In the mid-1980s, Billy...
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In the mid-1980s, Billy Graham addressed an energetic group of young people considering missions. A statement Graham made must have landed like a bombshell in that group of eager students. He said: "In ten years some of you will have lost your love and burning zeal for Christ. Not because you set your heart in rebellion to God's will for your life, but because you set your heart by the world's agenda ... and Christ and his Great Commission gradually dimmed."
When we worship and serve created things rather than the Creator, lives get scattered over the desert. Our calling, baptism, and blessing can be seriously crippled by pursuing the world's agenda, as Graham warns. And could that agenda be "The American Dream"?
Israel was given remarkable grace. They squandered that gift in a mission of self-serving activity. God was not pleased.
We see scattered bodies everywhere. Crumbling marriages ... record credit card debt ... hurried, haphazard lives grabbing more than anyone can peaceably manage. American marketers have done a superb job of giving us what we want, when we want it.
The trouble is that we can't turn off our appetite for the American Dream like a faucet. We bring that mindset to our spirituality. We nurture a consumer mindset regarding our church. Privileged stature, like with Israel, is intended to fuel burning zeal for Christ. Our temptation includes rebellion to God's will, but it's also the subtle idolatry of viewing God as a divine Santa Claus. Maybe changing our love affair with success will keep the body count minimal ... and keep our hearts set against the world's agenda.
-- Webster
When we worship and serve created things rather than the Creator, lives get scattered over the desert. Our calling, baptism, and blessing can be seriously crippled by pursuing the world's agenda, as Graham warns. And could that agenda be "The American Dream"?
Israel was given remarkable grace. They squandered that gift in a mission of self-serving activity. God was not pleased.
We see scattered bodies everywhere. Crumbling marriages ... record credit card debt ... hurried, haphazard lives grabbing more than anyone can peaceably manage. American marketers have done a superb job of giving us what we want, when we want it.
The trouble is that we can't turn off our appetite for the American Dream like a faucet. We bring that mindset to our spirituality. We nurture a consumer mindset regarding our church. Privileged stature, like with Israel, is intended to fuel burning zeal for Christ. Our temptation includes rebellion to God's will, but it's also the subtle idolatry of viewing God as a divine Santa Claus. Maybe changing our love affair with success will keep the body count minimal ... and keep our hearts set against the world's agenda.
-- Webster
