it was, as memory now fails me, and I told them in so many words…”get out of my seat”
One of my oldest friends from that time and that class remembers that little incident as if it was yesterday and will bring that up from time to time when emphasizing my ‘creatrue of habit’ ways.
So seems it seems I’ve been needing to listen more closely when God tells me to give up my seat!!!
Thanks for the reminder!!!
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insanitybytes22 said:
Love it, Julie! I too am a creature of habit and have to remind myself to shake it up a bit, to let it go, to make room for new things.
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Citizen Tom said:
Many times we fail “give up our seat” because of what we say or do thoughtlessly. Yet in that moment, before we form our second thoughts, is when gain the most insight into what is in our heart.
Most of the time when we see those rats our reaction is one of humiliation, but that does no good. What is called for? A Christian knows. Humility and honest repentance.
What is better? For God to give us time to let our rats scurry and hide or for Him rid us of a filthy infestation. Yet how can God rid of rats without confronting us with those rats? Fortunately, we don’t have to feel humiliated. Instead, we can choose to be thankful. We can be honored our Savior stoops to help us by removing our rats.
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Julie (aka Cookie) said:
Beautiful Tom
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insanitybytes22 said:
Just perfect, Tom. Great comment. Thanks for the CS Lewis quote, too. 🙂
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SharaC said:
That idea that the kingdom is scarce and there’s not enough to go around seems pervasive… we hoard and gather and want all the attention or status and it’s so illogical in Gods kingdom. Not only are we not supposed to strive for all that fake junk but there’s plenty of the real stuff to go around. Great post!
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insanitybytes22 said:
It is illogical! Good point. I remember my kids once got in a fight over sand at the beach. Somebody was hogging all the sand. Of course, you look around and you can see nothing but sand for miles and miles.
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oneta hayes said:
Love that word picture; it really does describe what Jesus wants.
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jackfussellacrosstheland said:
This is a great post IB. Got some answers here. Thank you.
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jackfussellacrosstheland said:
Came back IB. Give up my seat to a struggling pregnant lady. What if she is unmarried, has needle tracks on her arm and whatever. Yeah, I wouldn’t hesitate to give her my seat, can’t even imagine not giving it up for her.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Quite true! Well said. It can be really hard to try to be kind to people who are hurting themselves and others. Addicts can make me crazy because i just want to shake them. But it’s a complex problem and hating on them doesn’t fix it.
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lovelifeandgod said:
Being in a competitive culture can often make it difficult to “give up our seat,” but we need only look to Jesus for relief from the need to defend our status. In academia I’ve noticed it can be especially rough; everything about grades and glittering accomplishments and extracurriculars, pretty people in professional clothes. It is so hard for people to be real and honest about their struggles. I’ve noticed a lot of universities, including mine, have unofficial Facebook pages dedicated to anonymous confessions from students, and so many of them are so sad, so heart-wrenching, you can really tell that there is something being done all wrong in our schools. I mean, if on the surface everyone seems to be put-together, and yet you see the darkest things are being admitted with the disguise of anonymity, there must be a big disconnect in peoples’ souls that is not being addressed by anyone. When you combine that with nihilistic humor and memes, where struggles and depression are taken light-heartedly as a joke, it’s a recipe for disaster. It’s easy to make seminars that teach students how to work hard and take responsibility for themselves, but if there is no one coming alongside students individually, it’s very hard to make a real impact. I know a guy who’s just great; he works hard for everything and he’s very practical, but he laments that he has to work hard for B’s while there are more than a couple lazier people who don’t need to do much of anything to pull A’s. It was so sad, I just wanted to tell him that his effort has value, that he is seen and known, that grades really don’t matter in the real world if you know what your calling is and you know how to work for it.
Sorry that I’ve kind of vomited a lot of words here, this post just really speaks to a lot of things I see around me and things I’ve struggled with myself. Thanks for this.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thanks for your comment, it’s an awesome one. What you describe afflicts many of our churches, too. People are really hurting inside but so much of our Western culture has to do with status, success, becoming one of the “pretty people.” Everybody’s fine, everybody’s blessed. The thing is, that’s not real life. In Christ, we’re connected to His suffering in some way, if nothing else at least the suffering of those around us.
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lovelifeandgod said:
Agreed. The church should be the first place people think to turn to when they are struggling, at least that’s what we should be striving for. I think people sometimes misunderstand the message that Jesus came to give us “life and life abundant.” What that verse means is that He’s offering us the life that we were made to live as children of God, not that He’s going to make us successful or acceptable by the world’s standards. So, we shouldn’t be disappointed if our worldly lives come crashing down rather than being built up. What God is offering us is better than what the world has to offer; He is offering us the relationship our souls have been crying out for; He is offering us genuine happiness and contentment that only comes from the understanding that we are truly loved by Him.
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Mel Wild said:
“The whole point of having the “privilege” of a seat in the first place is to be able to give it away.”
Love this point, and the whole post, IB. It is an intentional way of thinking when we’re in public. It’s part of remembering who we are and Who we represent. It’s other-centered, self-giving love that always considers what the other is going through and extends grace and kindness. That’s the Kingdom of God, where there is no lack or need to control or put oneself ahead of the other.
“You don’t get a medal for simply having a seat of your own. There are no treasures in heaven called, “I got mine and to heck with you.”
LOL! And that would be the opposite of the Kingdom of God, just self-centered relational immaturity.
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gmgoetz said:
Reblogged this on thotsfromgeorge and commented:
Great blog from a blogging friend. Food for thot, as a Christ Follower.
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gmgoetz said:
Great post IB. Since I cannot write like you, I reblogged it, stating it is a great post from a blogging friend, that is good for Christ followers to read.
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insanitybytes22 said:
Thanks for your kindness, George. Much appreciated. 🙂
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