What Right Do You Have?

Rather listen to this blog? Listen to “What Right Do You Have?”

I can’t even deal with social media right now. A scroll through Facebook lately is akin to a game of tug of war, and I feel like the rope. One side yells and pulls, and the other side yells and pulls back harder. No one is listening. Everyone is shouting. I feel frayed and ready to break from the force of antagonism from both sides. All I want to see are pictures of my friends and family living life. I want to share in their joys and pray for their needs. I want to see new babies, milestones, and be able to feel like we are still connected despite the distance between us (geographical and social).

Instead, every time I spend more than a few minutes on a given platform, I end up frustrated, sad, or angry. Instead of cute baby smiles and trip photos, feeds are filled with political posts and rants. It’s a social media shock and awe campaign where truth is secondary to sensationalism. Everyone is mad, including proclaiming Christians.

They took away Dr. Seuss books I probably didn’t even know existed before the hullabaloo! They are threatening my freedom of speech! They dare to try to make me wear a mask! They are going to take away my guns! They are canceling my culture! They are going to make us all socialists!

Don’t get me wrong – real injustices are happening in our country and the world right now. Terrible injustices that, as Christians, we SHOULD speak up about. Is social media a place for that? Sure, if it’s done in the right way. Will it change anyone’s mind? There’s a chance, I suppose. Should you do something besides just tweet about it? Definitely. But, that’s a blog for another time.

The posts I’m talking about, though, aren’t about raising awareness or speaking about the real suffering of others. They come down to the same underlying principle: My rights.

I get it. This is the United States, and freedom and “rights” are a part of our cultural identity. The fight for freedom is taught in every grade. Hey, I’m a Texan, and personal freedom is a point of pride here. Freedom, itself, is a beautiful thing. In fact, Jesus is all about freedom. In John, Jesus says, “if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32), and then that “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).

Luke records a time Jesus went to a synagogue in Nazareth and read this passage from Isaiah: “[The Spirit of the Lord] has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” He then rolls up the scroll and says to everyone there, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4: 18-21).

Clearly, Jesus cared about freedom - the freedom he could give. This is freedom from the wages of sin, death, oppression, and lies. This is not freedom from trouble (Jesus promises the opposite- that we can expect to have trouble- in John 16:33). This is not freedom from political tyranny in this world…not yet, anyway (remember that many Jews were looking for the Messiah to come and turn over Roman rule, and Jesus made it clear that wasn’t what he was about).

You see, Jesus’ version of freedom isn’t quite the same as “our rights,” a term we use to mean anything we feel we are entitled to. He didn’t say he came to make sure we all had rights. He doesn’t tell his followers they will be treated fairly, that governments and cultures would protect or exalt them.

Biblical examples don’t support a standing for God’s people to claim their “rights” either. In the book of Daniel, Darius issued a law that each person must pray only to him. Daniel didn’t march to Darius and protest that his rights had been violated, though they clearly had. In fact, it was a direct political attack against Daniel by other leaders who saw Daniel’s faith as the only way to get rid of him. Instead of complaining that the king’s edict breached Daniel’s right to worship the one true God, Daniel just kept praying, despite knowing the consequence would be the death penalty (via lion). (Daniel 6)

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego faced a similar situation. King Nebuchadnezzar set up a shrine to himself and demanded, on penalty of death, that everyone bow and worship it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not. When they are brought before the king and given one more chance to deny their God and worship the king or face a fiery death, they don’t respond with “BUT OUR RIGHTS!” They show their faith in the God they serve, saying, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3: 16-18). They didn’t have to argue for their right to worship the one true God. God is powerful enough to handle that fight on His own.

But that is the Old Testament. What of the New Testament? What about the rights of believers after Jesus’ proclamation that he brings freedom?

After Stephen was chosen by the disciples to help oversee ministry to widows and orphans, he angered members of the synagogue of the Freedmen, who brought false charges against Stephen before the Sanhedrin (Acts 6). As they stoned him to death (clearly not agreeing he has a right to free speech), he cries to the Lord, “Do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). James is put to death by King Herod (Acts 12:2). Peter is arrested (Acts 12:3), and Paul seems to be in prison more than he is not, during which time he continually reminds the followers of Christ to “let your gentleness be evident to all” (Philippians 4:5), and to “be content in any and every situation” (Philippians 4:12). And there is so much more.

According to tradition, Peter is eventually crucified upside-down and Paul beheaded. Andrew is said to have been crucified. Thomas was likely killed by soldiers in India. Philip was killed by a Roman proconsul after converting his wife to Christianity. Simon the Zealot is said to have been killed after refusing to worship the sun god; Matthias faced death by burning. The fate of the others is a bit blurry, but the general thought is only John made it to a natural death of old age - all other early disciples are said to have been killed for their faith. So much for their rights.

And what of the greatest example of all? What of Jesus?

More than any other human being, Jesus had the right to call foul. He had the right to assert his rights, to claim them. He is God. Perfect. Without blame. He is the ultimate authority. Yet, he doesn’t rail against oppressive governments. He doesn’t spend his time talking about how the laws of the land are unfair, wrong, or infringe on his personal freedom.

And what an affront to his personal freedom he faced: A joke of a trial, death by torture (though he had done nothing to deserve it), and abandonment. Make no mistake; Jesus’ personal RIGHTS were violated in the crucifixion.

Jesus had the RIGHT to authority. He had the RIGHT to assert his power. He had the RIGHT to leave us all to face the penalty for our sins. He had the RIGHT to save himself, topple governments, silence those opposed to him, and turn his back on humanity. He had the RIGHT to walk away from the cross. Those weren’t his sins he was dying for, after all. They were ours.

But Jesus didn’t insist on his rights. He did just the opposite. He freely laid down his rights. In the most beautiful act of selflessness and obedience, Jesus willingly accepted injustice for us. To the point of his own agonizing death, he released his claim to his personal rights.

Let me ask you this, then. What right have we, in the face of what Jesus has done for us, to fight for our own rights?

Would it be terrible if the government made Christianity illegal? Would it be terrible if our political leaders violated our personal rights? If they took away the books we wanted to read and our right to free speech, even our right to worship? Sure it would.

I’m not arguing that these things wouldn’t be potentially devastating. These certainly aren’t circumstances I’m praying God brings to pass. It would be scary. It would force us to make hard decisions and be completely sure we believe what we say we do. It might even strengthen our faith. We say we want faith like Daniel or the disciples, but do we really? Faith like that means laying down our claim to our “rights.” It means extreme obedience regardless of the laws of the land.

God is our leader, not a president or a government. Only He has the power to save. When we spend all our time and energy whining about our rights to friends or social media acquaintances, the world sees only our selfishness. They don’t see Jesus’ sacrificial love reflecting through us. Instead of obedience, unity, and faith, they see disdain for others, disunity, and fear. Yet there we Christians are, on one side of the rope, pulling as we chant a chorus of “me, me, me,” while people on the other side of the rope fight for their wants, or in many cases, struggle for life, for existence, for someone to see them in their despair and help them. Only, we are too busy pulling and shouting to see them, let alone help them.

If we profess to follow Jesus, then we must follow His example. We are called to serve, not to be served (Matt 20:28). Our rights are not what matters; Jesus’ love is what matters. Please, be an advocate for others. We are, in fact, called to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy” (Prov. 31:8-9). We should work to “Seek justice, correct oppression, bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause” (Isaiah 1:17). In all things, think of others and not of yourself. With every post you make, every action you take in this life, strive to follow Jesus’ example. This is hard. We are imperfect. But we need to do better. If it is true that “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45), could it not also be said that social media reflects the heart?

So, then, I leave you with this question: What is in your heart? Your rights, or Jesus’ sacrifice?