Something Greater than My Rights

Independence.

Freedom. Of Religion. Of Speech. Of the Press. Of (peaceful) Assembly.

My Rights. To Bear Arms. To Vote. To a Speedy Trial.

Suffice to say, Americans value Independence, Freedom, and their Rights. We have gone to war over these values. We lived through a polarized era known as the Cold War that pitted American values against Communistic values. We take each other to court to protect our rights and get revenge for perceived slights.

We take our preferences, our view of the world, our values, and say that anyone who contradicts these things is threatening us and stepping on our rights.

What if our rights, freedoms, and independence were never meant to be the hill we stake our claim on and are willing to die on? What if there is something (or rather Someone) who is greater than our rights?

I do not like to make or take phone calls, but I will for the good of the places I work and volunteer at.

I do not like to run, but I will if someone's life is in danger and I can somehow help.

I do not like cucumbers, papayas, haggis, or cinnamon candy. I will never seek these out on my own, buy them for my consumption, or order them at a restaurant. But if you make a cucumber salad, that goes along with your haggis entree and papaya cobbler, before we adjourn to the living room to snack on cinnamon candy, I will eat a Liz-sized portion of everything. Why? Because you made it for me.

The (unofficial) motto of the mission field is "Where He leads me, I will follow. What they feed me, I will swallow."

America teaches us to value our independence and our rights above all else, but sometimes, especially when a friend from another culture makes us a meal, we eat anything we're not allergic to because we value our relationship with other people. That is how I ended up eating cow-stomach-soup. It's surprisingly chewy.

Life is a tricky mixture of knowing when to stand your ground and when to yield.

Paul kept teaching the Corinthians that as Christians, they (and we) have the right to do anything (1 Cor. 6:12 & 10:23), but not everything is beneficial.

To paraphrase Jesus (Matt. 12:6), we value our rights, but something great than our rights is here.

We have the right to demand our rights, but this is not always beneficial. One of my favorite passages of Paul's epistles is Philippians 2. This is probably a familiar passage, so see if these key phrases stir your memory: be like-minded, value others above yourselves, look to the interests of others, have the same mindset as Christ.

I have the right to demand my way, but I think to follow Jesus' and His path, I must lay down my rights and surrender my freedoms. The call to follow Christ is a call to die to ourselves, so we can fully live in Him.