The Toppling of Our Society

What has gone wrong? Why has the American dream faded for so many?

Jesus tells a story about two men, one wise and one foolish. The story is recorded this way.

Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

Our society has emphasized the accumulation of possession. Our homes are filled with things that we don't own. We are constantly be bombarded with savvy marketing strategies to finance. To get our heart's desires now and pay later. Almost every other commercial, be it on TV or the Radio, is for a new car, and 9 times out of 10 you are being told to "finance" or "least." What happened to paying for things? What happened to planning effectively for the purchase of that new vehicle or something we need?

We are building a foundation on sand, based upon future income. We are buying today, on money we don’t have. We are building our society on planned debt that makes us very vulnerable to the slightly financial crisis. So today, the slightest fluctuation in our financial institutions causes many heart to fear. All we have now is in danger of being lost if our income stops.

Advertisement and education has played a major role in our downward spiral. We are taught to become selfish, worldly, and materialist. We have these well know slogans like, "He who dies with the most toys winds." "You owe it to yourself." "Pay yourself first." "Look out for number one." The sad part however, is that many practice this; from the executive who pills up fortunes while many are being laid off, to the little boy who has so many toys but refuses to give away one.

Our work ethnic has also drastically deteriorated. It is so bad, that employers are paying higher salaries in an attempt to bribe the workers from jumping ship and going to the competition. To make matters worse, the employees do just enough not to get fired. Long is gone the days when a man took pride in his work. Now it is all about "when is payday." "The weekend is almost here." "Ten more years for retirement." "I better get a big Christmas bonus!"

 But what has caused this? Why are we, even us as Christians, falling so fast into financial ruin? Have we been following the wrong leader?

The Worldly Model