This morning I was listening to a local radio station and they mentioned that 54% of Americans believe that they will never achieve the “american dream.” (not sure what source they were quoting)
That got me thinking…
1. What is the “american dream” to the typical american?
2. More importantly, What is the “american dream” to the christian living in today’s world?
What do you think?
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October 26, 2006 at 13:07
I think that the “American Dream” to most is to be married, have a good job,have children, own a home, etc. We all hope that we can have a job without being “bought out” as we reach close to retirement age and have a home that we can afford to not only live in, but keep (let’s face it, how many can afford homes nowadays). A worldly view is to think of the materialistic things that make us comfortable and happy- or so we assume.
As a christian, we still long for those things. However, we know when we are blessed in our jobs, families, homes and relationships. We pray and trust that God will sustain us and provide all of our needs. We know that His wisdom of want we need is far greater than what we think we need or must have. We pray that our children will grow up to be men and women of Christ and will raise their children the same way.We long for the day when we get to go Home to be with a loving Father. Our souls grieve for those who do not know Jesus as their Savior. But all in all, we know that nothing here can compare to the treasures we will one day share in. Our treasures should be stored in Heaven, not on earth where the enemy can destroy it.
When you look around everyday, think of all those people that have “everything”. Are they truly happy? If they don’t have Jesus, they will never be. They are always trying to buy the next “material” happiness fix.
Have a blessed day
October 26, 2006 at 13:29
Wikipedia says:The American dream is the idea (often associated with the Protestant work ethic) held by many in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations. What the American dream has become is a question under constant discussion.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_dream
I don’t think there really is an American dream anymore for anyone other than immigrants. We as a nation have become too diverse and rich (compared to other countries) to have the above definition in our brains. We each long for very different things.
As far as a Christian twist to the dream I don’t know if there is one but would be interested in hearing someone else’s take.
October 26, 2006 at 14:01
Chris,
I don’t know if the “American Dream” is possible for the average american class family anymore, but we need to continue to strive for God’s will in our lives and try to be good stewards and witnesses for the things that He has done for, in and through us. Sometimes its hard to think of ourselves as being “rich”, but compared to the rest of the world, we are “blessed indeed”. I bless you and I pray that the Lord fulfills all of the desires of your heart. Live His dream!
October 26, 2006 at 15:25
Interesting to see this topic posted here, since I posted on my own blog yesterday the following question:
What if the US declaration of independence read: ”... life, liberty, and the pursuit of holiness” instead of happiness? Might that have affected the path that North America has taken? It’s just one word in a single (albeit important) document, but we hear the “pursuit of happiness” quoted all the time.
October 26, 2006 at 17:33
Chris, emzee, I found your posts interesting…wonder if our Founding Fathers were wise enough to see that happiness & holiness are flipsides of the same coin, and that as the people of our nation freely chose the Lord Jesus Christ, they would be happy, while those who freely rejected Him would be happy for a short (very short) time?
To me, this is the Christian American dream: to be free to know & share the Lord Jesus Christ with as many others as the Lord permits me to share Him with. To me, the United States is not just a beautiful country because of the freedom I have, but because the mission field is before me, from the Iranian-descended teenager named Seema to the Irish-American named Patrick.
Still…earlier today a friend called & shared about a little girl being molested, and the news blares upstairs about bitter and hateful ways we treat each other…I’m glad America is not all there is, even if the United States is the greatest country on this earth.
October 26, 2006 at 21:18
Not being American, perhaps I can add some foreign perspective. The country in which I am fortunate enough to live (New Zealand – also arguably the greatest country on earth
) was settled in a similar fashion to the US (i.e. colonial power from Europe land grab from indigenous populace), but the settlers here had more of an egalitarian approach, rather than the ‘get ahead’ trype outlook that seems to typify the ‘American dream’. I think for the first 150 years or so of our colonial history our success was rooted in this, but also a result of our rich resource base. I suspect that the United Satets’ economic success has alot to do with the same thing. Part of the reason why the American Dream was possible is becasue the US was a wild and open land of untapped resources – ‘first in, first rich’. Times have however chnaged and the ‘new world’ is now feeling many of the effects akin to all post industrial societies – resource restriction and over consumption . . . but that’s a whole new issue.
October 27, 2006 at 08:58
In a way, I think the American Dream came to mean being better off (materially) than your parents were. The problem is that over a few generations, we have come to think that we are supposed to achieve that right out of the gate. We have lost the ability to understand that we must start small and build up. I think that credit has basically destroyed the American Dream. People think they should have everything their parents had right after college instead of waiting for it, so they charge it, amassing debt and destroying credit. Years later, they find themselves surrounded by material goods that they are still paying for and stressed by the prospect of never-ending debt.
Sadly, I see the exact same cycle happening to Christians. I work with a lot of young Christian families and I wonder about the need to own Kate Spade diaper bags, dress 2-year-olds in expensive clothes, and keep up with the other parents. Whatever the Christian American Dream is, that shouldn’t be it.
October 27, 2006 at 09:22
I think that irony of the American dream is that in some ways it appears to be the antithesis of several main points of Jesus message. Jesus challanges the rich, the disciples begin by “sharing all things in common” and the American Dream involves carving out your own little nitch of society and gaining wealth.
I can’t see the egalatarian Jesus condoning the pursuit of fiscal properity, rather than say… taking care of our brothers and sisters or spreading the gospel.
October 27, 2006 at 18:26
I have enjoyed reading everyone’s comments on this topic. I have always strived to be “less materialistic” than the average American, and found it difficult sometimes to separate wants from needs. It has been easy to keep faith when times were fat, but difficult to feel God’s presence when times have been lean. In the last few years, I lost my family to a “no fault divorce” and have amassed over $80,000 in debt (much of which a result of not having an attorney and having to pay over 58% of my income to federal and state agencies as a result.) I had “faith” in our legal system, one that thought it was right to reward my husband’s infidelity by rewarding him financially and leaving me with a lower standard of living, unable to see my children, and disconnected from my faith community. Through all of this, I have drawn closer to Christ and He has taken care of my needs, even in this remote Alaskan Eskimo village I ended up in. Although the Laws of Man don’t even seem remotely connected to what I believe the good Lord intended, I long for the riches of Heaven while I do my best to survive in the meantime. God Bless you on your journeys, and may He continue to bless me as richly as He has thus far.