Are you as uncomfortable with today’s “YOU DESERVE IT” mentality as I am? Is it my imagination or do most commercials lately end with,
“Get the car…health insurance…body…or credit YOU DESERVE!”
Somehow we think we’re all entitled to an attractive body and an upper middle-class lifestyle regardless of how much work we put in. Where did this entitlement mentality come from?
And it’s been creeping into the church as well. If people aren’t getting the worship, relational or discipleship experience THEY DESERVE then they go down the street to a church where they can. Loyalty isn’t what it once was.
Yet Christ taught us that if we are to be great in God’s Kingdom, we must become the servant of all. There’s no entitlement there.
Thankfully, there’s a growing sense today that we need to get back to that servant mentality. Could that be why missional ministries and the “movement” mentality are resonating with so many?
Is this “you deserve it” attitude frustrating you as well?
YES! It’s a big issue for the Luke and I as well as the other interns Luke worked with this year. I think it’s because of the lack of sleep and normal schedule that makes it hard not to horde free time for selfish activities and wanting those activities to meet expectations. Beyond our own experience, it’s very annoying that about every advertisement in some form alludes to the fact that we deserve just about everything when we don’t deserve anything. I think our culture works so hard that we’re all on the verge of burn out if we don’t watch it… making us more vulnerable to the “well, I deserve this because I need a break or reward” mentality.
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!! So frustrating.
And about the time I decide that the “I deserve this” mentality is a generational thing, I run into some amazing twenty somethings whose ethic and attitude puts my own to shame. So it’s not purely generational.
I think Ann has a key point when she says it’s partly stress and fatigue. There aren’t many people guarding their health anymore, and the system out there is not set up for energy input. It’s pretty much an energy drainer!
Entitlement. Yep…it costs us now and it’s going to cost this country in the future.
Ann,
Thanks for your transparency. If we’re all honest our self talk is as bad as the commercials.
There’s work to do but we know there is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God.
Dad
Marla,
I know what your talking about with some of the younger people. In some cases they’ve watched us and decided there must be a way more peaceful way.
But in the end as you suggest it’s a heart issue. We must guard it and we must own our contentment.
Godliness with contentment is a wonderful thing.
Thanks for sharing…love your passion.
Ed
Yes, I agree with the gist of your post. I’ve seen it in churches many times. It’s a kind of consumer mentality–or perhaps we could call it an entertainment mentality. “Make me happy to be here, or I’ll change the channel–or the church!” Sadly, many churches have capitulated to this. Their services have developed more dazzle than depth, more entertainment than edification.
But this mindset does have an inverse relationship to the Christian message. As sinners, we come to the cross and say, “I deserved that, all the condemnation and judgment poured out on Christ. But, through faith in Him, God in grace gives me what I don’t deserve, forgiveness, and life eternal, and a personal relationship with Him.