So many times when it comes to feeling guilty about our privilege, we want to get defensive. We think “I shouldn’t feel guilty, I did nothing.” That’s the thing, we have done nothing. As our brothers and sisters that fall into the minorities have been oppressed, abused, and forgotten, we have done nothing. We may not have fired the gun, yelled the slur, or caused the pain, but we sat back and watched as it happened. We turned our heads, said it wasn’t our problem, acted like there was nothing we could do, at times when we haven’t used our privilege to help those who were oppressed.
In the same way Paul called Peter out for treating the Jews differently from the Gentiles, in Galatians 2:11-21, we need to keep our brothers and sisters that have experienced privilege accountable. Jesus gave us two commands: the second is stated in Mark 12:31 “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” God is calling us to love our neighbor. Our neighbor doesn’t not just include those who look and think like us. Galatians 3:28 says “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” It does not matter who we are or where we come from because through Christ we are all to be reconciled. Christ is what connects us!
Two months ago I would have been saying the same things as I wrote in the first paragraph and left it at that. Now I am here to fight with scripture instead of my emotions.
