Entitlement
James 4:1-3 and 2 Thessalonians 3:6-12
In his commencement speech to the Wellesley High School Class of 2012, English teacher David McCullough delivered some sobering words: “None of you is special. You are not special. You are not exceptional.” He called the graduating students “pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble wrapped... nudged, cajoled ... feted and fawned over… Contrary to what your U9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain (corpulent) purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and….no matter how often your maternal caped crusader (mom) has swooped in to save you, you are nothing special.” David McCullough said these things because kids today have been so pampered and coddled that they have an attitude of entitlement.
Mitt Romney was recorded in a private conversation during his bid for the presidency: “….there are 47 percent…who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That’s an entitlement. (and they believe) the government should give it to them.” Or take the story of the CEO of a Fortune 500 company whose commercial flight had engine problems and had to make an emergency landing. Everyone was de-boarded from the plane and then got in a long line to rebook their flights. He walked by 50 people in line and stepped up to the counter and began to blame the ticket agent for his predicament of missing a major meeting. She told him to get back in line whereupon he said, “Young lady, do you know who I am? I could have your job with a simple phone call!” High schoolers have to have designer fashions, college graduates are in debt up to their eyeballs but go out and buy the largest flatscreen because others have it. 40-somethings took out mortgages they couldn’t afford because they “deserved” a larger house. And people facing retirement who have lived well by overspending have saved nothing for retirement but now face the choice of working for the rest of their lives or subsisting on Social Security. No matter your age or your income, Americans in general have a sense of entitlement. And the fact is that none of these people came into the world with an attitude of entitlement. Slowly over time with the help of many forces, entitlement attitudes blossomed and grew.
Entitlement is when people feel that the world owes them something without having to do anything to earn it. It started in earnest after WW II when the United States experienced unprecedented economic growth and the Baby Boomers experienced the highest standard of living of any generation in human history. The entire consumer market focused on them because of the numbers of their generation, catering to their every need and wants. Boomers then passed on to their children the promise of “The American Dream” that every American will get to have a good life, a job they enjoy, a generous paycheck, affordable housing and transportation and a secure retirement and an expectation that their standard of living would be the same or better than their parent’s, not taking into account that it took decades of hard work to attain that. There are other ways parents have contributed to this. We cook a dinner and our children don’t like it so we make them something else. We buy our kids the latest tech toys for Christmas, even though they may be 10 time more expensive than the toys we grew up with. We give our children cell phones and cave into their demands for designer clothing and $150 tennis shoes. We hand out trophies to every child on every team regardless of their record.
Romeo Clayton suggests there are other contributing factors: “What about the bankruptcy system that forgives our debts if we find ourselves in a financial bind?” What about a government that gives public assistance seemingly forever to individuals and families? What about the medical care anyone gets when they walk into an emergency room, even when they don’t pay? What about churches, like ours, who give food to the poor but never really do anything to help that person get of out the cycle of poverty? Entitlements. We do like them. If we're poor, we deserve help from the government. If we're rich, we deserve a tax break; if we are workers, we deserve better fringe benefits; if we are bankers, we deserve a bailout; if we are a farmer, we deserve subsidies; if we are a special interest group, we deserve a special hearing. It seems like today everyone wants an entitlement. It’s like a growing disease and has destrimental affects.
What is the impact of an attitude of entitlement? First is Debt. The average US household has $15, 956 of credit card debt. You work hard and deserve nice things, right? So just go out, charge it and worry about paying for it later. Second, our priorities get muddied as we confuse what we want and what we really need. We have the highest standard of living in the world and what used to be a want, we now think is a need. We need food, shelter, clothing and a good education but everything else is just a want. Third is dependence. If our parents or our churches or even our government always bails us out, we become dependent on them and experience no repercussions from our actions. That leads to the fourth impact which is laziness and an unwillingness to labor and sacrifice for anything in life. We think we’re owed in life and so we never strive for our own keep or financial independence. And when life isn’t what we thought it would be, we end up just blaming others and never take responsibility for our own life. Fifth is blame. We never hold ourselves accountable. We blame illegal immigrants for keeping wages low, or workers from India or China for taking high-skilled jobs. Instead of accepting the challenge and trying to amp up our efforts, too many American workers will call out for protection thinking they’re the victims. Sixth, we become a burden to others. Our Scripture today makes very clear that when we expect others to provide for us or to save us, we become a burden to other people, to the Gospel message and our witness and to our nation. Seventh, we fail to live out the example of our faith and the will of God. Jesus worked and gave everything he had in life, seeking not to be served as some want but to become a servant of others. Likewise, the apostles did the same, eventually giving their lives for the faith. Paul calls followers of Jesus to do the same, as we are called today. Our work and our attitude is our witness.
So how can we avoid an attitude of entitlement? Our Scripture today speaks to that. First, Paul says we need to repent. Why? Because entitlement is a sin against God. The root meaning of the word sin is to miss the mark. When we feel the world owes us something we become dependent on them to provide for us. Paul calls us an “adulterous generation” meaning that our dependence and loyalty has been given to someone else besides God. More than that, when we have an attitude of entitlement, we elevate ourselves above all of God’s children and that’s why we deserve to be entitled. Paul goes on to call us a sinner, challenging us to recognize who we are and what we have done. Second, he calls us to not only recognize and confess our sin but to take the actions of a sinner seeking forgiveness through actions of remorse. Listen again to his words: “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.” Then he tells us to draw close to God which means we seek to live and walk differently, as God wants us but not as the world. Becoming free of an attitude of entitlement starts first with repentance.
Second, humble yourself. Humbling yourself is the opposite of entitlement. When you feel entitled, you raise yourself up above others. When you humble yourself, you make yourself lower or subservient to others. In Luke 22, the disciples begin to argue over which of them is the greatest. Jesus begins to talk about how the Gentile Kings, like Caesar, not only have authority over others but also lord it over them. In other words, they begin to abuse their power expecting others to serve their every need. In doing so, Jesus sets the culture’s understanding of entitlement against the Kingdom’s requirement servanthood when he says, “If anyone wants you to be first, he must be the very last and the servant of all.” Jesus goes against the world’s idea of what makes one successful, that is one who is powerful and has others serve him and replaces it with the model of servanthood. “For who is greater, one who reclines at the table (that is one who has others serve him) or the one who serves?” In the world’s eyes, it is the one who has such power and influence that others serve Him. But in the kingdom of God, it is the one who serves others. The disciples forget the living and breathing example set right before their eyes. The One who sat on the throne of God and had angels and all the saints singing his praises had given up His entitlement to be served to become a servant of all. And the disciples were called to follow Him in his example. The only way we can do that is if we follow in the example of Jesus and first humble ourselves.
Third, check your motives. To be a servant means that you place the needs of others ahead of your own. Here’s what we normally do, we’ll serve and help others as a long as it’s convenient and it’s something that falls within our comfort zone. But a servant, a true servant, has no choice in the matter of either the time or the task assigned. For a servant is at the beck and call of the Master. And that affects your motives. Because a true servant not only does what it asked but really only wants one thing: to please the Master. In contrast, an attitude of entitlement places our desires ahead of everyone else.
Fourth, be thankful. Everything thing we have must be looked at as a gift. Understanding this creates an awareness that the source of all good things is God. Everything you have is a gift, right down to the air you breathe. To see everything good thing we have as a gift leads us to confront the reality of a giver and the source of all this good: God. Gratitude is where we begin to experience God in a powerfully personal way. "Thank you" is the simplest and one of the most powerful prayers a person can say. If you can say, "Thank you, God" you can connect with God and begin to develop a personal relationship with Him. People who are raised in North America may have a sense of entitlement simply because they have no idea how lucky they are. You can’t have an entitlement attitude and be grateful at the same time. Make it a daily ritual to give thanks for what you do have.
That includes being thankful of others. Entitlement can leave you constantly feeling angry, resentful, or frustrated by others. If you believe that someone owes you something and that person doesn't come through, you feel angry. You feel you've been ripped-off and cheated out of what you rightly deserve. Start by thanking everyone for their service, your mom and dad, your co-workers and boss, the janitor who empties your trash at your desk, the clerk at a store you visit, your server at a restaurant, everyone. Develop an appreciation for other people’s work, contribution, and their value as human beings.
One of the things we need to understand is that there is nothing in the universe that states, "I deserve to live a long, happy, and successful life!" And there is nothing in the Christian faith which says if I follow Jesus life will get easier, I will have solutions to all my problems and pain and suffering will be no more. Looking at the Biblical record, there is no basis for such claims. Just look at the example of Jesus. Life is not about happiness or things getting easier. It’s about obedience on the journey of faith even when that takes you to the cross.
Lastly, realize everything you have is on loan. There’s the story of a Jewish woman named Bruria. She and her husband, Rabbi Meir, had two sons who both died one Friday afternoon before the Sabbath. According to Jewish law, one is not permitted to have a funeral on Shabbat or to openly mourn. There was nothing they could do until after the Sabbath, so she kept the information to herself and allowed her husband to enjoy the day. Explaining where the boys were was the least of her challenges. When the Sabbath was over this is how Bruria broke the horrible news to her husband. She asked him a legal question: “What is the proper course of action if one person borrows two jewels from another and then the original owner requests that the return of the jewels.” He replied with the obvious answer that one is obligated to return the loan upon demand. She then took her husband to where their two dead sons lay and said, "God has requested that we return the loan of our two jewels" teaching us a potentially life transforming lesson here: Everything we have is on loan!
