Faith Works 8-26-17
Jeff Gill
It's a privilege just to be here
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There's this thing people are talking about called privilege.
It's the better-heeled brother of racism. We know, sort of, what racism is (although it seems to always have another rancid layer to it, like peeling a rotten onion), but the counterpart to racist animus against people of color is the ability of those of us not in those communities to worry about racism, much.
Privilege. I have it. I get to write this column, for one. I try to use this privilege, and in fact responsibility, with care and consideration. Many of you who read this are involved in churches, but I know full well that many of the regular readers here are what's called "spiritual but not religious," not attenders anywhere but interested in spirituality everywhere.
In truth, I'm interested in getting most of you into some form of community, but I don't write or preach from this platform with the assumption that's where you are. For those who have a parson preaching to them each week, or an elder teaching or convener moderating discussion, you have the privilege of assembly and structure.
And I have a very particular sort of Christian privilege, which is having grown up in a household of belief and practice. Not everyone got that, and I think it's only right to allow for those differences in experience. I didn't pick my childhood home, so why should I get credit for it? If you never heard much about God or the gospel in your earlier life, why should that be held against you?
My photograph, inflicted on many of you reading this on the page or online, shows that I have what's known as "white privilege." It's true. I grew up not wondering if people would watch me closely in stores, especially the pricey ones; as I got older, I never had a concern that I couldn't rent a place if I had the green in my wallet. There are many ways that a white man even if not from wealth has certain economic and social advantages, ones we don't think about and can be touchy about if pointed out (since as far as we know they don't exist).
Oh, and I did say white man. There's white privilege, and there's still – whether you believe it or not – male privilege. I know all the counter arguments, but there are so many ways and places where being a guy gives me a certain place that a woman doesn't. The pulpit is one.
Should I add Christian privilege? Before my church-going readers say to themselves "but isn't there persecution against Christians around the world, and even here at home?" I will note that I am indeed irritated by the growing trend in print and online to put the word "god" in lower-case, making it clear that many folks like to make it clear they don't think God is a proper proper noun, since capitalizing God implies the divine One is a person. But why should I make someone who doesn't believe that God is a person affirm that in their punctuation?
Regardless, there's still some privilege to be had in our culture from being a part of the mainstream. Some are not in that mainstream, and it takes nothing away from me to acknowledge and honor that there are those who find themselves on the outside looking in.
We are working through a national inventory of privilege and privileges these days, alongside the struggle to change racism into acceptance and hate into love. Some say those transformations are impossible. My privilege is to believe that there is a God, and this God wants to change us all for the better.
Not all of you believe that, but you are curious. How can this be, and how can we be part of it? Included or excluded, faith communities in general and Christians in particular should be a living witness to the possibility of transformation of not just human persons, but entire cultures. It is my privilege to believe and to proclaim that this is happening all around us even now.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he believes it's a privilege to answer your emails, no matter how briefly! Tell him what you think is being changed in our community at knapsack77@gmail.com or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.
