"I Have My Rights!"

"I have my rights!" Foreign as it may seem to the Western mind, the idea of personal rights is not a heavy emphasis in Christianity. In fact, the opposite is true. As Christians we are to give up our rights. We are to die to self. We are to become servants of God and of man. The Western culture breeds an attitude of independence and individual rights. This is at odds with the Orthodox faith and results in conflict in the body of Christ.

Thank God for the United States of America. We should pray and work to preserve the freedoms that we know. The very purpose, however, of the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights is to allow Christians to be servants to all and to advance the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of heaven is within not without. In essence, the advancement of the individual stands opposed to theosis of his soul. "He must increase and I must decrease", said Saint John the Baptist. When Christ comes on the scene He becomes preeminent. This goes against the grain of this society, but it is the very grain of Christianity. Herein should be the mantra for all who follow Christ. "Jesus is Lord and I have no rights." When one is able to say that, theosis has only just begun.