American Fried

Now for those of you who don't know, I have actually taken a liking to country music. The overall tune and the instruments used, are enjoyable. It seems that these songs are usually more patriotic and country lovin' than other types of music (and if you haven't noticed yet, I love my country!) Anywho, I was listening to Zac Brown's "Chicken Fried," and the following verse caught my attention (Minute 3:36-3:50):

"Salute the ones who died

The ones who give their lives

So we don't have to sacrifice

All the things we love..."

I have utmost respect for the service men and women who have given their lives for us. It is a courageous act that makes people lay down their lives for a cause or an ideal. In this case for the freedom and the ideals that the United States of America represent. For centuries the USA has been known for the "American Dream." It is one of comfort and luxury. It is the dream to make anything you want to come true, you are in control of your life and your destiny. It is a land in which, if you work hard enough (or smart enough), you can open yourself up to a world of possibilities.

This is great! However, I fear that too many Christians have taken the American Dream as the dream that God has for their lives. Now hear me out. I'm not saying that prosperity and wealth is a bad thing. Au contrair, I believe that God can bless people with wealth and that it can be used for furthering the spread of the word.

What I'm trying to point to lies in the third and fourth verse of the song that I pointed out, "So we don't have to sacrifice all the things we love." Isn't this opposite of God's plan? I'm pretty sure that when Christ died for us, He meant for us to sacrifice everything in return for His gift.

Matthew 16:24- Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Furthermore, while the American Dream promotes freedom and an ability to do whatever we want, we as Christians have given up such luxuries. We are now under the rule, not of sin, but of God. Notice how I said, we are under the rule. 1 Corinthians 7:21- "...he who was a free man when he was called is Christ's slave." This isn't a verse commonly preached from the pulpits of America. Like it or not, when you accepted Christ, you accepted His yoke and His burden (while it is lighter than the world's, you still have a yoke to carry. Matthew 11:30) We are His slaves. He is our master, and He didn't die so we could live passively on earth in total comfort. Sorry, but God's dream totally rules out an American Dream (as we know it) for us.

Yet in my generation (and in our parent's generation) there are people living as if God meant for us to live Heaven on earth. This type of thinking has created monsters that are constantly preoccupied with how they look or what others think of them. These are Christians that live for themselves year round. Then in an effort to make themselves look more holy, they take a week long vacation/humanitarian run (aka mission trip). All the while they sleep with different people (before marriage), get drunk on the weekends, smoke socially so that they can "blend in with the world" (sadly I've encountered people that believe that this will somehow be a testimony to others.) Not only that, but they are full of gossip and hate people!

Our generation has been reduced to insignificant arguments on theology. Instead of following the Jesus in the Bible, they try to make Jesus follow them. We try to justify our actions by saying, "I'm working on it," or my all time favorite, "No one is perfect." Yes no one is perfect, but come on, do not put excuses up to try to justify living in sin!

It is time for our generation to man up and take responsibility for our own actions. The American Dream has dulled our senses and made us so lazy that Christ isn't even recognized through us anymore. Again I'm not saying that if your wealthy you are sinning. However the desire for wealth and comfort has desensitized us so much, that we now try to convert the reality of the Cross to a mere idea that some nameless face has to experience in another nameless part of the world.

We are so caught up in the American Dream and freedom, that the thought of becoming a slave is foreign to most of us. While our worship songs are filled with verses of freedom, little is it mentioned in those same songs that we are slaves to Him...freedom, therefore, is all about perspective. Yes, while we are free from sin and death, we are now captive to God.

Our generation has had a bad start, however its not too late. What if we really turned to Christ, imagine what he could do through us. We wouldn't feel the need to market the gospel, trying to disguise light as darkness, as if it would attract people to its true power. Its time for men and women in our generation, that are sick of what we have let Christianity become, to stand for change. Will you be one that will no longer offer excuses for your lifestyle? Will you no longer replace God's dream for the American Dream and dare to see what happens?

Be slaves.