What does it mean to be blessed?

 Today I had a bit of an epiphany.

We mistake being blessed for being privileged.

 

Not that I like to talk about privilege, because now it seems like you can’t hear the word or see it in print without the word “white” in front of it.  As far as living in the U.S., even people in minorities are privileged because we live with such conveniences, such wealth, such overabundance.

 

I was looking at houses today, driving around, checking out places I saw on Realtor.com (not many decent ones that are really available). They are either too far out, too expensive, or too—no thank you.  I would say it was a waste of time, but I have to get used to this if I’m going to make such a big decision. Yet I took some side streets and roads and saw some beautiful homes in spacious subdivisions I didn’t even know existed. Who has all this money? The people living in those homes probably didn’t question their ownership of it. They could afford it (or not), and they wanted it.  That is privilege.

 

We equate privilege with blessing.  These concepts are at best on a Venn Diagram (I’m a big fan of Venn Diagrams), overlapping some but not as much as we think.

 

So, I met with the BCM faithful for a Bible study at noon in a public place, a trendy mall/marketplace. We studied Ephesians 1:3-14. That will teach you about blessings, the magnificent outpouring of God on us.

 

A house with a big mortgage is not really a Biblical blessing. In equating privilege with blessing, we then equate blessing with privilege. It doesn’t work backward that way.  Blessed are the merciful, the poor in spirit, those who hunger for righteousness, who make peace. Not much in the New Testament about blessings equaling physical accessories of our lives.