Privilege – Kingdom Series

Julian Adams on Privilege- Kingdom Series

The issue of privilege and (forgive me for being politically incorrect) white privilege, because most often it is that particular race group that is privileged, it’s an interesting one. I wonder if we see the Kingdom of God through the lens of capitalism, which means I keep what I earn, it means I work hard for what I earn- and those are healthy and noble virtues to have. It’s not a bad thing to work hard; it’s not a bad thing to keep what you earn and steward that wealth. However, when you begin to understand that in the Kingdom there is more than enough for everyone, and God is the ultimate provider. Not your job, not your education, not your history, not your skin colour. That’s not what sets you up for success, but God is what sets you up for success. 

The reality is that God pours out grace upon everyone. And the reality is God provides for people. And the reality is that there are some who are more privileged and those who are less privileged. And that in a Kingdom-lens, the issue is not trying to simply bring an equal playing field for everyone; the issue is us being liberal with all that we have, because it all belongs to God. It means that I have a heart of generosity- and sustainable generosity, at that. 

It means that I want to give into things that actually make a difference. It means that I want to sow into the lives of people who are doing incredible work in different parts of society that releases a sustainable increase of blessing. I think, ultimately, when I think about how we use our privilege, it’s about stewarding hearts of generosity. It’s about making sure that we educate and uplift. It’s about making sure that we give into spaces that we, maybe, can’t have a direct impact into. 

But more than that, it’s about realizing that your house, your car, your job, is all given to you because God’s been kind. Which then means I don’t own it, I don’t keep it. It means that I actually live a life of faith. And when God moves upon my heart to give tens of thousands of Rands or Dollars away, I do that because I realize I’m stewarding what He’s given me, irrespective of where I’m at in life. I think when you live like that, you start to see the needs of others. You start to think through the lens of “How do I equip?” I think in my South African context, we have domestic helpers who help in our homes. And for many of my friends, they’ve had a domestic helper their whole life, yet that domestic helper doesn’t share in any inheritance, doesn’t share in land, doesn’t share in education. 

And so, Katia and I have made a decision in terms of how we work with our domestic helper, to not just pay her a salary but to pay her a living wage- which means it’s far above what normal domestic helpers get. Not because we have the money, but because we think that’s fair. That’s what the Kingdom looks like. Not only that; we’re working hard on getting a drivers’ license, so that she can actually have better prospects for a job in the next job that she goes to. I’m trying to work her out of a context of simply working for us for a below-minimum wage. No, no. We want to bless. We want to give way above. We want to share our wealth in terms of genuine equity, so that her next season in life, she starts off on a better platform, because God’s blessed us. Because I realized that I am blessed to be a blessing.

And I think when we all start to think like that, and even in terms of privilege, when you start thinking through the lens of “Who do I need to adopt?” when most of the adoptions in the world are going to be people of colour, what does that look like? It means I’m sharing liberally. Every Christian should consider adoption, and hear from God on that. It’s not an option. It doesn’t mean that you have to adopt, but it does mean that you have to ask God, “Does this look like me helping lift people up into a new place of freedom?” 

It’s the gospel. That’s what the gospel looks like. If the gospel’s not good news to the poor, it’s not the gospel. And good news to the poor means lifting them up. Out of their poverty, out of their brokenness, out of the systemic racism, out of systemic oppression. Out of systems that have kept people in a particular demographic, for all of their lives for multiple generations. We’ve got to make the difference; it’s not up to politicians. The Kingdom is good news. It’s not about who you vote for, it’s not about the policy, or the party that’s in power. It’s about the church taking responsibility, according to the bible, for widows and the orphans; the broken and the hurting. When we do that, things change. Societies change, and we become the hope of the world.