Rights or Self-denial?
Read: 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Philippians 2:3
We live in a society where one’s rights are paramount. Everyday there are accounts in the news of lawsuits or protests in favor of the rights of some oppressed person or group, demanding their rights as human beings, as citizens, as protected minorities. Unfortunately, this kind of this-is-my-right attitude has permeated the church as well. All kinds of people are pressing for changes (some good, many bad) within the various American denominations with the idea of protecting “human rights.” The question is . . . is this the Christian way?
“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21 RSV
I think that sometimes we are so worried about our own rights, our own feelings, position, ambitions, that we fail to understand that—in the broad scheme of things (that being eternity)—what we gain or lose here in this life is very little compared to what we can gain or lose forever. The Lord Jesus taught this:
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