This is definitely a catch-word in the times we live in. There is a vast majority of people who feel they are ‘entitled’… but for what? To what ends? At whose expense? Equally important is – why are they entitled and someone else isn’t? Those questions only scratch the surface of this issue, and I haven’t even stated the context of entitled.
When you consider the things of the world – money, shelter, food, etc. – this is typically accomplished by ‘the sweat of your brow’ or the work of your hands. However, there are those who feel that they have been deprived or disfranchised or discriminated against and have not had an equal opportunity to ‘receive’ their just due. These are the people who give those in the lower rungs of the working classes (wait staff, cashiers, clerks, etc.) the greatest disdain and difficulty. But why do those who don’t work feel they deserve even more than those on the lowest rungs of the working world? Is a puzzlement…
This same attitude can also be seen in the church world. There are those who feel that for some reason, their opinions should be followed. Somehow they tend to feel entitled and that they are more (more of a Christian, more scripturally advanced, more spiritual, more…) than the typical Christian. And they tend to associate together and support one another’s ideas. (Does this remind you of the Pharisees?) The one place that the word, entitled, has no meaning – as defined – is in the life of a Christian.
If we are entitled to anything it would be only in the context of our new lives in Christ. We have been bought with an incredible price and should never attempt to lift ourselves above our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Our entitlement is as sons and daughters of the Most High God – not over one another. According to scripture (1Corinthians 12:14-26) we read about the gifts and especially beginning in verse 12 we read about the body to which we are part.
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and
all the members of the body, though they are many, are one
body, … But now God has placed the members, each one of
them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one
member, where would be body be? But now there are many
members, but one body… (20)
This should end any ‘entitled’ behavior since we are one… in the One.
