Privilege And Responsibility

Privilege and responsibility are foundational to a meaningful life. We often call the privilege to choose our own course of action freedom. The alternative to this freedom is being told what to think, say, and do 24/7. While responsibility literally means the ability to respond, it really means taking into account the rights and needs of others, not just what we want to do at a given moment.

A good example of privilege and responsibility is driving an automobile. To achieve this privilege, one must learn the skills and rules, then obtain a license. To retain the privilege, one must demonstrate responsibility toward others by obeying the rules and laws associated with driving. All drivers know the consequences of irresponsible driving, but some choose to follow their own selfish desires anyway. At best there can be a ticket. At worse there can be loss of life.

From birth, the human tendency is to please self. Because I exercised my free will to believe and follow the God of the Holy Bible and accept His Son Yeshua (Jesus) as my LORD and Savior, I have many privileges and responsibilities. I understand, accept, and DESIRE, that my thoughts, words, and actions be pleasing to God and not just to myself. How does one determine what is pleasing to God? Well, how does one know what is pleasing to his parents, his spouse, or his employer? We ask them and they tell us, right? The same is true with God. We pray, we read His Word, and we seek the counsel of others who already demonstrate an ability to please Him.

Oh how I wish this were simple! Ever since Eve was tempted in the garden, the adversary (Satan) has successfully tempted men and women to doubt what God really said. As a result, we find reasons to question the meaning of every word in Scripture. This undoubtedly gave rise to the legal profession. After all, isn't the word "legalistic" often used to describes people who inject their own interpretation into the words? Inevitably, we have to use what we know and what has been decided in the past, to give understanding to the present meaning of words.

While privilege and responsibility sound simple, they are not. In my lifetime, I have witnessed the loss of many privileges we took for granted. The current world situation has many of us afraid of losing even more. What are we to do as responsible citizens and as Believers? First of all, we must declare our primary allegiance to God and the goal of pleasing Him. So we pray and read His Word as stated above. We are also responsible to His creation, which includes our fellow man. We must stay informed and guard against being led astray by seeds of doubt planted by the adversary. We must also join forces with other Believers to encourage each other and stand firm together.

Our failure to exercise responsibility for understanding and protecting our privileges will result in their loss. Just as Eve's lack of responsibility removed her privilege to dwell in the Garden of Eden, our decisions also determine whether we continue to enjoy God-given privileges as well those currently provided by the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. My prayer is that we all carefully evaluate popular ideas that challenge our privileges. Free Speech, the Freedom to Assemble, and the Right to Bear Arms can be taken from us unless we assume the responsibility to protect them.

The more we read and study the Word of God, the clearer this concept becomes. God clearly told His people what was required for them to enjoy the privileges associated with residing in the Promised Land. Consequences of being responsible or irresponsible are inevitable. We must remain mindful of our responsiblity as God-fearer, spouse, parent, employee, citizen or leader. There are many privileges associated with these titles. These privileges are precious. Let's all take personal responsibility to protect them.