What is the American Dream? A nice house? A good job? Food
to eat and clothes to wear? The American Dream is defined by personal peace and
affluence. Or to put it another way, “Leave me alone and let me enjoy my
stuff.” That seems to be the epitome of the American Dream. Francis Schaeffer
warned back in the 1960s and '70s that we would sacrifice every right and freedom for the illusion of
personal peace and affluence.
In Haggai the Jews had everything that we define as the
American Dream, yet they didn’t have enough. They ate, but they weren’t
satisfied. They drank but there wasn’t enough to become drunk. They had clothes
to wear but they were never warm. They had jobs but there was never enough
money. They had the American Dream, and it was never enough.
That sounds a lot like our day, but it is 180o
from the American Dream our founders held. In 1630 John Winthrop gave a
challenge from the prophet Micah, “to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with our God” (Mic 6:8). Maybe it is time we pay attention to those words.
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