Edging God Out through Entitlement
I have used the acronym EGO before, and some of you might remember it. Edging God Out. There are various ways we Edge God Out of our lives. We have examined some of them in my past messages here, and I would like to continue on the same theme. Today, let us examine another way of Edging God Out.
If you google the word “entitlement” you will come up with three major definitions of the word.
• The first one says “the fact of having a right to something.” This is when we are fully aware of our rights. Sometimes we need to fight for our rights as citizens of the country. It is a good thing for us to be aware of our rights. It is also biblical. A beautiful example is that of Paul claiming his rights as a Roman citizen when he was arrested and bound in Jerusalem. In Acts 22: 25-30 , Paul exercises his citizenship rights and that probably saves his life and a lot of trouble.
• The second definition of the word says “the amount to which a person has a right”. Many of us do this instinctively. We are fully aware of how many holidays we are entitled to. Staff and faculty are aware of how many days they can avail and of what category. I recently became a senior citizen and one of the first things I did was to research and find out my entitlements as a senior citizen. How much concession do I get when I travel etc..
• The third definition of the word says “the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.” This is the problematic one . This is the one that Edges God Out. Let us dig a little deeper into this.
Have you felt entitled to something ever? Do you look for what are you entitled to when you get a promotion at office? This happens even in families. Parents feel entitled to be looked after by children, Husbands feel entitled to be served by wives, Children feel entitled to be educated at the parents cost to the highest levels possible. The sense of entitlement is all around us. Isn’t it?
Bible gives us numerous stories of people who felt “entitled” Numbers 11:4-6 (NKJV) Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: "Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our whole being is dried up; there is nothing at all except this manna before our eyes!" It didn’t matter to the Israelites, (though the trouble started with the aliens among them, but the Israelites soon joined them) the Lord God had brought them out of slavery, it didn’t matter to them that the Lord parted the Red sea in front of them and allowed them to cross over on dry land. It didn’t matter to them that the Lord struck down the entire army of the Pharaoh who were chasing them. It didn’t matter to them that the Lord was continuously protecting them from alien nations around them. It didn’t matter to them that they were mere slaves when they were in Egypt. It didn’t matter to them that the Lord provided food from heavens for them in the wilderness. All that mattered to them was the fact that they felt “entitled” to eat fish and meat regularly, as they were doing while they were in Egypt. They felt it is a responsibility of the Lord to provide for them their entitlement, (it was the Lord who brought them out of Egypt, and so it is His responsibility). They had the option of choosing to be Thankful to the Lord for all that He has done to them, but they chose the sense of “entitlement” to and grumbled against the Lord.
Jesus tells us a parable that illustrates our “entitlement” syndrome. This is in the parable of the vineyard workers described in Matthew 20:1-15 (NKJV) The laborers who came in first, came in with the explicit understanding that they will be paid a denarius for a day’s work. And they sure were paid exactly what they were promised, or what was agreed. But the moment they saw that some others who put in lesser hours also got the same compensation that they got, they were disappointed. Their discontentment did not arise out of any injustice done to them, but out of the grace extended to someone else. Their feeling was “I am entitled to more since I put in more hours” . It is not enough if I get what I deserve, or what I have been promised, “My entitlement is more when compared to others” is the theme here.
This morning, I encourage us to look at ourselves, examine our hearts. Have we felt entitled to something recently? Has the thought “I deserve better” crossed our minds? I deserve more happiness, I deserve more money, I deserve more rest, I deserve more attention, I deserve a bigger house, I deserve a better car, .. the list might be anything. Have that thought crossed our mind?
This morning, the lord is warning us not to make use of our knowledge to feed our sense of entitlement, because the sense of entitlement Edges God Out.
So, how do we get out of our Entitlement mindset? What is the antidote to the sense of Entitlement? As I have explained before the antidote to EGO is EGO. The antidote to Edging God Out is Exalting God Only. How do we Exalt God Only in the context of the sense of Entitlement?
The first thing we need to do is to realise that all that we actually deserve is God’s judgement. This might be an unpalatable statement, but is the truth. Romans 3:23 (NKJV) 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Read this with the first part of Romans 6:23 (NKJV) , 23a For the wages of sin is death, and we get the picture. All our sense of entitlement will melt away, when we truly come to know about the actual entitlement that we have.
Once we realise that we are actually entitled to nothing good, we then can look at all we have and know that all we have is through the Grace that God has given to us through Jesus Christ His son. This will help us to realise the mistake we are making whenever the thought of entitlement hits us. To understand this better, we need to realise that if anyone was entitled to everything it is Jesus Christ. And we are called to imitate Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5-8 (MSG) 5 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6 He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7 Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion. Jesus Christ was “entitled” to many things, but He chose to give up all His entitlements and chose to serve. Can we try to do something similar?
Thirdly we need to remember that we are not here for ourselves. We are here for a purpose. And that purpose involves others. So instead of focusing on our entitlements, if we can focus on what others around us need, that will please God. Think about the needs of others around us, and we will naturally think less of our own entitlements.
And finally, the sense of entitlement can be replaced intentionally with a sense of Thanksgiving. We can do this if we can listen to Paul and Give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thess 5:18). Remember, Paul is not asking us to give thanks “for” all circumstances that we find ourselves in, he is asking us to give Thanks “in” all circumstances.
Paul did not just say that. He demonstrated that too. Let us turn our bibles to Acts 16: 19-25. Let me read from my version of the bible.
So the masters of the girl who has been healed saw the miracle, they were very grateful to Paul and Silas. They thanked them profusely and invited them to come to their city. They took them to the middle of the city in an air-conditioned luxury car, and arranged a public reception for them where they were felicitated, with speaker after speaker praising them for the good works they were doing in their city. After that they were checked in to the luxurious five star Hotel where they had a five-course meal served to them. After the meal, a nice massage and a warm shower they sank into their soft comfy bed… and then verse 25 says: “Then they prayed and gave thanks to the lord…”
You are all looking amused. Something wrong? Does your version of the bible read differently? Oh. I get it. I was reading from the prosperity version of the Bible.. the name it and claim it version of the bible.
We all know the real version of that story isn’t it?
We can Edge God Out, if we stay focused on our entitlements. We can Exalt God Only, if we Give Thanks in All circumstances. Let us make the right choice this morning.
