“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
While picking up some groceries a few weeks ago I turned up the next aisle to find a very unhappy tween (for those who don’t know what a tween is, it is according to Merriam- Webster defined as “a young person who is a preteen, approximately 11 or 12.” How did I know this young person was unhappy you ask? By the look on his face, by the tone of his voice, by his body language … very simply by the attitude he was displaying for the world to see! This young person was wanting … demanding … demonstrating an ‘I-want-this-snack-no-matter-what-you-say’ attitude. The beleaguered parent was looking around hoping no one saw or heard it … but several of us shopping on that aisle did.
Then the unthinkable happened, “go ahead, get what you want, you worked hard at school today!” Give me a break … in fact; a break would have been most appropriate on the young tween’s backside at that moment (that’s for another post.)! Was it really that young person’s hard work at school that paid for that snack he demanded to have?
Entitlement seems to be the banner under which a great deal of misunderstanding, misconduct and misappropriation are flying at full mast. It’s not enough that we as a society have such a deep-seated sense of entitlement, the satisfying of what we think we deserve … this growing and unflattering quality is right up there on the list of battles that we as parents and even grandparents must challenge along with the appeals of the sexual, immoral and disrespectful influence of the world around us. And in many cases the facilitator is us. It’s the old adage of “we have seen the enemy and the enemy is us.”
Now, before you get all riled up, hear me out. We are simply not doing our kids and grandkids any favor when we cultivate this sense of entitlement in our young and in many cases while they are still very young. There is absolutely no doubt that our children should be encouraged to feel special and grow up with a sense of confidence in themselves. But isn’t it just as important to grow up with a sense of serving others and being mindful of the thoughts, feelings and needs of others, whether in their own family, at school, or within the church?
Jesus was asked on one occasion, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:36-39)
We must understand the qualities of being grateful, thankful and mindful of others appears to be a dying art.
Those who study such things as cultural behavior, tendencies in each generation, etc. have been warning those who would heed the call that we are bringing up a generation that does not understand responsibility, accountability or respectability! This tendency must be brought to a screeching halt, especially among those who are counted among God’s people! Do you agree? I sure hope so.
For the next couple of posts we would like to address this growing problem, which by the way is not an exclusive problem for our young people. We want to encourage you to think about these things seriously, for if we don’t we will have been guilty of “sowing to the wind and reaping the whirlwind” for ourselves and those we love and we will be no different than those who live in and of this world!
“You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.” Abraham Lincoln
Bill Fairchild, Jr.
No comments yet.