Comments on: You’re Violating My Rights

By: MInTheGap

MInTheGap — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 12:50:34 +0000

Hey Arthur. Definitely the Christian is called to a life of service. There’s whole passages dedicated to setting aside Christian liberty (what I think is right) for the weaker brother.

However, one day Jesus will claim His throne and we will claim ours at His side.

By: Arthur

Arthur — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:01:37 +0000

Jesus had every right to the throne of Jerusalem, but rather than pressing His rights, he layed down His life. He had every right to be worshiped and served by the world, but rather than pressing his rights, he lived a life of servitude. We should follow His example.

As joint heirs to the Kingdom, we have every right under Heaven, but the Spirit of Truth does not lead us to lord it over others, but to consider others as more than ourselves.

By: MInTheGap

MInTheGap — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:23:43 +0000

Interesting thoughts, ladies. I tend to think of this on the cultural level– something that we’ve been taught and retaught with the hopes of creating people that believe that they deserve things. That we’re entitled to things that we should really be working for.

By: Shala

Shala — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 04:16:51 +0000

Great post.

The issue of rights and freedom is something that I have really struggled with - especially since I had children. Over the summer, the Lord showed me that I really do not have any rights apart from Him. As a Christian, I am a bond-servant/slave to my Lord Christ Jesus. I touched a little bit on this over the summer in my post about humility.

By: Mrs. Brigham

Mrs. Brigham — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:14:34 +0000

I do think you raise an important point, MIn, though, I do wonder if the problem might not be demanding rights, but rather not *knowing* what rights are, or the difference between a “right” and a “reasonable expectation”. Rights and responsibilities do go hand in hand. Take the airline incident for example. The airline certainly has the right to have a a dress code to be followed when on their planes. but the customer also has a reasonable expectation to know these guidelines when they reserve their ticket. If they know this knowledge they have opportunity to either choose a different airline or know what is expected of them on this airline.

To use another incident, take the one I discussed on my blog the other day. I could understand the nurse having asked if anybody had hurt me, and only that question, not a further questioning once I stated no and I did not want to speak about this any longer. However, I do believe it was unreasonable for me to be interrogated, asked questions about my religious beliefs, accused of lying, it to be assumed my husband hurt my ankle, and told that I would have to check out AMA if I essentially did not tell them what they wanted to hear. I might even go as far to say that what happened to me at the hospital was illegal as I learned the police could not have subjected me to such questions without having a search warrant or using my naivety to get me to talk to them.

I certainly do not think it is wrong to look out for our rights, but we must educate ourselves about what our *true* rights are so we know what to do if we ever find ourselves in a sticky situation. I would even say that this is one of the responsibilities we have when it comes to our rights. We cannot expect others to have the most honest of intentions and do need to clearly see when wrong is taking place. In all honesty, I probably would have talked to the police had they come to our door and we had not been told our legal rights by an attorney. I knew that I had to right not to subjected to unreasonable search and seizures, but I did not know what this fully entailed, particularly in the place we were living in.