This past Thursday Becky and I traveled to Rock Valley to meet with a couple of young women from Justice For All who are involved in developing a mentoring program for the youth in Northwest Iowa. When introducing herself, we learned that Noemi was born and raised in Romania before she eventually made her way to Sioux Center to attend Dordt College.
I’m always intrigued by someone who has grown up in another part of the world and now lives in America. So in order to gain her perspective on life in America, I asked her this question prefaced by an assumption on my part. I said, “Noemi, I feel privileged to have lived my whole life in American even though I also believe living in America has had a negative impact on my life; can you see how living in America would have a negative impact on the people who live here?
Her first response was that she was surprised by the “level of entitlement” Americans live with. She immediately proceeded to share an example of when she was at a gathering with some youth and one of the young students was complaining that his hamburger bun wasn’t pre-cut. She went on to share with that student that while she was living in Romania under communism, they didn’t even get to eat bread, so maybe he should be thankful for the bun he had. And then Noemi added, “And I’m surprised by how much food American’s throw away.”
We then carried on with our conversation about the importance of mentoring in discipleship, however, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the ways my “level of entitlement” is impacting my level of gratitude. I began to wonder about the things I complain of, like if my hamburger bun isn’t cut. In a presidential election year, the candidates feed into our entitlement mentality by promising all kinds of free goodies with no increases in taxes.
I’ve discovered that the list of things I feel entitled to is very long; including a Christian life free from persecution and suffering. As I continued to reflect on the impact of entitlement in my life, I realized that one of the effects on me is that I become less grateful and more crotchety. A sense of entitlement causes me to complain more and love less. And I find I am often like James and John who said to Jesus in Mark 10:35, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask…” Like James and John, I want to be in a position of power and authority rather than in a position to give my life away to helping others.
And so, just as Jesus corrected James and John, may it not be so with you and me that we would live with a sense of entitlement, but rather that we would simply be grateful for all the gifts of grace we enjoy and the opportunities to serve in God’s kingdom. “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Learning to be content, Mike Altena