“One sign that you have made success an idol is the false sense of security it brings. The poor and the marginalized expect suffering, they know that life on this earth is nasty, brutish, and short. Successful people are much more shocked and overwhelmed by troubles. As a pastor, I’ve often heard people from the upper echelons say, ‘Life isn’t supposed to be this way,’ when they face tragedy. I have never heard such language in my years as a pastor among the working class and the poor. The false sense of security comes from deifying our achievement and expecting it to keep us safe from the troubles of life in a way that only God can.”
- How do you respond to difficult times?
- How do our responses to suffering reveal what we believe about God and our faith?
- What is the danger to our Christian faith when we make safety and security our primary concern?
- Is it possible that Christianity is actually a path that leads into sacrifice, risk, danger and not safety
- What is your greatest ambition in life? What makes you “tick”? What drives you?
I’m working my way through Manning’s The Importance of Being Foolish, and the theme is similar – security, pleasure and power are what he identifies as obstacles to having a mind focused on Christ. I have heard it said, in much sorrow is much wisdom. Much of the American church appears to have conflated the American dream with Christianity, sadly, though there appear to be pockets here and there of resisting the pull. Nice approach – deifying success. Thanks.
Will have to check out the Manning book you mentioned. The good thing is that there truly does seem to be more and more people who recognize that we have been selling our souls while trying to live the “Dream”. Perhaps one one of the best aspects of short term missions trips is not the work that we do while we are there but the new perspective we gain from seeing others happy while living with less…
Thanks for chiming in…
The trap of consumerism. I am working through A Hirsch’s book Untamed and personally have been taking more of an inventory of where consumerism has taken hold in my life. The wanting of things and accumulation of wealth to create a happy feeling. It scares me as we live in a culture that is very “me” centric. Recently I have been pushing myself and others around me to have the center be of Christ and the mission. I am finding for my past that truly would seek worldly success and be thankful to God for it and make myself feel better by using it for good. Of course the whole time I am taking that slice of comfort and security for myself. It will always boil down to how much security does one need?
Thanks for the reminder and push!
Scott-Hirsch’s writings have had a huge impact on my life. I have not read one of his books yet that did not challenge, convict and inspire me to follow Christ as He is revealed in Scripture…not the American version of Jesus (a “uncle fuzzy” type person who is primarily interested in giving us what we want). Loved “Untamed”.
Keep up the good fight brother!