Why Christians Should Not Dwell On ‘White Privilege’: An African Perspective

A woman prays over her Bible. Creative Commons photo.

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(OPINION) A recent report alleging a culture of “white privilege” at Amnesty International is just the latest discussion even among Christians about a rather worldly state of affairs.

According to some of them, “the term ‘white privilege’ is generally used to describe what is seen to be unearned rights and benefits given to people with white skin simply due to the color of their skin.”  

This is the reality as far as life in the world is concerned, where the pre-occupation is relentless pursuit of riches and societal honor, but certainly not for those who have decided to follow the clear path set by Christ Jesus.

“White privilege” is about the distribution of material possessions and honor in this world. It is a reality that White people are better off in terms of both material riches and honor at the present moment, especially in the African context. But how this becomes the concern of Christians baffles the mind because this is not the type of privilege that should concern those who are passers-by in this world (1 Peter 2:11). Let me explain. 

Is there anything that advantages White people ahead (or at the expense) of Blacks in running a straight race with Jesus? If these “rights and benefits” do not lead to easier salvation for the souls of Whites to the disadvantage of those of Black people, then this is no privilege at all. Is there any Scripture that says those who have these “rights and benefits” in wondrous abundance automatically get an open-sesame to heaven? That these earthly featherbeddings are the requisite entry into the Kingdom of God to the exclusion of those who are – in the eyes of the world – poor and despised, to make them privileged indeed?

If anything, most of the material things of this world are a huge hindrance in this race with Christ. These things can only be “privileges” to those who decide to be enemies of God by loving the world and what it offers (1 John 2:15-17). Real privilege is life in Christ and anything else is mere distraction.

If worldly things like riches and honor were indeed privileges in the Christian sense, Christ would have sought after them with alacrity, from noble birth, titles of honor (good master) and all the material things one can ever imagine in this world, but He did not. This was so because what this world honors is detestable in the sight of God (Luke 16:15).

So from which example set by Christ do His followers seek after these things to the point of demanding them, as an entitlement, as we see many Christians doing? People want the world and those who are Christians think Christianity can be twisted to facilitate a redistributive agenda, even for those things that are not necessities (1 Timothy 6:8). There is a sense of entitlement that borders on blackmail. If anyone wants to share what he or she has, let them do so of their own volition. If reluctance to share is a sin, let me not join them in sinning by demanding what they have instead of seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).

Jesus Christ refused to accept the world when it was offered to Him by the devil (Matthew 4:8-9), and His response to the man who approached Him requesting that He order his brother to share his inheritance with him is also instructive of Christ’s attitude towards material possessions of this world (Luke 12:15). The talk of “white privilege” is based on the same mentality. The Black brother (and/or sister) is asking for a share of the worldly estate. But to Christians, privilege should only refer to that which brings one closer to Christ and leads to salvation of souls. Do White people have this thing to the exclusion of Blacks? Of course not! So where is this privilege in the Christian sense?

We should never lose focus of the fact that as Christians, we are in, but not of, this world (John 15:19) and therefore we ought not to be conformed to the world (Romans 12:2).

Even if one hoards all the material things – including lucrative positions and high-sounding titles – of this world, it should not worry a Christian because the life of man is not in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15). If that person – be White or Black – is not rich towards God (Luke 12:21), he is poor indeed. The only thing that should make a Christian concerned is separation from God, not anything of this world, be it riches or honor.

When distribution of material possessions of this world among races cause us to be so upset as to go to sleep with our shoes on (1 John 5:21), then our Christianity is questionable because this version, which puts emphasis on riches and honour, runs contrary to the serviceable example set by Jesus Christ Himself (Luke 12:22-34).

Wouldn’t the church do better not worrying about who owns what, with a redistributionist motive, but rather put emphasis on the reality of what hindrance riches and honor are in running a straight race with Christ (Matthew 19:23-24)? More often than not, even we Christians don’t know what to seek. Jesus said to Salome, the wife of Zebedee, “You don’t know what you are asking for,” when she asked that her sons James and John be given positions of honor when Christ sat on His glorious throne (Matthew 20:20, Mark 10:35). 

If at all one is to get riches and honor, they have to come directly from God (2 Chronicles 1:12, 1 Kings 3:13), not from man.

As a Black Christian, if I am treated unequally (James 2:1-4), it is not my problem, but the problem of the one who treats me – one created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27)– as a lesser being. It doesn’t end there. God may have allowed unequal treatment to happen for Him to see what is in my heart (Psalm 139:23). How I react to belittling treatment will show if indeed I am a child that God would be proud of or not. When such treatment comes my way, I am supposed to pray for that White brother or sister, realizing that were it not for the grace of God (1 Corinthians 4:7), I could have been the one despising God in such a way (by despising one that God made in His own image, one is despising the Creator Himself (Exodus 16:7; 1 Samuel 8:7)).

I am obligated not just to forgive them, but to also pray for them (Romans 12:14). If I react in any other way, then I would have let Jesus Christ down by failing to follow the clear example that He set for us (John 13:15). In other words, I would be joining forces with that White brother or sister in crucifying Jesus Christ once again (Hebrews 6:6).

And if, as a Black person, I allow myself to feel inferior in the presence of a White person (this version is racism is very common), I am despising the One who created me in His own image. It is equally a sin just as that of one who may look down upon me. 

So those Christians who talk of “white privilege” could be those brothers and sisters who are either shopping for undue sympathy, or who are seeking shortcuts out of the predicament that they find themselves in as a result of the curses that come with shortcomings in obeying God (Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28). In some cases (like in that of Job) God allows calamities to come our way for Him to see what is in our hearts (Deuteronomy 8:2).

Real Christians have to learn to be content in all circumstances (Philippians 4:12) to the point of rejoicing in their infirmities (2 Corinthians 12:10), and thank God, for it is His will concerning them (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Only a life in Christ is a privilege to a Christian, and it is only when it is taken away from them that they can lose sleep. In true Christianity, there is no such thing as “white privilege.”

Cyril Zenda is a Christian African journalist and writer based in Harare, Zimbabwe.