Dear one,
In my last blog, you might recall this thought:
As an American within the global village, I am one who has maneuvered the halls of power, and have a seat within them; and as a Christian, I recognize my nature: I’d rather be served than serve.
By this observation, I did not intend to be “provocative;” rather, I simply wanted to express what I thankfully perceive: by being an American, I have been gifted with many opportunities and resources, including those that are financial, whereas my neighbors, 5-6 billion of them, have not been gifted as I have.
However, I also understand that I have a responsibility to share what has been given to me over my lifetime: approximately 25 years of formal education; restful months along the ocean or in the mountains; decades of meaningful conversation and direction; months of conferences, retreats, and camps; months of preventative and necessary medical care—a lifetime of breathing a cultural air, which Ugandans, Malawians, or even Romanians do not have.
Am I to feel guilty because of these gifts? No, not at all, just as I don’t feel guilt, because I am 6 feet tall, have a runner’s build, and have 5 or 6 grey hairs at nearly-age-70.
Ah, but I also recognize, not only because I am an heir of the Judeo-Christian tradition, that I am very much characterized by Paul’s lament:
“I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do” (Rom. 7:18-19).
Here then, as a believer, is my dilemma, irrespective feelings of guilt: I know what I have been given; I know the good I would do, but from my birth to the present, I know that my focus has been the holy trinity of me-myself-I—a focus that is regularly self-destructive. I know that I should care for my global neighbors, but my not-so-little ego clamors otherwise. In light of this dilemma, I have experienced hope in Paul’s affirmation:
“Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! … [for there] is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 7:24-8:1).
Thus over the years, thankfully I have found, if only slowly and incrementally, that He has redircted my focus, so that the gifts given to me might benefit the many others of His village.
Hopefully,
Stan