"White privilege" is more a result of decisions than skin color

I am a poster boy for the new trendy term "white privilege."

I am a white male.  I grew up in the home of married parents who are still married to this day.  Both my mom and dad were valedictorians in high school and went to private universities.  My dad is an orthopedic surgeon, and my mom stayed home with my brother and I.  I went to a nice high school in the suburbs and grew up in a gated community.  In the summers, I worked if I wanted to, not because I had to.

I am a poster boy for "white privilege."

Or am I?

It is easy to think that when you look at one snapshot of my family.  But let's go back a few generations.

My great-grandfather was a conductor on a coal train out of Appalachia, VA. My grandfather, after coming home from WWII, was a brick salesman who got his first vehicle at age 30. My other grandfather was an insurance salesman, and my mom grew up as a farm girl in Tennessee. My dad grew up in a blue-collar working class neighborhood.

Even though money was not a part of my family tree, something else was.

The benefits I enjoy now are the results of good decisions my ancestors made.

My ancestors, as far back as I can remember, lived by Christian values.  They believed in hard work, discipline, and education.  They believed in marriage- they got married and stayed married for life, having children within wedlock and raising them in stable homes.  They got a job and kept that job, ensuring steady income and opportunities for advancement.

By doing those things, they also avoided many things.  They avoided drugs and alcohol.  Therefore addiction was never a part of our family tree.  They avoided the uncertainty of joblessness.  They avoided the stress and uncertainty of single parenthood.  They avoided breaking the law, which ensured that they would never do jail time and suffer loss of job opportunities.  By staying in school and finishing school, they set themselves up for success in landing job opportunities.

In other words, good decisions, not skin color, are the reasons for my current situation.

I am saying this because, somewhere in my family's past, someone made decisions that I am now benefitting from.  Now, I challenge you to do the same for your descendants.

Will your descendants benefit from your current decisions?  Or will they pay for them?

It's up to you.

You can be the person that brings "privilege" into your family tree.

You can change your family story from a cycle of despair, poverty, and hopelessness to one of success and prosperity in one generation.  You can choose, by your good decisions, to set your descendant up for "privilege."

I'm going to change the term "white privilege" to "decision privilege" because that's exactly what it is.  Want a life of "decision privilege?"  Make these decisions now.

1. Put God first.  Dedicate your life to Christ and commit yourself to living by Biblical standards. You will be amazed at the blessing that comes from living a life of integrity, and when your life is marked with the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) you will be amazed at the opportunities that open up in front of you.

2.  Finish school.  Education is incredibly important.  Finish high school at least.  If you are a parent, make sure your children graduate high school.  Stress the importance of good grades and strong work ethic in school.  Don't enable your children to skip school or do less than 100% at their studies.  Believe me, they will thank you later.

3.  Get married . . . .  THEN have children, not the reverse.  The best gift you can give your children is a stable home where mother and father are committed for life.  Do everything you can to avoid divorce. Commit your marriage to God and allow Him to bless it as you do things His way.

4.  Get a job and keep that job.  Flying from one job to another shows employers that you are only in it for the short term, so why bother promoting you or giving you a raise?  I always entered a job with the attitude, "When I leave here, they will have to hire two people to do the work I was doing."  Employers don't fire people who are doing the work of two people.  Work as if working for the Lord, and you will see "privilege" marking your life.

That's it, people.  I am very thankful for the "decision privilege" that my ancestors passed on to me.  I am the beneficiary of their discipline, hard work, sacrifice, and wise decisions.  Now, I have committed to continuing that tradition and passing down "decision privilege" to my children and grandchildren (hopefully one of these days FAR in the future).

You may have been set up in life to fail.  Your ancestors may have passed on to you a raw deal.  Maybe you never knew your parents.  Maybe you never knew your father.  Maybe you grew up in poverty, or with incarcerated parents, or without much at all.  I sympathize with you.  But here is the question- what will your children grow up with?  Your grandchildren?  Do you want something better for them?

It's easy to look around at other people and blame them for your problems.  It makes people feel good and makes fantastic political talking points, but at the end of the day, you are simply passing on a cycle of brokenness and dysfunction to your descendants if you make poor decisions in life.

So here is the challenge.  You are the one who will determine whether "decision privilege" will be a part of your family tree.  It doesn't matter what everyone else around you is doing.  If you do what they do, you'll simply be what they are.

Now, be the first in your family to pass on "decision privilege" to your children. Your descendants will thank you.  Live your life in such a way that one day, your grandchildren will write this kind of blog about YOU.

The "decline" of the Church is completely orchestrated by God

We've all heard the news:  church in America is declining.

We think this is a bad thing.  What if it isn't?  As a matter of fact, it is a great thing, because the "decline" of the American church is completely orchestrated by God.

What Dave?  Are you serious?  Doesn't God want all people to be saved?  Why would He be behind churches closing their doors, denominational headquarters being sold, etc?

The answer lies in John 15:1-2.  Jesus says to His disciples, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

What is happening right now is a ruthless pruning of God's church.  Right now, God is pruning off leaders that have not remained faithful to Scripture, moving them out of ministry, declining their influence, closing their denominations.  God has put up with church leaders who deny the Resurrection but trumpet political causes, but now He has moved to the judgment phase and is "cutting off the branches that bear no fruit."

If you look closely at the "decline" of the American church, it isn't Bible-believing and theologically orthodox churches that are declining.  Quite the opposite.  Churches who hold fast to Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, who boldly state that salvation is found in Him and Him alone, who look to the Bible as the Word of God not to be compromised or forgotten, are actually doing quite well.  Very well, in fact.

It is the churches that can't decide if their Christianity includes Christ that are dying.

Yes.

For example, the Episcopal Church in America is collapsing.  Several years ago, some clergy put forth a resolution to declare Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and it was soundly rejected by the governing body.  The only resolution that was overwhelmingly agreed to was to affirm the humanity of gay and transgender people.

"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful."

When a church can't decide if their Christianity includes Christ, it is no longer a church, no matter whose humanity they affirm.

I pastor a non-denominational church that is theologically orthodox and holds the Bible to be the true Word of God.  We believe that salvation is in Christ alone.  I was talking with a friend of mine who is an atheist, and he asked me, "Does your church do gay weddings?"

I said, "No, we don't.  We welcome homosexual people to come and worship God with us, and they will be loved like everyone else, but we will not bless same-sex marriage because it just doesn't happen in Scripture."

He said, "That's what I thought.  That's why I don't go to church- you all exclude people."

I said, "Let me ask you a question- if all of a sudden we changed our beliefs and started doing gay weddings, would you all of a sudden become a committed church member, being baptized into Christ and repenting of your sins, turning your life over to the Lordship of Christ and living as God intends you to live?"

He said, "No."

I said, "So, it's not that we are 'excluding people.' It's just that you don't want to be a Christian."

See, church leaders, here is the practical example:  it is unpopular in America to hold to an orthodox view of Christianity.  Orthodox churches endure ridicule and withering criticism from the mass media, the militant homosexual movement, atheists, academia, etc.  It is very tempting to change our beliefs so that we will be more "accepted" in society.  I think that many church leaders change their beliefs in order to attract nonbelievers to their churches.

However, the people criticizing your church for its lack of "inclusiveness" don't join your church when you all of a sudden become "inclusive."  All you've done is compromise who you are. So, it's a dumb policy regardless.

Right now, we are in a season of God's ruthless pruning of His church.  You might say He is preparing empty church buildings for more mission-minded, Bible-believing, Jesus-following congregations.  The face of Christianity is going to change dramatically in the next ten years.  Many of the mainline denominations, who years ago abandoned Christ for more liberal, secular causes, will cease to exist.  Their buildings- huge, grandiose buildings once holding vast congregations of worshipers- now a quarter or a tenth full, will be closed and then re-opened by an evangelical, mission-minded new congregation that believes in Christ alone as Savior.

Take note, church leaders and church people- the only churches in America that will be left after God's great pruning will be churches that take His Great Commission seriously.  God has washed His hands of churches that resemble social clubs more than missional communities.  God has washed His hands of materialistic, worldly churches more interested in comfort than truth.  God has washed His hands of churches that are more influenced by the world than by God's Word.

So, all of you church leaders who remain true to the Gospel, all of you Christians who remain true to God's Holy Word, be encouraged.  God is ruthlessly pruning off churches that teach a false spirituality so that your churches can be more productive.  It is His will that you are even more fruitful.  It is His will that your church thrive even more.  That is why He is pruning back the church in America right now.

The "decline" of the church is nothing of the sort.  Like a farmer who prunes off dead branches, bitter fruit, and weeds, God is clearing the way so that churches who stay faithful to Christ will have more and more influence.  God is placing more and more resources into churches that stay true to His word, and His blessings will be concentrated in churches who truly worship Christ.

Be ready for His blessings as you stay true to His Word.