American Dreaming

If you are saying to yourself, “I’m a minimalist, entirely unaffected by the so called American dream” than this article is for you.

As a Biblical Studies major, you may find it curious that I work nearly full time for an architect managing his finances and rental properties. The goal is to have enough to pay the bills and maybe obtain some valuable life experience. Honorable aspirations. However, it wasn’t until my conversation with a wise and wealthy business owner where I began to identify in myself a more subtle motivation for taking the job.

I was introduced to a man no older than 35, who established his own remodeling company and owns 12 apartment buildings, most renting $1000 a month. His first apartment building having been purchased at 20. I’m 20 years old without an apartment building or the possibility of obtaining one. In a considerable amount of despair, I asked him, “If I could be so bold, how did you get here sir? How did you become so successful?”.

He turned to me, and shrugged his shoulders, “If by successful you mean rich, then the secret is contentment. I got here by walking through doors that were open, not wasting time kicking in doors that were shut.”

You may not think you are affected by the “American dream” but would you be so quick to say that you do not fall prey to selfish ambition?
There are few times that I can recall being more convicted than the moments, days, and weeks that followed his sobering response. While I am aware that not every wealthy man would respond in such a way, that particular man did. And it was enough to stir my soul.

There are so many valuable aspects of this interaction. First, thing that can be identified is the implied definition of success. Whether I knew it or not, success meant wealth to me in that moment. To believe that success equals wealth is the social norm, but this is a very narrow minded view. He next introduces this revolutionary idea that striving is not necessarily what made him rich. In fact, it was just the opposite. Let’s dive deeper into this interaction.

Here I am, Bible college student, educating myself to make a career out of seeking the heart of Jesus and doing His will yet “suffering” with the suffocating fear of providing. Because in the back of my mind I know that ministry makes no promise to provide a steady or well-paying job. But what exactly is this fear of not being able to provide rooted in? And what does it mean to sufficiently provide? Jesus never promised prosperity to those who did His will. However, He did tell us in Matthew 6 not to worry, that God will meet our needs providing we are seeking the kingdom first (verse 33).

Need.

Herein lies the problem, Christians have allowed the American dream to influence our thought and define what we need. We need equal opportunity, we need rights, we need freedom from oppression, we need to have vacations twice a year, we need a perfect spouse, two perfect children, a home with a white picket fence and a swing on the front porch, and we need to be comfortable. These needs are not Biblical, they are self-righteous desires. Friends, we need only to survive! We were intended to thrive, however that is only possible when we are seeking the kingdom, not when we achieve our selfish “dreams”. Our happiness should not be contingent on living the American dream. Our calling is not contingent on that either. Not only does Jesus condemn worrying about tomorrow, Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2 that we are called to suffer for doing good as Christ did. “For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God…if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps” (1 Peter 2:19–21). The Bible seems to say that we don’t need freedom from oppression, fortune, vacations, front porch swings, or any part of the American dream. On the contrary, we were called to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, and to be prepared to suffer for the truth.

Returning to sociological ideas, the last few points give reason to believe that Jesus would condemn ‘poortalk’ as well. ‘Poortalk’ refers to people who are well-off that speak and behave as though they are poor. To boil down the idea even further, this includes the vast majority of our society that is consumed with chasing success but never finds satisfaction or an end. Social media, Hollywood, even the news does an excellent job of promoting the American dream and upward mobility. Upward mobility sounds well and good, but poortalk poses several problems and has a negative effect on our society. Here’s why.

First, poortalk makes depravity relative. Relative to the perspective you have depending on whichever social class you associate with. But depravity is not, and should not be relative. Just because you do not drive a Porche and have never visited Tahiti does not mean that you are deprived. Just because a person can’t afford cable television does not mean that they are deprived. True deprivation, true poverty, is lack of what is needed. Essentials to survival, as we talked about earlier being that of food, drink, and clothing. If however, your idea of deprivation is always relative to someone who has more than you, you will always feel deprived. Welcome to the vicious cycle of selfish ambition, the over romanticized American dream.

That leads me to the next point. All over you hear, “follow yours dreams” meanwhile the media is planting impossible fantasies in people’s minds. With enough disappointment comes retaliation. Soon people say, “it’s not that we aren’t good enough, it’s that we aren’t being given enough” and entitlement, pride, and corruption takes control. Take the pornography industry for example. Before watching porn, all men want is a pretty woman, all women want is a good-looking man. After indulging for a time, your preferences change. Soon you want a pretty girl, or a handsome guy, AND something more. These preferences only compound upon each other until watching videos is no longer satisfying and every real-life encounter with the opposite sex falls short. Your body can never be satisfied because for so long you have trained it to crave only a fantasy. Interesting how it seems that the American dream, selfish ambition if you will, can take us on a similar downward spiral leading to disappointment and despair.

Not only is poortalk in conjunction with the American dream degrading to those living in true poverty, detrimental to our society and our psychological health, it greatly grieves the heart of Jesus. He did not die on the cross to give you the desires of your selfish heart. He died to create in you a pure heart and give you the desires of a heart orientated toward glorifying God and loving others (Psalm 51). As I mentioned above, 1 Peter says that we are to follow the example of Jesus Christ. To follow Him into all truth, love, servanthood, suffering, and peace. We are called to be fully satisfied in the One for whom we are created for. And as for the American dream, it can be crushed with one powerful verse in 2 Peter, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3–4). Peter teaches something that I think our society needs to hear also, something I need to remind myself every day. We are called to live in the reality that in Christ we lack nothing, which in fact enables us to suffer for doing good, participating in the “divine nature” and avoiding corruption (Psalm 23). Our own dreams could never be better than the plans that God has for us.

As for me, I will remain passionate about my Biblical Studies, and rest knowing that those who God calls He also equips. And if I find myself feeling deprived, I will look to Jesus to remind me that I lack nothing instead of allowing the world to define what I need. Jesus did everything perfectly and died for doing good. Who is to say that I will be, or should be, treated any differently? And maybe, if I practiced being content and satisfied in my Savior, I will feel very rich indeed.