Privilege Isn't the Problem

I've been thinking a lot about Jonah lately.

The problem with Jonah wasn't that he was afraid to go to Nineveh. It wasn't even that he disobeyed God and ran the opposite direction. I mean, it was located in modern day Mosul, Iraq. These are the great, great, great grandparents of ISIS. If it's a rough place now, imagine it three thousand years ago.

Honestly, if God told my to go there and preach Christ in the streets, I might run too. It's hard to blame him.

No, the problem with Jonah was that upon preaching repentance and seeing the people were actually repenting, he was disgusted. He looked at the revival taking place and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster."

He looked at the unearned favor God showed towards these people and said, "Nah, bro. Nah."

Jonah hated God's grace.

Whatever other issues we may see in the story, they are secondary to this.

Now, fast forward to today.

We live in a culture, just as all cultures, in which some people have certain advantages not afforded to others. These are called privileges, and they are a fact of life. Some people are simply on the far end of the bell curve, be it in terms of beauty, IQ, physical prowess, or otherwise. For some, their parents gave them an edge: "A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children." In some settings, being the racial majority is an advantage. In others, it is not. In either case, this is an advantage - a privilege - some individuals have that others do not.

Whatever the circumstances, for one reason or another, some people are born on third base.

And our reaction to this blessing says more about us than them.

Privilege is a matter of common grace. As Jesus reminds us, "(God) makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Some blessings are of immediate use for all, like rain. Others are systems of being, like the rising and settings sun, that can be utilized to varying effect. But in all cases, these are blessings. They are gifts. Unearned favor.

Grace.

Longing for justice is good. Our God is a God of justice. A heart for the oppressed is something that Jesus had, and it's something we should have. Yes, yes. Good, good.

But when a longing of justice for the oppressed becomes bitter resentment for the blessed, we've missed the mark. Love for the poor is not the same as hatred for the rich. Privilege isn't the problem. We should desire more privilege applied more generously to more people, not less.

The problem with the social justice movement isn't that they want justice for the oppressed. It's that they hate God's grace.