Introduction
Today we are going to begin our preaching series on the idea of discovering joy through simplicity and generosity. Each of the next three weeks we are going to look at how God calls us to find joy and not to be controlled by money or material possessions. Today we are going to look at idea of when dreams become nightmares, specifically how the pursuit of the “American Dream” can ruin a person's life.
But This Will SAVE You Money!
A husband and wife were in the market for a new deep freeze. As they entered the store they were greeted by a very young salesman looking to make his very first sale. He hit them with every tip he knew and began to try and close the sale by saying, "You''ll save enough on your food bill to pay for it." The young salesman figured he had done such a good job, this couple would have no choice but to buy this deep freeze. Then the husband retorted, "I can understand that, but we''re paying for our car on the bus fare we save, and on our washing machine on the laundry money we save and on our house on the rent we save. Right now our monthly payments are so high that we just can''t afford to save any more money."
That is the American Dream. If you work hard you can have anything you want. If you cannot afford it, put it on credit. If someone has more than you, upgrade. Material possessions are the best and only way to measure success. Right?
For most people, the American Dream has to do with a subconscious desire for achieving success and satisfying the desire for material possessions. It is the opportunity to pursue more than what we have, to gain more than what we have, and to meet success. We tend to measure our success by the stuff that we possess.
The love of money and the things money can buy is a primary or secondary motive behind most of what we Americans do. We want to consume, acquire, and buy our way to happiness, and we want it now. That mentality, that mindset, is what triggers the American Dream becoming the American Nightmare.
We Are Ill
One way to help us understand this need for material possessions is to literally think of this need as a virus. And this virus causes two distinct yet related illnesses that impact us both socially and spiritually.
A) One illness it causes is Affluenza – Affluenza is the constant need for more and bigger and better stuff, as well as the effect that this need has on us. It is the desire to acquire, and most of us have been infected by this virus to some degree. A few examples of the effects of this disease are how:
- the average American home went from 1,600 square feet in 1973 to 2,400 square feet in 2004
- and how today there is estimated to be 1.9 billion square feet of self-storage space in America to hold all the bigger and better stuff
B) The second illness that is caused we will call Credit-itis – Credit-itus is brought on by the opportunity to buy now and pay later, and it feeds on our desire for instant gratification. Our economy today is built on the concept of credit-itus. Unfortunately, it has exploited our lack of self-discipline and allowed us to feed our affluenza, wreaking havoc in our personal and national finances. Havoc such as:
- the average credit card debt in America in 1990 was around $3,000. Today it is over $9,000
- the average sale is around 125 percent higher if we use a credit card than if we pay cash, because it does not feel real when we use plastic instead of cash.
Credit-itus is not limited to purchases made with credit cards; it extends to car loans, mortgages, and other loans. Did you know that the life of the average car loan and more mortgage continues to increase while the average American's savings rate continues to decline.
There's More
But these illnesses are only the surface problem. It goes deeper...it is spiritual. Our souls were created in the image of God, but they have been distorted. We were meant to desire God, but we have turned that desire toward possessions. We were meant to find our security in God, but we find it in amassing wealth. We were meant to love people, but instead we compete with them. We were meant to enjoy the simple pleasures of life, but we busy ourselves with pursuing money and things. We were meant to be generous and to share with those in need, but we selfishly hoard our resources for ourselves.
And if that were not enough, the devil plays upon this tendency. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, NIV). The devil does not need to tempt us to do drugs or to steal or to have an extramarital affair in order to destroy us. All he needs to do is convince us to keep pursuing the American Dream, to keep up with the Joneses, borrow against our futures, enjoy more than we can afford, and indulge ourselves. By doing that, he will rob us of joy, make us slaves, and keep us from doing God's will.
The Hope
But folks, I am here to give you hope. Scripture offers us a way out of this cycle of destruction. One way out is through a change in our heart. Although we receive a changed heart when we accept Christ, in a sense we need a heart change every morning. Each morning we should get down on our knees and say, “Lord, help me to be the person you want me to be today. Take away the desires that should not be there, and help me be single-minded in my focus and my pursuit of you.” As we do this, God comes and cleanses us from the inside out, purifying our hearts.
Another way is to allow Christ to work in us. Christ works in us as we seek first His kingdom and strive to do his will. As this happens, we begin to sense a higher calling, a calling to simplicity and faithfulness and generosity. We begin to look at ways we can make a difference with our time and talents and resources. By pursuing good financial practices, we free ourselves from debt so that we are able to be in mission to the world. A key part of finding financial and spiritual freedom is found in simplicity and in exercising restraint. With the help of God, we can
- simplify our lives and silence the voices constantly telling us we need more
- live counter-culturally by living below, not above, our means
- build into our budgets the money to buy with cash instead of credit
- build into our budgets what we need to be able to live generously and faithfully
Conclusion
We are called to be so much more than slaves to sin and debt. God does not want to deprive us of material possessions or the joy that comes from the convenience of these things. God simply wants us to not become slaves to them. Slaves to the debt, the domination, the revolving cycle of more and better. Allow God to help you rise above it so that you can live out God's call on your life. A call that will allow you to show love. A call that will allow you to bring compassion. A call that will make this world better because you listened to God and obeyed.
