"Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.)" (1 Corinthians 7:20,21).
The Stoic philosopher, Epictetus, himself a slave, wrote, “Remember that you are an actor in a play, playing a character according to the will of the playwright—if a short play, then it’s short; if long, long. If he wishes you to play the beggar, play even that role well, just as you would if it were a cripple, a great leader, or an everyday person. For this is your duty, to perform well the character assigned you. That selection belongs to another" (Enchiridion, 17).
Some of us are born into privilege—a gift to be delighted in, but never presumed upon. Others are born into poverty. Some are given the opportunities we long for; others are denied them. Some are born beautiful or buff; others fall out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. Some of us are born red, or yellow, or black, or brown; others are born white. "That selection belongs to Another.”
Both the Stoic Epictetus and the Apostle Paul remind us that whatever we're given by the "playwright," wherever we fall on the ethnic, intellectual, social, and physical scale, our task is to accept that part by God's grace, and make the most of it, manifesting his beauty in our place.
Is there room for mobility and change? Of course there is! History is replete with stories of men and women who were bit players and turned their small part into starting roles. Some have done so with great courage despite great opposition. Certainly, as Paul insists, we should avail ourselves of every opportunity that’s given to us. But this begins with acceptance and wisdom—and a desire to make God known through what has been given.
And in the end, when we stand before our Lord, the only thing that will matter is not the role we have played here on earth, but the kind of person we have become.
David Roper
11.8.20
