Paul’s Unpublished Letter to the Saints on Christian Privilege

In this life I am a Christian. Before all the Pharisees and Sadducees book my one way ticket to hell, let me be clear that even in other lives, I’d love to still choose Christ.  My faith is no longer a way to impress my mother or avoid an ass-whooping that came growing up if one dared to question not only the Bible, but those that claimed to represent it AKA “the men of God”. However my love for Christ or my attempt to love Him (because I know I will never adequately reciprocate His love) doesn’t make me blind to the hypocrisy that is the church of today. No one can convince me that apostle Paul is not currently in heaven drafting a letter to the saints or that King Solomon isn't calling many of us fools as we speak. So allow yourselves for a second to separate Christ from His people so we can have a true conversation about how many of y’all have lost your Jesus loving minds. 

I sat in the church this past Sunday and my pastor (who I greatly respect) made a point that got me thinking about the privilege that comes from being Christians, and I am not talking about salvation. He spoke about chaos to creativity and how God will call and equip us to be creative in times of trouble. We could choose to accept the call or sit back and give into despair. The message was a true reminder to not fold under pressure and as I took the message in, I couldn’t help but think about how the first step to creativity is acknowledging the chaos and more importantly; our role in it. We will be in the book of Bennylations chapter 7 verse 8 so please respect yourself and keep reading till you are able to both gather my point and comprehend it.

The current geopolitical, economic, and cultural turmoil that we are noticing throughout the country are to some extent connected to the policies implemented by the current administration. This is in part as a result of many single-issue Christian voters who are more concerned with what route brother Brett or sister Cindy decide to use to access the promised land than they are the poor. In the last few months we’ve had wars on immigrants, rumors of actual wars, economic unrest, and loss of many aids in place designed to help the most vulnerable amongst us as the Bible commands; all because some of us wanted VIP decision access into women's uteri. 

Now here we all are, facing natural disasters unequipped (at least 100 died in Texas flood), collectively clenching our derriere to make a cart of egg run a race it was never meant to endure, all while some of the Christians responsible for this, get to raise their hands in church, avoid any reflection or accountability, and say: God is in control. I am not arguing that He is not in control. However, it is unfair for Christians and Christian nationalist to continue to lead others into despair as a result of their vote, while they then get to wash their hands and hide behind God being the ultimate provider. God is the ultimate provider mother Jean, and the first thing He provided all of us is common sense that many of us seem to have shipped back to Galilee and refuse to use. Some of us Christians get to avoid all sorts of accountability either with the belief that only “God can judge us” or that “we are set apart” as a way to remove ourselves from the very chaos we (not me though) helped create. That is a privilege that isn’t only unfair but also crippling to our own growth as Christians. If the current state of affairs is perhaps designed to wake us up as Christian thinkers, speaking in tongues at church and pretending we are not part of the problem is like consistently hitting the snooze at an alarm set by God. 

It is not all of us but many of us Christians voted for this. We voted for the war on the poor. We voted for the war on black and brown immigrants. We voted for further division partly because upholding patriarchy is rampant within the church and while many may be unwilling to say it aloud; the church is yet to welcome women in leadership and it shows. Most church members are women with a little sprinkle of two and a half men in the mix but the majority of leaders are men. Just like many do not like to see women lead in church, you all could not fathom a woman lead a country and used your faith to justify why she was unqualified. In addition to this, the matriarchs of the church have internalized said patriarchal dynamics and are often the ones maintaining it both in the house of God and on the earth He created.

Dear Church, just like Nathan confronted David, you are being confronted about how your actions have affected the people of God (believers and non-believer) as a whole. Now I am not a Nathan in this analogy; I am but a girl trying to utilize her last brain cells to the best of her ability. As a body of Christ, it is imperative that we reflect on our contribution to society instead of leaning behind the hope that our faith provides us as a way to forfeit all critical thinking required to be productive members of society. How long before we admit some fault and do better? How long before we read the bible within context and truly embody a life that is Christ-like? Because until we do, we will miss the whole point of the gospel that Christ gave His life for.