Perspectives

We are ever so radical, Gayle and I. We have taken part in protests, stood outside courts and made proclamations, blah blah blah. Ever so radical, or not. At this moment of time a man who protested over the Russian regime is currently in hospital in Germany probably having been poisoned. In numerous nations there are those imprisoned for their faith (spiritual and / or political). So how radical are we? At the global level not that radical in that our lives are not really put at risk. It is not to likely that you will read we have been imprisoned or tortured, for we are among the privileged.

We – not all but many of the readers of this blog – are privileged. The majority of us have an education, food on the table, we are not threatened with violence, nor persecuted for our beliefs. This is who we are and our context. It seems that the issue is what we do with our privileges. In Jesus’ society to be Jewish, male and free was to be privileged, and he totally undermined all of those privileges. Those within those categories being called to humility and those outside being elevated. Paul’s pedigree was impeccable and he was highly privileged, but when he met Jesus he came to the conclusion that it was all of no value.

Privilege means we have to do something. My issue with the capitalist idea of ‘trickle down’ is that it has not worked. The divergence has only increased. My issue with the equalisation of all things where the state is the master is that entrepreneurship is squashed, concrete becomes the creative norm and poetry is lost. Gifting, entrepreneurship, privilege is part of our world, but unless something is in place ‘trickle down’ stops trickling very soon. The OT law was not simply ‘religious’ law but also state / societal law and there is plenty in there that encouraged entrepreneurship yet limited the extent of the benefit to the entrepreneurial centre and made sure through legislation that any benefit and growth were available to those beyond.

We have to do something with the privileges we have. I am not sure if I can call myself a feminist (I appreciate there are many definitions to this word, but for the moment assume the positive meaning that egalitarians see in Scripture). I am pro-feminist, but can I really call myself a feminist? By this I mean can I really move beyond a patronising response to one of integrity? I am not inside, nor ever been in the skin of the person who has lived in and through a patriarchal world. I can empathise, I can be supportive and add my voice but can I authentically take an identity that is not mine? I can be pro-‘black lives matter’, but when does is it simply a hollow noise to say so?

We all have a context, and I am not writing with a downer on myself nor anyone else, but simply suggesting that we have to use our privileges with a long term vision and on behalf of those who find themselves in a non-privileged position. I cannot be as radical as those who oppose oppression in lands where freedoms are closed down, but I still have to use the context I am within to push for freedoms, even if I personally already experience those freedoms.

The world of academia is a privileged world. It is dominated by those privileged by class, previous education, world-view of home or society, money etc. Those wishing to change the world in the political realm often come from that background. Does change really come from the realm of the intellect? I love to write about a bunch of societal issues, and the word ‘write’ should be spelt beginning with a ‘p’ – pontificate – and ‘on things he is unqualified to write about’ added in parenthesis. I have sat recently opposite one of the main financial advisers in a local bank to say ‘money is not real, it is digits on a computer, only 3% of what you and your like claim exists can be substantiated’. But truth be out – what do I really know about changing the system. There are those (I presume) who can talk about these things and outline a genuine and just way forward. They are usually those with ‘Dr’ / ‘Professor’ before their name. I hate to admit it but the privileged have power.

Gayle and I have the privilege of being able to travel to places to seek to undo the effects of history. We can outline our (very impressive) vision for Spain and Europe. We can post a newsletter outlining how important we are to the future. The circumstances of others means they cannot do any of the above. Survival is their vision. If we (G & I) ever assume we are important in a way that others are not we have lost the plot, yet we have to live in our context. We have to be faithful to our vision and use any privileges we have for long term purposes of justice.

We have the context of being able to debate the implications of ‘true north’ for the body of Christ. Other contexts are simply trying to survive and they meet together for this reason. They are to be respected… but we in our privileged position need to push for new expressions, new positioning not to show how smart we are, but so that we help create something long term that re-positions the body of Christ globally for genuine societal shift.

We cannot compare our lives to those who are under the thumb of oppression. We can empathise but we cannot patronise with a glib ‘we understand’. We can look for shifts, small or large, believing that all shifts contribute to the future both pre- and post-parousia. For this reason whatever privileges we have we need to accept that they are of no value status wise, but place responsibility on us to live and act humbly from those privileges for the future. Privilege is ours to enable us to help level the field.