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One of the biggest refrains that seem to come over and over again is that of rights. And truth be told, that is what our generation has grown up hearing about– what is and what is not our rights in any given situation. The problem is that we’re being fed a line if we truly believe that somehow we have a right to do whatever we choose whenever we choose.
Regardless of what you’ve heard, we do not have the right to anything that we can think of. In fact, there are a lot of burdens placed on our rights.
First, we need to consider the originator of all rights– God. The Founders of this country rightly realized that all rights (to them, specifically: life, liberty and property) ultimately come from the Creator. So, as Creator and Owner of all living beings, we are His property and therefore only have rights as He gives them.
Second, we are under the government of the country that we were born into or currently are a citizen of. That government has placed restrictions on just about everything. In fact, I’m surprised that I’m not breaking the law by writing this blog post, and I’m certain that if you look hard enough there’s a law touching just about something that we do every day– but I digress.
Suffice it to say that the government places laws on our rights for our own protection and for other’s protection. We cannot have someone thinking it’s their right to steal from the local store because that would effect that person’s right. If everyone did that which they thought was right in their own eyes we’d have anarchy!
Lastly, we do not have rights when it comes to someone else’s belongings or how they choose to use their belongings. I don’t have the right to tell you what to post on your blog, whether to approve my comments, or what you say about me. I do have the right on my blog to edit your language, not approve your post, and not allow you to post an entry on my blog.
Same thing with the topic from the other day about what the women wore on the airlines. It’s the airlines’ planes, not ours. They have the right to tell the guests which seats they will occupy, how many carryons they can take, and other things that promote the general welfare for all passengers.
See, we don’t have as many rights as we think we have, and we certainly should have a humble spirit about those rights which we do have.
I do think you raise an important point, MIn, though, I do wonder if the problem might not be demanding rights, but rather not *knowing* what rights are, or the difference between a “right” and a “reasonable expectation”. Rights and responsibilities do go hand in hand. Take the airline incident for example. The airline certainly has the right to have a a dress code to be followed when on their planes. but the customer also has a reasonable expectation to know these guidelines when they reserve their ticket. If they know this knowledge they have opportunity to either choose a different airline or know what is expected of them on this airline.
To use another incident, take the one I discussed on my blog the other day. I could understand the nurse having asked if anybody had hurt me, and only that question, not a further questioning once I stated no and I did not want to speak about this any longer. However, I do believe it was unreasonable for me to be interrogated, asked questions about my religious beliefs, accused of lying, it to be assumed my husband hurt my ankle, and told that I would have to check out AMA if I essentially did not tell them what they wanted to hear. I might even go as far to say that what happened to me at the hospital was illegal as I learned the police could not have subjected me to such questions without having a search warrant or using my naivety to get me to talk to them.
I certainly do not think it is wrong to look out for our rights, but we must educate ourselves about what our *true* rights are so we know what to do if we ever find ourselves in a sticky situation. I would even say that this is one of the responsibilities we have when it comes to our rights. We cannot expect others to have the most honest of intentions and do need to clearly see when wrong is taking place. In all honesty, I probably would have talked to the police had they come to our door and we had not been told our legal rights by an attorney. I knew that I had to right not to subjected to unreasonable search and seizures, but I did not know what this fully entailed, particularly in the place we were living in.
Great post.
The issue of rights and freedom is something that I have really struggled with – especially since I had children. Over the summer, the Lord showed me that I really do not have any rights apart from Him. As a Christian, I am a bond-servant/slave to my Lord Christ Jesus. I touched a little bit on this over the summer in my post about humility.
Interesting thoughts, ladies. I tend to think of this on the cultural level– something that we’ve been taught and retaught with the hopes of creating people that believe that they deserve things. That we’re entitled to things that we should really be working for.
Jesus had every right to the throne of Jerusalem, but rather than pressing His rights, he layed down His life. He had every right to be worshiped and served by the world, but rather than pressing his rights, he lived a life of servitude. We should follow His example.
As joint heirs to the Kingdom, we have every right under Heaven, but the Spirit of Truth does not lead us to lord it over others, but to consider others as more than ourselves.
Hey Arthur. Definitely the Christian is called to a life of service. There’s whole passages dedicated to setting aside Christian liberty (what I think is right) for the weaker brother.
However, one day Jesus will claim His throne and we will claim ours at His side.