Defending Our Own Rights - During Christmastime?
With Christmas being only a couple of days away, I’m used to hearing about nothing but Christmas: Christmas songs and Christmas movies and Christmas shopping and Christmas everything. Personally, I usually find the Christmas buzz somewhat exciting. But I've been somewhat shocked that the recent Duck Dynasty drama has gained so much attention. I think it's weird and kind of funny to see so much camouflage when I'm used to seeing only red and green this time of the year. And this Duck Dynasty drama is quite a heated discussion. Apparently this is something that many people really care about. But why? Why are people so passionate about this?
This drama involving Phil Robertson and Duck Dynasty is about people defending themselves.
When someone makes a bold statement of belief in the public sphere, many get excited about this person who has the courage to stand up for truth. And if we Americans care about anything, it's freedom. After all, isn't this a free country? And so, many people are passionate about Phil Robertson (or any of us for that matter) having the right to speak about what he believes. As has already been mentioned by others (see this article for example), this situation is not actually a First Amendment issue. The government is not actually censoring anybody for saying anything. Phil Robertson (or any of us really) has the right to say what he wants – just not without consequences. This Duck Dynasty drama is about people desperately trying to defend their rights to say what they believe to be right - and not experience any trouble for it. We are defending ourselves.
This defensive posture, while certainly natural, is nevertheless damaging. Real people are being hurt by this heated, public discussion.
This Duck Dynasty drama may be about people just wanting to defend their right to say what they believe, but it is inevitably tied to sensitive issues such as gay marriage and racial inequality - and so it deeply affects people who are personally involved in them. These are real people. They are actually human. They have human emotions like everyone else. Make no mistake: many of them (thanks to situations like this one) keep getting the sense that Christians just don't care for them. This should actually bother us (to say the least). Discussions about morality, especially when about such sensitive issues as sexuality, need to be had in the context of loving relationships where people actually feel safe around us (this insightful article is well worth a read). But many people, who already felt unsafe around Christians to begin with, are being further alienated from the church – all because we seem to care only about our own rights to speak about what we believe without consequences. This is tragic. What disturbs me most about this Duck Dynasty drama (and what it represents) is that instead of being concerned about how all this is affecting those outside the church, we seem to only be concerned about our own rights.
This defensive attitude contradicts the core message of Christmas.
The Christmas story is that God became human for our salvation. The Father sent His Son as the greatest gift to all of humanity. In so doing, God did something at great cost to Himself in order to raise us out of our helplessness. He was not obligated to do this. He chose to do so simply because He is overflowing with kindness and mercy. God did not defend His own rights. No, He surrendered His rights for the sake of humanity. Jesus, the eternal Son of God through whom all things were created, became weak and vulnerable by becoming human like us. This is what God does. He sacrifices. He gives up His rights for the sake of others. God chose to enter into our dark world and to suffer with us. If we claim to be God’s children, then we ought to imitate Him. Instead of fighting to defend our own rights, we should rather give up our rights for the sake of others.
This defensive posture contradicts the upside-down kingdom that Jesus introduced.
How does God defeat evil? Jesus Christ, the Deliverer for whom God’s people had been waiting for so long, could have brought God’s kingdom in its fullness when He first arrived. He could have vanquished evil with an iron fist. But that’s not what He did. He certainly came to save us from our sins, but He did so in a very upside-down way that even His first followers did not understand.
Jesus didn’t defend His own rights when He was betrayed by one of His own disciples and arrested and mocked and beaten savagely and nailed to a cross. He had done nothing sinful, yet He did not open His mouth to defend Himself against His accusers and torturers. No, He remained silent and chose the path of suffering. He did this for the sake of others. When Jesus forewarned His disciples that this suffering was necessary, they were surprised (to say the least). Jesus then told them,
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35)
Jesus’ way is backwards. It’s not what we would expect. Instead of defeating evil by force and dominance, Jesus introduced a new way of living that defeats evil through humility and service. Jesus demonstrated what true love is: giving up yourself (and your rights) for the sake of others. Jesus’ suffering was not just the way that the penalty of our sins was paid for (i.e. the cross). His suffering also introduced us to God’s upside-down kingdom. Where the first are last and the last are first. Where the greatest of all is actually the servant of all. To follow Jesus is to trust in this new, upside-down way of living.
As a new church, our hope is to be a kind of people who sacrficially give up our rights for the sake of others. We hope to spend our time and our energy and our lives sharing real love with all people.
We want to build bridges (not dividing walls) with people outside the church. We want to care more about this hurting world than we do about our own Christian rights. We want to speak the truth in love and suffer for it if necessary (rather than defending our own rights). Perhaps our message would then be more compelling to a watching world. We are certainly not perfect at this. We have to continually ask for God’s mercy for not following Jesus in His upside-down way of sacrificial love. But we’re asking God to transform us by His grace so that we can love people all around us as Jesus has loved us. We're not encouraging anyone to rally behind any cause (i.e. Duck Dynasty drama) to defend their own rights. With God’s help, we want to share the real hope and real love that people so desperately long for in this dark and lonely world – even though this will cost us. We want to be a safe place for all kinds of people, not just with people who think and live like us.
After all, this is what we celebrate at Christmastime that God has done for us. We celebrate that this upside-down kingdom of light burst forth into this dark world – when God gave up His rights to become human like us and to give Himself up for our salvation.
