I watched a sermon the other month. Actually, I first listened to it as a podcast in a taxi and was sad I couldn’t take notes. So then I went back and looked it up on a computer so I could watch it again. I watched it with some of the girls on my team and we all took notes. Later that week we sat and talked about the sermon for at least an hour. Why was this sermon such a big deal? Because it was about entitlement and this guy hit the nail in the head.
Entitlement is the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatments. I think everyone has a sense of entitlement. It is just how we have been raised. We think that normal things and everyday things and things that our neighbors get, we should get as well. Until the race I did not realize how much my entitlement ruled me. I thought I had it under control but my view was based on my American view and standard, not the biblical view.
What my entitlement boils down to is the fact that I confuse my rights and privileges. I recognize all the privileges I have received in my life- only I look at them as rights that I deserved, instead of what I have been blessed with or opportunities I have.
“Of course I deserve, blah blah blah.” We all do it.
In America our head is filled with what the world owes US. We work hard and we deserve this, that, and the other.
We suffered through high school, college, jobs we didn’t like, all so we can land a huge job that pays well. That is what we deserve.
We deserve choices. I should choose what kind of food I eat, what kind of clothes I wear, what kind of friends I have.
Sidebar: choices are good. I do believe God gives us choices. Our problem is when we EXPECT them.
We deserve the car, the house, the husband, the family because we deserved to be blessed by God, he promises it. Duh.
But during this sermon he talked about what we really deserve.
I was reminded what I deserved when it came to life. Death.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death,”
Yup I’ve sinned. This is a verse for me. This is what I deserve. I still do deserve it but God had this crazy plan and Jesus took my sins and got the death that I deserved.
Now I live under grace.
Grace that is huge. It is a woahhh, holy cats, when I wake up every day, I’m getting more than I deserve huge. Taking a breath of air and continuing to live is more than I deserve. How can I ever expect anything from God when he paid a price THAT huge. I can’t pay it back, I can’t make it up.
So why do I secretly get mad when restaurants I go to have bad tasting tap water? Why do I expect God is going to bless me with a perfectly charming hunk of a husband who is a spiritual leader and looks great in a baseball cap? What is my thought process when hosts only have all natural (non-creamy) peanut butter? WHAT? Jesus DIED so I could have a relationship with God. Shouldn’t everything else fall away at the thought of how ginormous that is?
The sermon guy (don’t remember his name) challenged us to write down 100 things we feel entitled to. So here is my list. Read it or don’t read it, I won’t ever know and I don’t mind. Some of the things that made it are a little embarrassing because of how petty they are. But I’m challenging you to do it as well. Take some time-write it out, it brought out a whole lot of deep seeded things that I would not have even recognized. It finally got in my head that, wow, I actually am entitled to a ton of things that I saw as everyday norms. Rights that I have grown up with and deserve.
Here they are…
Access to God
Access to my family
Access to my friends
Peanut butter – this isn’t in any sort of order, don’t judge.
Refrigerated foods
Wifi (free and fast)
Smart phone with the works (data, texting, email, Facebook)
Car – transportation to get where I want when I want.
A job when I get home – one I enjoy and feel fulfilled.
Bed to sleep on
A short work day when it’s hot (construction in Thailand though…)
Pens that work – don’t get me started about dried up pens when I’m trying to journal.
God’s word – of course I deserve a bible, actually a couple because I like different versions.
My team
Clean water
Staying warm when it’s cold.
My stories/ memories – these are MINE to tell.
Electricity – not having this a times make you appreciate it so much!
Headphones – I deserve to block people and noises out if I want.
God’s presence (feeling him)
Books!
My savings account, it’s my money and I earned it.
Variety of clothes
Choice of fashion
Pictures
Shoes
Shirts
Pants
Underwear
A way to clean clothes (preferably not hand washing)
Coats (warm AND stylish)
Doctors/dentists
Nice teeth
Bandaids
Speaking English
Holding conversations with people. It is hard with a language barrier.
3 meals a day – it was a right I thought I deserved.
Showers (hot showers)
Podcasts (sermons at my fingertips)
Education – good education
Teachers that care
Makeup on days when I want to look nice
Jewelry/accessories (hold up, I dont even wear jewelry in the states but on the race I have wanted it, so I bought it. What if I couldn’t buy it though?
Nice house to live in
Being affirmed
Getting married – huge privilege I think I deserve.
Not having to cook meals when my mom is around, sorry mom.
Having kids (and adopting)
Being better off..better off than most people.
Paying off my debt
FaceTime -it is crazy I have the technology to communicate with people on the other side of the world, most people don’t.
Freedom to GO (if I want to go I can and if I want to stay I can)
Freedom to vote
Freedom of religion
Freedom to read and talk about whatever
Coffee
Dating attractive men
Shampoo and conditioner
Lice treatments for when lice strikes
Being noticed – I thought I deserved to be seen and remembered.
Feeling loved
Feeling worthy
God’s voice (hearing his voice)
Having godly friends (I have always been blessed by this, but I realized it is something I saw as mine and not as the blessing it is.)
Medicine when I’m sick
Socks
Visiting nephews and nieces (guess that goes along with freedom)
Flip flops
Brother’s houses I am welcomed to crash anytime
God’s grace
Safety
Health is something I’ve never even thought about, but if it was taken away I would instantly think I don’t deserve sickness.
Air conditioning
Cell phone service – in the car, in the woods, at the park…the list goes on.
Variety of food
Quick polite service
Short waits
Any job I apply for (I’ve been accepted or hired with anything I’ve applied for, in my head I definitely know how to do interviews)
Social media
Comfort
Everything above average
Making my own schedule
Having choices
Credit cards – I don’t even have one but I realized if I ever wanted one, I would assume I’m able to get one.
Being clean (feeling clean, sooo important!)
Being independent
Ice cream when I see it
Hot water out of the tap, boiling water gets old.
Adventures
Approval
Vacations
Live wherever I want
Staying dry
Doing a ministry I enjoy
God’s mercy and forgiveness
Pets
Having a time telling device
Eating in time (waiting for food is not something I was used to)
Microwaves (again, instant food just for me)
Toasters (obviously I’m a foodie)
In a lot of these I explained it by using the word mine. These things are things I saw as my own. No one should take them away from me because I deserve them. I’m being self centered and selfish when I see these things as mine. And most of these are things we take these things for granted. We think we’ve earned them or we just deserve them. I could have probably gone on and get even more specific. But I am an instruction follower…
I could go on about comparison and how it fuels entitlement. I could talk about American expectation or God’s fairness.
But I’m leaving you with one question,
How much MORE joy do you think you would have in your life if you counted everything as a blessing, not a right?
