Debt and Entitlement

I read a perceptive article in a recent MACLEAN'S magazine(Jan 26, 2009). It was written from a secular perspective but is something too many of us as Christians have failed to grasp. Here are a few excerpts that caught my attention.

Let's face it, debt never was our friend, even though it pretended to be (No money down! Don't pay 'til spring!). We wanted to believe it, and did, to the tune of $1.1 trillion(our national household debt.)  ...The truth is, debt is only a symptom of a much more fundamental shift. Turn on any television set, read any magazine or newspaper, or venture online for even five minutes and you'll begin to notice the language of entitlement. Everywhere we turn, it seems someone is confirming our inherent worthiness to us. Dell Computers, for instance, says in its "Purely You" campaign: "We don't make technology for just anyone. We make it for only one. You." Burger King tells us to "Have it your way." Ford fawns, "Everything we do is driven
by you."
...This is the "You Sell," a pitch that has evolved over time to become the dominant theme in consumer culture.  In its simplest terms, the You Sell is the message that you are an inherent VIP. Nobody else can tell you what to think or do. You deserve the best. You're entitled to nothing less. You are unique--an original--and as such, each and every choice you make should be a reflection, an amplification of your essential, irreplaceable self." 

(It's All About You, by Lianne George and Steve Maich)

The joke is on us. While they are telling us that no one can tell us what to think or do, they are telling us what we need to buy. While they are telling us how special and unique we are, they are trying their hardest to get all of us to buy the same products and services. And all the while we go deeper and deeper into debt getting what we deserve. I guess if we are dumb enough to fall for it we really are getting what we deserve.

Of course this isn't really a new form of advertising. The devil has been using it for years. He leads us away from God and self-sacrifice by telling us we deserve more, need more, should stand up for ourselves. All of this is just more of the same old "me-first" attitude of sin that drags us further away from God and into more and more debt--financial and spiritual. When will we wake up?

May we look to God and find His grace and peace to be far more satisfying than anything the world can give.

Dave