Entitlement. Whether I like it or not, I’ve been subject to this line of thinking for quite some time. I was listening to a past sermon and was reminded again of this flaw that I have sometimes.
Have you ever had that thought? The one where you think, “I worked the hardest, I was here first, I’ve done the most, therefore, I deserve to have what I want. I’ve gone through more than anyone, I’ve sacrificed the most, I had to do more and experience more than anyone else, therefore, I deserve to have what I want.”
The scripture passage this week was in Luke 14:15-24. It was about humility and the parable of the great feast. A table had been prepared for dinner and all those who were invited did not come. The host told his workers to call anyone in, not to reject anyone, whether poor or sick or homeless to eat at the table, because the host did not want to have any empty seats in his house.
Sometimes, we think that only certain people are allowed to come “to the table” or be “invited to a great banquet.” The reality is, no one is more entitled than the other to receive God’s grace and blessing in life, as well as a special seat in heaven. Our pastor ended the service with this thought, that as a pastor, it was his greatest fear that he would be a host that would reject people from the kingdom of God… that he would be the kind of person who only reserved “seats at the table” for people whom he believed deserved it…
Crazy. And it puts things in perspective for me. Here is what I learned:
Just because you think you’ve done something worthy, that does not make you entitled to get what you want. A lot of times, as Christians, we think we deserve more than others because of what we know and what we do. And it’s true, you can’t deny it. That’s probably why a lot of non-Christians hate Christians… because of their sense of entitlement and their holier-than-thou attitude. But the reality is, all of us do not deserve God’s love, and yet all of us are invited into His home in heaven.
This message of entitlement got me thinking about my job hunt too. For the 2 interviews I’ve had, I’ve had the thoughts that, “I’m a good worker, I’ve sacrificed so much, I have a good resume and I have all the qualifications for this role. I deserve this position.” I thought that for both of the interviews and was disappointed so much more because of this mentality of entitlement that I held. After hearing the message, I realized, I don’t deserve it any more than the next person… Ultimately, my life is in God’s hands and He will direct me to exactly where I need to be to do His will. This attitude of entitlement implies that I know what’s best for me more than my God, and that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
I think it’s easy to fall into this thinking. And don’t get me wrong, it isn’t wrong to think that you deserve the best or should always have it or pursue it. But I think we have to go beyond thinking about the things we want personally and see the bigger picture of why we exist, and that is to serve God. Maybe God needs you to experience lows to appreciate highs. Maybe you need to see the worst in people and in life in order to more passionately pursue altruism and compassion. Maybe we need to lose people we thought we’d never leave in order to touch the lives of a thousand other people. Aligning ourselves with God’s vision and mission for our lives is something we need to be constantly pursuing.