Jesus is Lord…and Why That Matters When it Comes to Male Privilege, part 2

I’m not really a fan of some of those common sermon gimmicks. You know, there’s the alliteration approach, where each sermon point starts with a “B.” Or a “V.” Or, if you’re really good, a “GH.” Or there’s what I call the “mad lib” sermon, where the preacher leaves a blank on your sermon outline and fills it in as they go. Is it a noun? A verb? An adverb? Amy and I always make it a game and try to guess the blanks before the sermon starts.

But when it came time for me to articulate what I think the right response to Jesus’ Lordship ought to be, I couldn’t help myself. I went the rhyming route.

So here’s what it means for men to surrender their male privilege to Jesus’ Lordship:

Admit, Submit and Commit.

That’ll preach, eh?!?

First, we must admit that male privilege exists and that it has a real impact on how we do life in this culture. Because by its nature male privilege is systemic, it’s hard to identify. For men, male privilege can be like air. With air, we experience it all the time but we can’t see it. In fact, we only become aware of it when there’s a problem and we can’t breathe. In the same way, male privilege lurks in the culture. Men, we are benefiting from it even though we are often unaware of it.

The first step in responding to Jesus’ Lordship in this area is admitting that it exists and that as men we benefit.

Next, men must submit their privilege to Jesus. Remember Peter from Luke 5? Facedown in our spiritual pile of fish, like Peter we acknowledge that Jesus is more qualified than we are to run our lives. Further, we invite him to direct us to deploy our resources how he would like us to. This includes our material possessions, our finances, our time, our agendas, and it includes our privilege.

Surrendering to Jesus’ Lordship means willfully and joyfully laying down our privilege and asking Jesus to use it how he will.

Finally, we commit to use our privilege to advance the Kingdom. As we’ll see, Jesus lived this process out in the incarnation. Responding to his Lordship, then, means we put our privilege to work to bless those around us. Specifically, this will involve empowering and advocating for women around us.

In the coming weeks, I’ll work to further define and illustrate each of these points. For now, enjoy your rhymes!

What about you? What resonates for you in this post?