In America, entitlement is a cancer. We only have ourselves to blame. As technology has made life much easier over time, days filled with hard labor are increasingly becoming a thing of the past (I just heard a non-politician world leader say that with the rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) people may soon live to over 100 years old and only have to work 3-4 days a week). The most recent generations of Americans have only known this kind of easier-than-ever living, so they believe they are entitled to it. Their work ethic reflects their sense of entitlement. Spend even a day in public schools and you’ll witness it firsthand. As a result, lots of well-intentioned teachers are leaving the profession. There seems to be a growing ambivalence to these trends.
While I don’t really wonder about why kids in school walk the halls with a sense of entitlement, I am curious about how this erosion has taken place. I mean, shouldn’t kids perceive public schooling as a privilege given the simple fact that it is paid for by others (even outside of their own families), and therefore plug away with an abiding sense of gratitude? Shouldn’t parents be teaching their kids to take advantage of a gracious gift being given to them by society? What happened? The contract between benefactor and beneficiary seems to have been breached.
Institutionalized giving breeds entitlement. That’s the problem.
As soon as someone (perhaps even with good intentions) comes along and codifies grace giving, the downward spiral begins. For example, the United Nations General Assembly, spearheaded by a drafting committee that included former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, first established that “everyone has a right to an education” as a globally recognized principle. They codified this on December 10, 1948, when they formally adopted Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
So, I think it’s fair to say that the entitlement mindset we learn at a young age nowadays in America has become an overarching principle folks live by. However, the Bible reveals something quite different about God’s definition of grace.
But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
– Romans 11:6
When a freedom becomes compulsory, it is no longer a freedom.
This is especially injurious when that freedom involves the basic rights of others. If I have the God-given right to be gracious, then another person doesn’t have the right to demand it from me. Otherwise, I have lost my right. I’d argue this is among the greatest perversions in modern Christianity. For example, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone accuse a Christian of being un-Christ-like because they refused to give money to a cause their accuser is seeking support for (often themselves). Besides the simple fact that such an accuser has no insight into the private giving of the one they’re accusing (e.g., maybe that person just gave a bunch to another cause), the Bible clearly says the issue in giving is really between an individual and the Lord.
Grace isn’t an entitlement. God says so.
The exacerbating issue with entitlement is that it tends to spread across all aspects of life, including into the domain of God, where people suppose God’s personal grace is an entitlement. Nothing could be further from the truth!
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
– Romans 9:18-21
There’s a chapter titled, Mercy Demands, from the book Covert Arrogance: Hiding Out In Plain Sight that is worth your while to read (if not the whole book) that speaks to this very issue. I’m not angry with this issue, so to speak (maybe a little indignant because it is sin for sure); rather, I am saddened by it. I’m sad because it’s the entitled person who suffers the most. They live a life filled with disappointment due to failed expectations. They learn the hard way that grace is a freedom that begins with God. If we consider God’s example, even for a moment, we quickly realize that freedom implies an individual’s personal choices (e.g., the freedom to choose whether or not to be gracious or merciful to others). Now, for the record, I’m not saying we all make perfect choices with our freedom, only that God has ordained our freedom to choose.
For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
– Galatians 5:13-14
Is it better to love another person, see a need, and meet it (c.f. James 1:27)? Of course – the Bible is rich with such encouragement! But the Bible also never gives a potential receiver of grace the right to demand it as if they were entitled to it. The same goes at a corporate level, where a bunch of individuals have banded together under the principles of a constitution or a set of bylaws. Don’t the supporters of that group have the freedom to do as they choose (assuming they are not breaching the freedom of others)? Indeed. If I want to have a game night at my house with only men, I shouldn’t be getting hate mail from women who object to it (and vice versa, of course). If I want to give someone a birthday or graduation gift, but am not led to do the same for everyone I know, should that be a problem? If we all agree to such things out of respect for our own freedoms, then why do so many people take issue with God regarding His own???
No one has the right to demand grace from God, even if they know He gives it freely to others, or even if they believe they have “earned” it. If you forget this, you will suffer. It will be wholly deserved, too. The same goes when you think you’re somehow entitled to another person’s time, energy, or finances. Entitlement (in the context of this blog) is the source of all kinds of evil and misery. The reason is because it is ungodly, unbiblical, and perverse. But it goes beyond morality, even, into the realm of practical living.
Entitlement destroys work ethic. It was hard work that built America, for example. God blesses hard, honest labor (Proverbs 13:4, 14:23; Ecclesiastes 9:10; Colossians 3:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). Entitlement erodes hard work because it is always laced with, “Why should I labor when my neighbor doesn’t have to?” That’s a toxic mindset.
My encouragement is to respect the freedoms of others the same way you respect your own. I don’t know anyone who enjoys being told (or forced) to give away something they have the God-given freedom to keep, whether it’s their money, their time, or even themselves. Regardless of how hard you think you’ve worked for something (or not), if a person hasn’t agreed to give it to you, and has the right to refrain, then just accept it for what it is – their choice. Maybe the bigger question is, “Why do you think you deserve it?” Read Luke 6:27-36 when you get a chance for some additional perspective.
The remedy is simple, and as old as human history. It’s the so-called “Golden Rule”.
And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
– Luke 6:31
Love in Christ,
Ed Collins