The Winter of Our Discontent
Was it the best of times or the worst of times? A most important theme of the Bible seen clearly in the New Testament is contentment. If I am not content what am I except covetous? This may seem like an extreme idea but think it through.
Internet quotes:
"The beginnings of the idea of the American Dream can be traced to the Founding Fathers, who declared their independence from England because of their belief in unalienable rights. Those men believed people inherently possessed the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They created a country where people could break free from class restrictions and pursue the life they chose despite the circumstances of their birth. In time, writers dubbed this idea the American Dream, but people’s definition of the American Dream has changed greatly over time."
"James Truslow Adams coined the phrase (The Americaan Dream) in his 1931 bestseller The Epic of America."
"Over time, the phrase “American dream” has come to be associated with upward mobility and enough economic success to lead a comfortable life. Historically, however, the phrase represented the idealism of the great American experiment."
Since the end of WW2 American prosperity has given people false confidence in the American "Dream." Can we say the American "Dream" is a dream inspired by God? Is it a biblical dream? Study the dreams of the Bible. I think you will see that the dreams of the Bible are inspired by God for specific purposes. The American "Dream" is not found in the Bible. If it is please leave a comment below showing us where. For the church the prayer (a much different thing than a dream) is "that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life with all godliness and dignity." 1Tim. 2:1-4 And for that we must pray or we will "have not because we ask not." James 4:2
I have noticed in myself and in others (and heard others confess it of themselves) a certain bitterness regarding American life. It is a complaint against the powers that be who pull levers and flip switches that alter our standard of living and thwart our efforts to remain financially undisturbed. No one wants a thief to steal from them. But it seems that American and Western Christians are believing that misfortune should never touch them. I understand why the unbelieving cry foul at every inconvenience that befalls them. I understand that crime against anyone is no cause for joy. But if it is true that all who desire to become godly person will be persecuted (2Tim. 3:12) then we must make a choice between godliness in Christ and a life undisturbed. My friend, a pastor, said "if we are not experiencing some form and level of persecution we should check to see if we are in the faith." Jesus said:
“If the world hateth you, ye know that it hath hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love its own: but because ye are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15:18-19)
That we are hated for our faith and our testimony is evidence that we have a true faith and a true testimony. We should not seek martyrdom. But if in seeking to do the will of God we are martyred we should be encouraged! Not for nothing some have called the Kingdom of God "the upside down Kingdom.
“And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles unto them, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.” (Acts 5:40-41)
To seek to live undisturbed will mean being unconcerned with anything other than the self satisfaction of wealth gained by any means honest or dishonest.
I believe one of the wisest prayers we can pray is from Proverbs Ch. 30, The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the oracle :
"God, I have asked you for two things—don't refuse me before I die— [1] Keep deception and lies far away from me, and [2] give me neither poverty nor wealth. Feed me with food that I need for today, so that I don't become overfed and deny you by saying, 'Who is the LORD?' or so that I don't become poor and steal, and then misuse the name of my God." Proverbs 30:7-9 (ISV)(The
If we pray and are answered these prayers would change the way we may be living. To be kept apart from lies and deception implies that the truth is preferable, and desirable. Yet so many prefer their own "dreams." One teacher noted that "at its first appearance the truth is always seen in a negative light."
Am I "overfed" or "poor?" Here, to be overfed means to live in a state of complete satisfaction with the assurance of continuing satisfaction. To be poor hear means to be "impoverished, ruined, cast out, consumed, destroyed, disinherited, dispossessed."
Why does Agur pray this way? To have an overabundance may lead to an arrogant self confidence. To have nothing may lead to crime. Both are profane responses. Augur must surely be a man who believes God who said to Moses: "man doth not live by bread only, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." Extreme wealth and extreme poverty cause men to push aside that truth and into deception, even self deception.
Those say "Who is the LORD?" or justify theft show profane arrogance and ignorance.
Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for God has said, "I will never leave you or abandon you."
Many emphasize that Jesus speaks a lot about money. We should remember that Jesus calls the world's money unrighteous mammon. Sadly what are of less interest to many are "true riches."
Luke 16:11
If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Why did Agur pray as he did? I believe he understood the difference between mammon and true riches.
Luke 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves from all covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Even the Beatles sang "Money can't buy me love." And it can't buy life. Ask the doctor or the undertaker. The wages of sin is death. The death of the body is the result of the sin of Adam. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit the corruption of Satan was placed upon all mankind causing all to die bodily and spiritually.
Covetousness is a root of corruption; perhaps it is THE root of corruption. Because of covetousness Satan desired to be God, or at least to be His equal. Satan would have us covet everything. The American Dream means very different things to many different people. And many Americans covet the things other have, things which they think define the achievement of the "Dream." What if the American Dream were simply and ONLY to "lead a quiet and peaceful life with all godliness and dignity?" THAT would go a long long way to diminishing crime in Baltimore and the nation. But no, we must have air conditioning and cars with air conditioning, and swimming pools... with heated water. They are not in themselves evil but they are expensive. Their cost is paid by our labor. Time is money they say. And would Jesus not say "time is unrighteous mammon for the world?" What is time for the believer? An opportunity to lay up true riches in heaven. And the words of Jesus should be remembered:
And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles. He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed at him. And he said unto them, Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Luke 16:9-15
The entire chapter 16 of Luke is one of those that should humble us and change us into Christ likeness. If our money is unrighteous are we also unrighteous? But is money really ours?
Matthew 22:15-22 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might ensnare him in his talk. 16 And they send to him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one: for thou regardest not the person of men. 17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why make ye trial of me, ye hypocrites? 19 Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a denarius. 20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? 21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. 22 And when they heard it, they marvelled, and left him, and went away.
Whose name is on American money? Does "In God We Trust" reference the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? The Levitical theocracy of the children of Israel did collect a temple tax of 1/2 shekel "half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary" (see Exodus 30:13) from every male over the age of 20. That was the law of God. Regarding the nations the church is instructed:
“Therefore, it is necessary for you to be acquiescent to the authorities, not only for the sake of God's punishment, but also for the sake of your own conscience. This is also why you pay taxes. For rulers are God's servants faithfully devoting themselves to their work. Pay everyone whatever you owe them—taxes to whom taxes are due, tolls to whom tolls are due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due.” (Rom 13:5-7)
Is there room in the American Dream for the truth that God has some authority ove how we spend our money?
Capitalism as an ideology would have us believe it is ok to want what merchants offer for sale (in stores and online or on the street). But note that they hire advertisers to create desire in people for their products. Why do people buy Corvettes? No one really needs that sort of speed. Capitalism thrives to a large extent on people who covet what they are trained and conditioned to covet. You say covetousness only applies to what your neighbor owns? But do you see the shiny new Corvette in your neighbors driveway and find your life being consumed with labor to be able to be like him and own one? Satan could never have become God, but he wanted just as desperately to be like Him.
Isaiah 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.
I don't imagine any human being has been entirely free of the sin of covetousness. Many are lost in covetousness and are lost because of it. And the deception of socialism/marxism is pretty much a direct result of covetousness. Why were the Russian royalty overthrown? The communists coveted their wealth and power. I believe they intuitively knew the poor would join them in their theft of that wealth. And along the way they destroyed the Russian middle class and starved millions of Ukrainians to death. Why is the American Dream dangerous? Firstly because America and most Americans have lost their holy roots in the Christian faith. Freedom is rarely understood today as Jesus spoke of it 2000 years ago, even in the church! Secondly because it's economic foundation is corrupted by the worst sorts of profanity. Pornography is a business larger that the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL combined. Entertainment is not To all of this the lost of the world and the carnal of the church are attracted. There are some very wealthy who want power over America. Many more poor (many now streaming across our southern borders) want access to the wealth of America. And the nations and uber rich oligarchs of this world understand they can provoke the poor to fight their wars for what belongs to other nations, and I suppose even to other oligarchs. The idea of a just war after Christ, that is in the CE (Common Era), is simply not supported anywhere by the words of Jesus or His apostles. Notwithstanding God micro manages history at all times. If he did not we would have destroyed ourselves long ago.
Corruption and crime are sin. They are alien entirely to God and to God's heavenly dwelling. Here in the earth Adam sold the earth to Satan for one bite of fruit. Today corruption appears to be on it's last leg. But that leg is the near vertical arc of a geometric sequence.
Thankfully, very thankfully, faith in the Messiah Jesus will eternally separate His people from all corruption and criminality. It is difficult to imagine the change coming when Christ comes back to rule earth for 1000 years. And after that God completes His eternal plan. As the song writer says, "I can only imagine."
What we experience living in this world makes the pursuit of a "quiet and godly life" a real challenge. The same apostle who encouraged that goal for believers also wrote that to desire to live a godly life guarantees persecution. But is it not easier to be a persecutor of the godly that to be godly and persecuted? For this reason we must believe and TRUST Jesus when He said to the apostles at the last supper:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.” (John 14:27)
We must believe that the peace He give is unadorned by the ostentation of the world, even when we see that ostentation show up in the congregation.
Those who seek the realization of the American Dream are, (are they not?) seeking a kind of peace that is of the world and not of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus first preached this message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) Or as Peterson paraphrases: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.” Repentance requires we be willing to examine the possibility we really do need to change the way we think about everything. It is hard for the self satisfied wealthy and the bitter and impoverished poor to change, or even to admit a need to change anything. While I'm sure it will offend many I at the least challenge the compatibility of the American Dream and the will of God for Americans and for all mankind.The only call I remember for donations made in the whole New Testament is for money for the poor in Jerusalem. Jesus preached the tithe to the Pharisees because of their self satisfied wealth and their lack of concern for matters more important than the tithe. He told them:
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith: but these ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone. Matthew 23:23
1Ti 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain
Heb 13:5 Be ye free from the love of money; content with such things as ye have: for himself hath said, I will in no wise fail thee, neither will I in any wise forsake thee.
Luk 3:14 And soldiers also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do? And he said unto them, Extort from no man by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully; and be content with your wages.
