Check your Privilege

I have lived an incredibly privileged life so far. But you might not believe me, so let me explain:

When I got my car, I did not have enough money to have it serviced at a service shop. So my uncle taught me, and now I know how to do a basic car service myself. In fact, the fact that I have a car which I fully own myself (not being paid off to a bank) is a huge privilege.

Not only that, but having spent many of my high school years with friends who had much more than I did materially, I learned to not see myself as poor but on equal footing with every other human I meet. Initially it also drove me more to prove myself by what I could do, but now I even see my abilities and place in this world as the gifts they are, not placing me above or below others.

In addition, having felt the pain of friendships fading into acquaintanceships and wanting to be Best Friends Forever with people who didn't feel the same way in return, I have learnt how to grow good friendships without having unrealistic expectations of people who are always going to be human.

In fact, having often been an outsider in various social groups like school, I have a greater ability to see people who feel like outsiders and a greater compassion to bring them into the family.

On top of that, having once been in a position of asking people outside of a mall for help with a stuck car, I now know the intense pain of being ignored and people averting their gazes from you, and so have more compassion for those who beg for help from others on the streets every day.

Let's go further. Being without a church for a number of years, I have learnt from a blanker slate what it means to be the Church in a variety of contexts, not assuming that the way my current church does things is the only way that Christian communities operate. I also have less built-in assumptions about Jesus and Christianity, allowing me to more easily take God and the Bible as they actually are, not through the various warped cultural perceptions of them.

Finally, growing up without a human father present, I have the opportunity to learn from scratch what it means to be a man without the assumptions that may be handed down from a human father. I am also driven more to truly seeing God as my Father, who provides every thing I need and gives true life to me.

I could go on, but I think you get the point. Now, what are some ways in which you are privileged? Pop them into the comments below, and I may just include them in the above post!

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In fact, here are some of the ways in which others are privileged, as per the comments. They are as unedited as possible, only changing some spelling and grammar:

1. I was spoilt as a child and probably still am today because my mom will get me anything I want whenever I ask. Don't take it too literally but you know what I mean. It has taught me that material things don't necessarily make me happy in the long run or make me a better person. That's why these days I don't work towards buying things or wasting money unnecessarily, and I am grateful for this.
2. In a worldly context, privilege (or favour), is normally seen as a gift that's to the benefit of the individual. I believe, however, those things that the world would see in my life as curse, are indeed the things that God uses, not just to build me and my character, but through my story that is all but a happy, easy-going fairy tale, I believe whilst I am changing still, other people too would encounter God.