I have been blessed to be part of a conversation that engages privilege. I am not sure that some would see this as a blessing. I struggle with engaging this topic because it is truly a hard look in the mirror for me - a person of privilege. But it is a blessing for me because it has caused me to engage the world in a different way - a way that I trust is in line with what Jesus has called us to do with his invitation, “Follow me.” A life that engages the world as God engages the world - through love and mercy. It's a journey to be sure.
This week Dr. David Creech continued this conversation by writing a response to his initial 5 minute blog post.
This most recent post can be found here - Privilege Revisited.
He responded in two ways; Using power and privilege in the small acts of life, and the sense of powerlessness that can overcome those confronted with their privilege, namely the act of giving up power.
I want to address the second.
I too struggle with a sense of powerlessness. When confronted by systems (racism, homophobia, sexism, immigration) that seem too big to name and engage, I tend to shrug my shoulders and give away my power as a privileged person to name the injustice that I see. But this does not match up with the call to be a disciple that I hear from Jesus in the Gospels.
Enter the Beatitudes, the first movement of Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount.” We are beginning a sermon series on this teaching moment from the Gospel of Matthew at the church I serve. I am preaching this weekend on these famous statements from Jesus. With the conversation of privilege rattling around in my mind, two of them jumped off the page at me in a entirely new way.
Here is something foundational. I understand the Beatitudes as a vision of how God encounters the world, not as a list of moral maxims or a set of rules by which to live. The Beatitudes, this series of blessings, is a glimpse of how God encounters the world through the kingdom of heaven. Jesus shows us what God sees, who God blesses, how God engages the world. God has already blessed these people - how will the community respond? I am thankful for Hauerwas and Willimon and their book Resident Aliens; A provocative Christian assessment of culture and ministry for people who know something is wrong. This book brought this new understanding to light.
With this understanding in place, I saw two of these “blessings” anew.
Matthew 5:5 - “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
I have always had a misguided understanding of the work meek. It registered in my vocabulary with an overtone of cowardice and fear - a bad understanding of “turn the other cheek” (we’ll get to that in a few weeks).
In seminary I learned that this word had a different nuance, that it pointed to a state of being that was gentle and humble. This week I came across this definition from Matthew Skinner; “Meek: those who are gentle and unobtrusive, who refuse to use power over others as a tool to make things happen.” I was struck by this. With the concept of privilege in my mind I began to understand meekness with a great sense of power - but power un-abused. A meek person understands their power, but does not use it to further systems of injustice and oppression, but to work against them.
For a privileged person, I think we can push it a little further. It’s not that privileged people are to “refuse use their power as a tool to make things happen” - I think this may only further a sense of powerlessness. I think that meekness points to a way of life that uses power and privilege in a way that is a critique of the system of power and privilege. I, as a privileged person, can understand meekness to be a state of being that recognizes its privilege, learns the effects of that privilege, and becomes a critical voice of that privilege, on behalf of those who are oppressed. Meekness is direct action to undo privilege, by the privileged, on behalf of the oppressed. It’s a way of life that encounters and engages the world based on God’s kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:7 - “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
Mercy has also been interpreted anew. Skinner writes; “The merciful: people who willingly surrender their privileges or otherwise go out of their way to improve others’ well-being.”
Mercy understands power and privilege. Mercy can seen the difference between the haves and the have-nots. Mercy knows of inequality. And mercy is a state of being that critiques and combats these systems of injustice.
I also want to push Mr. Skinner’s definition a little. I understand mercy as a willingness to use privilege to go out of one’s way to improve the well being of another. Again, this is to combat the sense of powerlessness. The state of being that is mercy is an active force. It understands privilege. Mercy is a way of life by which the one with privilege names and engages that privilege in a critical manner, in an effort to end injustice and oppression. Surrendering privilege does not help in this instance. The privilege needs to be named, critiqued, and used as an avenue of renewal - always on behalf of the other.
Perhaps there is a nuance of surrender here that I am missing. This is after all a work in progress. A journey. A way of life.
God has blessed both the meek and the merciful. They are not powerless. They are blessed, already and forever, to be workers in the kingdom of heaven. When the meek and merciful are confronted with their privilege and power they know they are called to action, to work against the injustice and oppression brought on by fallen systems of power and privilege. They are blessed to be a blessing. And to live out God's radical vision for community that is the kingdom of heaven.
I want to keep the conversation moving. How do these definitions help the conversation? What are your thoughts? Do you encounter the tension of privilege and powerlessness? What do you do when you see it?
Blessings on the journey. Now it’s back to sermon writing.
Peace,
Travis
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