The 80’s
I. Introduction
Time is flying. We have already visited 2 decades. Decades when viewed in reverse seem to be an immense amount of time. But it goes so quickly. We have looked at the 60’s and 70’s. Now we can come to the 80’s! The 80’s! Each week I have been playing snippets of the music of the decade. However, now we are in the 80’s. I have been trying to keep it to 2 minutes. But this is the 80’s! So, no apologies as we listen to the music of my teenage years! Play 80’s soundtrack. I want to hear you on your song!
The hedonism of the 70’s was being reevaluated! So many celebrities were having public disasters and were going to rehab that finally Nancy Regan utters the rally cry . . . Just say no. Free love slows down due to AIDS. The fact is the 60’s and 70’s left us empty so, we try to find something to fill the void left by “freedom” that didn’t leave us free.
On TV you would have watched MTV, ESPN, ET, Cosby Show, Family Ties, Dallas, Miami Vice, Magnum PI. You would have shop for Big Wheels, Care Bears, Cabbage Patch Kids. In the theater ... Back to the Future, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Flash dancing, Dirty Dancing, Top Gun, Ghost Buster. On the radio or on your walkman you would hear the one name artists Madonna, Prince, Whitney, U2. You would play pac man. Finally Christian Music finally sounded good - Stryper, Degarmo and Key, Petra, Carmen. The Space Shuttle Challenger explodes as we watched in horror. The Cold War was in full effect and the fear of communism was at the forefront of the American mind. So, that under Reagan defense spending increased to 34 Million and hour. Finally Reagan pushed through and the Berlin Wall fell and much of the Cold War fear with it. The Miracle on Ice rallied American patriotism. The greatest recession since the Great Depression took place in 1982 and the stock market crashed in 1987 but the middle class was confident and Young Urban Professional (Yuppies) and Starbucks arrive on the scene and in response to the recession a mad dash for more begins. However the method of response is a burgeoning credit card use - average of $11,000 debt per house hold.
There has been a mantra or governing message for each decade from the 60s “if it feels good do it” which led to the 70s “the devil made me do it” we now come to the 80s. The movie Wall Street delivered the message of the 80’s . . . Greed is good. So bumper stickers are printed that said, “The one with the most toys wins!” It is safe to say that the 80’s was the Decade of Excess.
Big hair, big house, big cars, big shoulder pads, big bank accounts, and big deals! Perhaps the most revealing glimpse into the decade was the popularity of one show . . . The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. This show revealed the lavish lifestyles, houses, and riches of the elite and dangled them like a carrot on a stick to the rest of us. The less than subtle message was if you could get to this level you would be happy and content.
Again we see the decades played out in the Garden of Eden - 60s feels good, 70s blame, 80s more. They had all the trees but had to have that one. No contentment.
Jesus also addressed the 80’s.
Luke 12:15-21
Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.” Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’ “Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’ “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with self and not with God.”
The main character of this parable had to be a part of the 1980’s! He shows us some things we need to know.
If we think we are the source, then we get caught up in the stuff.
Notice this guy says this . . . I have done well. He takes credit as if he is the source. By the work of my hand I have created this. No understanding that every good and perfect gift comes from above. We have learned the lesson of the 80’s so well that we have even come to the place where we call things blessings that aren’t actually blessings because they bring bondage with them. We are so wrapped up in 80’s thinking that we think busting barns means blessed. But if busting barns leads to bankruptcy spiritually, then why would we claim we are blessed? Why would we blame that on God?Why would we think God would give us stuff that distracts us from Him? It isn’t a blessing if it curses us!
That is why the writer of Hebrews said, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” – Hebrews 13:5
He didn’t say don’t have money but rather stay away from the love of money! Then he says our contentment should be based on the presence of God in our lives. . . Source!
This parable also shows us that . . .
Treasure hunting leads to treasure hoarding.
Bigger is better. Never enough. His barns were already full but it wasn’t enough.
John Rockefeller was at one point the world's richest man and first ever American billionaire. Considering he was a billionaire in the early 1900's he is still considered as the richest person in modern history. When a reporter asked him, “How much money is enough?” He responded, “Just a little bit more.”
Treasure determines heart direction. Where your treasure is your heart will be. If we hunt treasure, then we will begin hoarding treasure. The truth is that the 80’s and this parable show us that all that greed does is try to convince us that stuff will satisfy. However, the parable and the certainly the 80s teach us that ...
Stuff is a poor substitute!
The man in the parable and the folks in the 80’s need for identity was tied to success and stuff. Remember I told you that in the 70’s we had lost ourselves. So professional counseling booms. So, in the 80’s we try to find ourselves in in our stuff. Our identity is wrapped up in the brand of car we buy . . . so, BMW booms. Our identity is wrapped up in the size of our house . . . so, this shows up in what we would spend on houses. The average cost of a new house exploded to 120K when our income had only grown to 27K. By the end of 80’s our income had increased by 4 times over the 60’s but the our house costs grew 9 times higher.
Stuff never plugs the hole. That is why some of the richest people on the planet are empty and unhappy. Stuff is a poor substitute and never really satisfies.
Jesus knew this. Remember He says, “Man does not live by bread alone.” He doesn’t say bread is unnecessary. He says bread is necessary but it isn’t primary. Physical can’t fix, feed, or fill the spiritual. Jesus says this in a moment when He is fasting and hungry. He shows us that although the physical is necessary it isn’t primary. Spiritual cannot become secondary to physical. He drives this home in Matthew 6:19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen. 20 Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value and are safe from thieves. 21 If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there too. 31-32 “So don’t worry at all about having enough food and clothing. Why be like the heathen? For they take pride in all these things and are deeply concerned about them. But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well that you need them, 33 and he will give them to you if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to. (Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.)
The 80’s lied to us that we could flip that. I can seek everything else first and seek God with what is left over. I take matters in my own hands. It is my primary responsibility to provide. So, from the 80’s “I’m working” becomes an excuse to neglect everything else God, marriage, kids, church, etc. We lose the Sabbath and our lives become out of balance and we need more but in grabbing more we find less.
My question to us is are we still trapped in the 80’s? Are we chasing after more only to find less? Is our identity still defined by our stuff? Are you seeking God first or seeking God for? I seek God so that I can blessed! We need to evaluate what we learned in the 80’s and refuse to be caught up in barn building! Are you content?
1 Timothy 6;6-10
Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So, if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
