The Christian Attitude Toward Personal Rights

These days, everybody wants their rights. In fact, everyone seems obsessed with getting what is rightfully theirs. This admittedly natural and understandable desire pops up in all sorts of debates that rage in our culture today. For example, people often talk about their rights when they discuss abortion, gun violence, and their government’s response to COVID-19, and we could probably keep adding to that list for days on end if we wished.

But as Christians, we should view rights differently than the rest of the world. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with wanting and getting what is ours by right, but that shouldn’t be our priority. Instead of focusing on what we deserve, our attention should be fixed primarily on what others need, even if that means forgoing something that is rightfully ours. This is what Jesus and the Apostles did, and if we read Scripture carefully, we will find that it is what we should do as well.

The Example of Jesus

To see that, let’s start by looking at something St. Paul says in one of his letters:

Have this mind among yourselves, which was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. (Philippians 2:5-9)

In this very famous passage, Paul is telling his readers to imitate the humility Jesus expressed when He became man and died on the cross for us. He wants his spiritual children to possess the same “mind…which was in Christ Jesus,” and then he goes on to explain what exactly that “mind” is.

Even though Jesus is God, He “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” In other words, Christ didn’t stubbornly cling to His prerogatives as divinity or insist on retaining all the glory that was rightfully His.

Instead, He took on a human nature and “emptied himself” of this glory. He even went so far as to die an excruciating and humiliating death just so He could save us from our sins. As a result of this tremendous sacrifice, God “has highly exalted him,” restoring to Him the divine glory that was rightly His all along.

Admittedly, this may seem like an impossibly high standard for us to meet. Because we are not God, we can’t possibly do anything that comes even remotely close to Jesus’ self-emptying sacrifice, so how exactly are we supposed to imitate Him in this regard?

The Example of St. Paul

Well, Paul gives us multiple examples of this throughout his letters, so let’s take a look at two of them. First, we have Paul’s own example. In another letter, he explains how he himself followed this pattern by not exercising all of his rights as an Apostle. Instead, he willingly gave some of them up in order to spread the Gospel more effectively:

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this to secure any such provision…I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel…I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:14-15, 18, 22-23)

In this text, Paul is saying that evangelizers and preachers have a right to make a living by their work, but he chose to give up that right. Instead, he preached the Gospel free of charge and earned his living by working a “normal” job. He did it so he wouldn’t give the impression that he was simply peddling his message for profit. He willingly gave up a legitimate right in order to make the Gospel more attractive and more persuasive to his hearers, much like how Jesus willingly gave up a legitimate right of His in order to save us from our sins.

The Advice of St. Paul

Next, let’s look at Paul’s advice to the church at Rome about how they should navigate a tricky situation. In those days, there was some disagreement about whether certain foods were unclean for Christians, and while Paul clearly believed that we are free to eat whatever we want, he nevertheless did not want people to stubbornly insist on this right:

Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean. If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died…Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats; it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble. (Romans 14:13-15, 20-21)

In this passage, Paul is essentially telling his readers to follow the same pattern Jesus displayed in His own life. Even though we have the right to eat whatever we want, he doesn’t think we should insist on that right if it harms others. Even though no food is unclean for a Christian, he established the principle that it is wrong to violate one’s own conscience on this matter.

If you incorrectly think a certain food is in fact unclean but you eat it anyway, you are sinning because you are violating your conscience. For that reason, Paul wants knowledgeable Christians to give up their right to eat whatever they want if exercising that right would set a bad example and lead others into sin by persuading them to violate their consciences.

Christians and Rights Today

As I said before, there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting and getting what is rightfully ours. We don’t have to forgo all of our rights all the time. In fact, that is likely not even possible. Rather, just like Jesus, the Apostles, and St. Paul’s original audience in Rome, our calling as Christians is to focus primarily on the good of others rather than our own rights.

This means that we should never insist on our rights so much that we bring any harm to our neighbors. Instead, if getting what we deserve would hurt other people in any way, or if we can benefit our brothers and sisters by giving up something that is rightfully ours, we should imitate the love of Christ and give up our rights in order to benefit the people around us.