Is The American Dream A Nightmare?
The United States of America is the greatest country in history. To live here is to have the opportunity to experience life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But if you are not careful society will define life, liberty, and happiness for you. If you swallow the poison you can easily find yourself in a scary place. Life was not designed to be selfish. God designed it to be selfless. If we use our rights as American’s to focus only on ourselves the American Dream becomes a nightmare. Here is how I am harmonizing the American Dream with my faith:
- I constantly battle my desire to consume all of my resources on myself
- I believe God called me to make a difference
- I view my earning potential as a means to make a difference in the world
- I believe I am the conduit that carries God’s love into a desperate world
- I crave the thrilling experience of God’s power running through my life
Matthew 16:25 For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it
Jimmy,
Your desire to serve is an inspiration to me. Just remember, you only
have one life to live here on Earth. What a joy it is to live it first
for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Delbert A.
Great post. Regardless of what the world tries to teach now, this country was founded and built by men who believed and lived the same type of values you listed. While it maybe true that not all of the builders of this nation were Christians, it is a nation built on Christian principals…and there is no doubt that is how this nation was able to rise to such prominence in such a short time. It seems the further we stray as a society from those principals, the closer the American dream gets to becoming a nightmare. Romans 13 is tough for me to follow, yet reassuring right now. Remembering the God is STILL in control, that he placed our leaders in control for a reason…even if we can’t understand it.
Kudos!!!
Not to be the dark cloud rolling in to ruin the day but have you ever had thoughts that America could be the City of Babylon spoke of in Revelation? We did become such a great super power in such a short amount of time that its got to make you wonder. It just seems with the current times that all the gears are turning into place. The pride before the fall.
Thanks for the comment Dustin. I don’t want to go too deep into eschatology here so I am going to reply with two practical reasons why I don’t see America as the City of Babylon.
1. There are too many great churches and Christians in America that genuinely love Christ and the people of the world.
2. I don’t think America is mentioned in the Bible at all. This Babylon has to be a place in the Middle East. Otherwise it wouldn’t mean anything to the Christians John was writing to when he wrote it in AD 95.
I do think America needs to seriously think about her morals as a nation. You are definitely on to something with the pride before a fall comment.
Dustin your point about pride coming before the fall fits well with America I think. I agree with Jimmy that America doesn’t seem to be fitting of Babylon but I do think the country had better right its course if it plans to continue its leadership on a global scale. American ideals use to stand for something and these values (largely Christian values) trancended nations and inspired people. We don’t have to look too hard to see this is not happening too much anymore. Some of this is not our fault but some of it is. I won’t get too political here but I just think America as a whole would be well served to model the servant leadership displayed in Jesus. We must become people of humility if we are to serve in love. We will never win souls with aggression. This seems to only happen by the love and grace of God. This is why I believe praying for out leaders is so important. It doesn’t matter if you stand on the opposite side of the political aisle of those in power, we stand on the side of God and that means praying for the will of God above all.