What Do You Deserve?
Bad Words, Part One
I will tell anyone who will listen, and now you, that there are certain words that disciples of Christ should be wary of using. One of those words is deserve.
As it is often used by our culture, when deserve is used, it comes from a place of superior entitlement. A disciple that is using deserve this way or having these thoughts is heading in the wrong direction.
I placed superior in bold because it is critical to the definition. You may be entitled to a paycheck if you did what your employer asked you to earn it. You and your employer wanted something, and you each provided it. This makes you equal.
However, if you believe you deserve a promotion, a bonus, or special recognition and it wasn’t promised, that is superior entitlement. Anything you believe you deserve in this life that is not promised to you by God is superior entitlement. If you complain about what you believe you deserve, you are challenging God’s good providence. (Ex. See Exodus 16:1-8)
I deserve to be happy.
For Americans, this idea is at our core. We find it in our Declaration of Independence:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
We know that when it was written, women were not included, and we know historically that all men did not include all races. They were primarily talking about themselves and those they represented.
Did our Creator really endow us with these rights?
Since the fall of man, God has never guaranteed these rights to humans. It is quite the opposite. What we ALL deserve is death (Rom 3:23 & 6:23), and there is no way to redeem ourselves. This means that every new breath we take, every new beat of our hearts, is an act of grace. No one deserves it, no one can earn it, and no one, aside from God, can guarantee the next breath or beat of a heart. Our lives and everything in them come to us as an act of grace. As an aside, since it applies to believers and unbelievers, this is called God’s common grace.
There is only one man to walk this earth that deserved to be happy and free, and He died the death that you and I deserve to die so that we could be spared. Even the person who sentenced Jesus to die knew Jesus was innocent. He rose again to give us a new life in Him.
I am personally glad that I will not be getting what I deserve.
The concept of zero-sum.
The concept of zero-sum simply means that with limited resources, if one gets something, then others are denied.
If you watch competitions of any sort, you may eventually see someone declare that they deserve to win. The reasoning for why they deserve to win or deserve it more is always self-serving. They may or may not say it, but since there can only be one winner, they also declare that everyone else deserves to lose.
If you think being rich is going to make you happy, it means you believe others deserve to be poor. There is no possibility of everyone being rich. If everyone on the planet had 1 billion dollars in their bank account, then the money would be worthless, and everyone would be equally poor.
The same applies to fame and power. Each of these diminishes in value as more people get them. The only way for them to remain as valuable is for some to be losing status as others are gaining.
A disciple may win a competition, gain some money, fame, or power, but it should always be done from a position of humility and ultimately bring glory back to God.
I don’t deserve this!
The flip side of believing you deserve something you don’t have is believing that you received something negative when you believe you should have gotten something positive. Because believers in the US are so soft and spoiled, instead of looking at these situations as trials to overcome, we can get furious or indulge in deep self-pity.
It is too easy to forget we are at war and that the Bible promises us hard times see Matthew 7:24-27.
How the pride of deserving is damaging to disciples
The believers that I talk to with obvious entitlement issues are more likely to:
Take Scripture out of context or ignore parts of Scripture because they are so sure God owes them what they believe they are missing.
They place themselves as equal to God. They may not realize they are doing it, but when you are positive that you know what direction is best for your life, you are taking the steering wheel from Him.
They prioritize themselves over other people
They tend to be self-righteous. When dealing with other people, they judge them as good or bad based on their own criteria. For other attributes on self-righteous behavior see:
https://www.walkinthetruth.org/post/are-you-a-self-righteous-person
They settle for less than God offers. The Bible says that we cannot even imagine what God has prepared for us (1 Cor 2:9). CS Lewis puts it this way:
“…infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
There is never anything you can gain in this life that is better than Jesus.
It is my prayer that each of us will try to capture any thoughts about deserving things we were not promised. May we remember that, at best, we have a very feeble understanding of our lives and that as disciples of Christ we are asked to be humble, and live and love sacrificially.
Verses used or considered in the writing of "What do you deserve?" by RD Montgomery
Genesis 3
Exodus 16:1-8
Proverbs 16:18
Matthew 6:19-23, 25-33
Matthew 7:24-27
Matthew 16:22-26
Luke 6:42
Luke 12:13-21
Luke 14:7-11
John 13:34-35
John 18:33-40
John 19:1-16
Romans 3:23
Romans 6:23
Romans 8:28
Romans 12:10
1 Corinthians 2:9
1 Corinthians 4:1-13
2 Corinthians 8:8-15
Galatians 6:3
Ephesians 2:8-9
Ephesians 5:1-2
Philippians 2:3-8
Philippians 4:11
James 4:6
Comments