Let's look at what we are dealing with in our own country. The NBA is in a battle over dividing up billions of dollars between the owners and the players and neither side understands how foolish they look to the many who are just looking for work. Our leaders continue to blame each other and refuse to accept any responsibility for anything. Which begs the question: how effective can a leader be if he or she does not understand the most basic of leadership principles... assuming leadership means also assuming the responsibilities associated with the leadership position.
As a people, we have fallen for the lie. We have bought into the fallacy that selfishness will make us happy and content when the exact opposite is true. I was trying to explain this concept to my kids on the way home from church the other day. We talked about which of these ideas, selfishness or selflessness, is best for the most people. If we are all selfish then only those of us with the most money and the most power win, but only for a short period of time. For it will not be long before someone comes along who has more money and more power than we do, but if selflessness reigns then we all have the best chance of achieving some of our dreams because we are constantly looking out for each other. Selflessness will not employ power and money; selfishness will. But, there is one major flaw to this issue... our nature.
We will be selfish because that is who we are. We are sinners with a tendency to be about ourselves and not about others. If you think honestly about who you really are, you will have to admit that once you strip everything away you really want to be for yourself. It takes a conscious effort on your part to be for someone else. It is divine and supernatural to be selfless and focused on others and not yourself. It is this divine attitude that changes towns, cities and even countries, and, sadly, it is this attitude that is largely missing in our country's leaders and in our country as a whole. As times get tough, it will become increasingly apparent that this trait is missing in the vast majority of people.
If you look at these "occupy" protests you see a people protesting... what? I still don't really know what they are protesting. I assume that they believe they are protesting the rich who they also assume have gotten us into this mess, but what they are really protesting, in my opinion, is... success, only they don't really know it yet. The last time I checked the laws of this country, it was still legal to achieve wealth, and we still live in a democracy that runs on capitalism, right? So, in essence these protesters are protesting their own future success. But, we will all risk everything for the future promise of something for nothing, and this flows right out of who we are outside of Christ. We are and always will be for ourselves without divine intervention.
But, should we be protesting? If the answer is yes, then what should we be protesting? Well, there is really only one group that has no checks and balances, that has all the power and takes risk with no consequences, and that group is our politicians. It is these men and women that ask all of us to tighten our belts and take one for the team, and the whole time they have never once failed to vote themselves a pay raise. It is government that has had job growth and virtually no recession while the rest of us suffer through both. What the founding fathers have feared has become reality. We are now ruled not by one king, but by many.
We now live in a country with a culture defined by three traits: pragmatism, practicality and individuality. With these traits forming the current culture and the majority of our desires, it is no wonder that everything is now important. Things we might deem minor are major because there is no collective moral fiber being sown. There is no collective cause, nothing of which to be proud and certainly no quilt of agreed upon principals with which to build any unity. The giving spirit of the past is slowly dying and eroding away. Everyone is now for themselves and looking out for number one which means everything is of the utmost importance to self and can not be squandered on anyone else other than self. It also means those with the most power and the most money win most of the time, and we all know who those people are.
Is it any wonder that this "I" mentality is a major part of current culture? It is exactly what scripture predicts in Proverbs 14:12 which states: "There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death."
Many will refuse to admit it, but the Bible is again accurate in regards to our human condition and our future predicament. The way, in the end, almost surely leads to death unless something changes. G.K. Chesterton, when asked what was wrong with the world, replied, "I am," which is still the answer to today's question. We must start with ourselves before we look at others. If we do, we may just have a chance. Blessings!
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