Feeling Entitled?

“Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.” (1 Corinthians 9:11-12 NLT)

In these verses Paul explains to the Corinthian believers that he had the same right to receive their support as the others who preached to and taught them, but he was also quick to let them know, though he was entitled to their support, he’d rather trust the Lord than be beholden to them.  

Paul can be admired and commended for his stance, but the plot thickens because we’re too often tempted to believe because other humans are in our “debt” for our service or kindness, so is God, but that’s never the case. Jesus was God’s perfect Son, but never did He approach God with the attitude: “You owe Me!”

If ever He could have played that proverbial “card” it would have been in the garden prior to His betrayal, but even then, His concern wasn’t to get His way, but to follow God’s. We must learn from Christ’s attitude the humble posture that helps us understand the Lord is NEVER under obligation to give us anything. Yes, of course, He wants to make His riches available to us, but as His gift, not to be bartered by our goodness.

Thom Rainer helps us see this more clearly when he writes: “Anyone who believes they are entitled to something from God, know the adversary has put that thought in you, not the Holy Spirit.”  Entitlement is a very slippery slope. When we begin to believe God owes us anything, there are only two places that can end – anger and disillusionment with God or, ideally and hopefully, the realization that God is a great and good giver, but His gifts are always given by grace – always free and undeserved.

So, how do we deal with friends, relatives, and others we’re seeking to reach for the Lord, but their minds are blocked because they see themselves as good and deserving, expecting God to reward them for their goodness? The first place to begin is in prayer. The Lord knows everything about everything, including every thought of every person.

He understands clearly why they believe as they do, but He’s not rattled or disturbed. He will give us wisdom to address how they perceive themselves. They obviously were taught, perhaps as a child, they are good and deserving of good things in their lives. Which is positive and right, but when it creates in us the expectation that for any reason God owes us, it creates in us a barrier to His grace that can only be dismantled through believing prayer.

While it’s not an often quoted or preached text, I love Luke 17:7-9 where Jesus says: “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron and serve me while I eat, Then you can eat later.’ And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. In the same way, when you obey Me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’”

Children of the wealthy may feel entitled, but it’s never for those of us who know, love, and serve the Creator, Owner, Sustainer, and Ruler of the universe. We owe Him everything, including our own souls. He is the One who is entitled to everything from us, never the other way around.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊