Back in elementary school, kids frequently got pulled out of class for various reasons. There were always people coming and going: bathroom breaks, trips to the nurses office, delivering the attendance and lunch count to the office, help with reading. But more noteworthy were the times when a couple select children would leave the room at the same time to go to a special class for gifted kids. They never said much about it, and I was too self-absorbed to be curious about it (those projects weren’t going to magically cut themselves out of construction paper).
These were the kids who were known as brainy or creative. They weren’t shunned because of it, they were respected, even admired. There was the tall, Amazonian girl with the flowing red hair, the preppy blond boy with ruddy complexion and quick wit, the shy girl with the notebook of beautiful sketches. They were mysterious, dynamic and exclusive; not just anyone could be a part of their special club. You couldn’t simply perform a dare and prove your worthiness; it required an assessment administered by professionals. I wanted to be gifted. I wanted to a part of their club. And when it didn’t happen, I felt it. I felt less special because I wasn’t as special as they were.
Dash, in the movie The Incredibles, is in elementary school and has a hard time restraining his special superpower: speed. His mom, Helen (the mild-mannered alter-ego persona to her Elastigirl), lectures him in the car, goes on about how he must conceal his secret powers. He wants to be special. Helen tells him that everyone is special. Dash replies, “Which means that nobody is.”
If everybody’s special, does that mean that nobody is special?
What’s so wrong with being ordinary?
There is a belief subtly creeping into Christian circles that if you are obedient and genuinely follow God, He will bless you. You’ll be successful, you’ll be wise and avoid major pitfalls in life, you’ll be affluent. Nevermind that the Bible teaches, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 and don’t freak out just yet, I don’t usually throw Bible quotes around.) The belief that we will be outwardly successful is a twist on the already insidious Prosperity Gospel that leads to disillusionment and doubt.
I’ve seen too many true followers of Jesus have heart-wrenching struggles and calamities to buy into Prosperity Theology or the Health and Wealth Gospel. It implies that if you just believed more, you wouldn’t get passed over for that promotion. If you just prayed more diligently, your child wouldn’t get that disease, your house wouldn’t catch on fire, or that cute boy would like you.
It doesn’t happen like that.
Construction paper colors (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We aren’t special because of the external things that have gone well for us. We aren’t ordinary because we live regular lives. We are all special (and we are) because we are made in the image of God, called by Him to wholeness and a true identity in Christ. We are most fully released to be most true selves when we internalize our status as thoroughly adored by the Creator who knows us better than we know ourselves.
That’s one reason why I love the title of this blog: www.aroyaldaughter.com She understands her true identity. Ultimately, she is a royal daughter. She is (at risk of sounding corny) a princess.
Being a Royal means that you might live differently, more confidently, willing to take risks, more engaged in the world around you. You might have more compassion or be in tune with places that need support and then feel equipped to do something about it. You might be more appreciative of all the good around you that you had nothing (or very little) to do with and yet it is yours to benefit from and enjoy. You might choose to speak in a way that befits one with a royal lineage.
So since you are made in the image of God, whether you actively follow Him or not, how might that make you more awake today? What thoughts could you think, what things could you do if you believed that you were in fact, royalty?
Oh, I can really appreciate this. I cannot tell you how this whole idea of “name it and claim it” just, well, infuriates me.
What I’m not too into is the royalty thing. Yes, we have an identity in Christ, and I don’t want to diminish it, but the whole concept of royalty is sort of like the idea of being special. If even Honey Boo Boo’s mom is a princess, what makes it special? Why would that ever appeal to me?
I get the point, and it’s definitely a popular one these days with a lot of Christian women. But I’m not sure I really like it. After all, a powerfully influential woman like Mother Teresa, who exhibited all the qualities you list, like compassion, risk-taking, and engagement with the world, certainly never viewed herself as a princess. Quite the contrary.
But that’s the beauty of Christianity, I suppose. There’s something in it for everyone.
I just read this quote yesterday, and it’s hitting me hard. I think you’ll enjoy it.
“Jesus chose to be born into a family which possessed neither power, nor wealth, nor fame, as if to show that human existence needs none of these things to have value. He spent his first thirty years performing everyday tasks and living an ordinary family life, as if to indicate that these things are so good that God could find nothing more important to do.” ~ Oscar Lukefahr, CM
I love your comment and thank you so much for taking time to read and reply.
It’s funny, because I’m not all that crazy about the Princess thing either, except that I think it connotes a certain mindset that is counter to the lack of value many women have in our society. I don’t care so much about the position as much as the characteristics that come with a traditional, Romantic definition of royalty. I love your example of Mother Teresa and definitely agree that she exemplifies the outward signs of a “fully-actualized identity”, so to speak (psychobabble much?). “Princess” has definitely taken on a commercialized, prissy undertone, something that I don’t intend to convey in the post.
I’m officially stealing that quote from you and using it in my own week. It is fantastic. Thanks for sharing it, and have a great weekend! 🙂
P.S. Everybody should take the time to click over to Cynthia’s blog — lots of good stuff happening over there!http://aftertheecstasythelaundry.wordpress.com
What an excellent post! It brought to mind a couple of thoughts. First, just a quick response on the “royal” thing – we had a very similar discussion at a Bible study on Esther a few years ago, and what stuck with me from that was something our pastor’s wife said – that we should never confuse the earthly definition of royalty with God’s definition.Jesus is God’s begotten Son, and we are adopted children, so we are royalty just as He is, but we should look to Him as our example, and He was nothing if not humble, with a servant’s heart to beat all servant’s hearts.
The other thing I thought of as I read your post, Nita, was how children today are not allowed to feel special. By that I mean that there has been, over the past 20 years or so, a movement to make all children feel “equally” special so that no one feels bad about him- or herself. For example, when my older son was a freshman in high school (a very, very small school), he was awarded what was called the Coach’s trophy for basketball, which was an award given to the player who the coach felt gave the most to the team in terms of spirit, effort, sportsmanship, etc. Well, by his sophomore year, they weren’t awarding that trophy anymore, because the principal felt that singling out one player like that was somehow unfair to the others, or detrimental to their self-esteem. So all the players got “team” trophies instead, which ended up in a box in their basements covered with dust because they meant so little to the kids, whereas Scott’s Coach’s trophy still (at age 32) occupies a place on a shelf in his home.
And I think it’s kind of sad, and not particularly good for society, to force all kids into a sort of collective specialness instead of letting them be individually special in whatever way they were made special by God.
Okay that’s my soapbox. 🙂 Great post!
There are so many insightful thoughts here, I don’t know where to start! But thank you for stopping by and taking time to comment. I see the same trend in wanting everyone to be included and a big investment in “collective specialness” as you say, the whole “everybody gets a medal” thing. I’ll have to think about ways we could counter this trend…but that will have to wait until another post. 🙂 Be well!