The American Dream

   What is the American Dream? Truslow Adams, who is credited with coining the phrase in 1931, spoke of it as "a dream...in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are".

   Oswald Chambers says today: "The nature of sin is not immorality and wrongdoing, but the nature of self-realization which leads us to say, "I am my own god."

   Chambers also says: "God created man to be master of the life in the earth and sea and sky, and the reason he is not is because he took the law into his own hands, and became master of himself, but of nothing else."

   The key to the "American Dream" is what I can accomplish if I believe and trust in myself. Not only can I do it, but I will be recognized for what I have done.

   The prominent pronoun is "I", and, for me, that is a dangerous trap. If I can do it all then I do deserve all the credit.

   But I can dress all of this up in Christian rhetoric and make it look spiritual. Look, I say, God gave me these abilities and this work ethic, and He expects me to use them to the best of my ability. I acknowledge God in my life, and that makes the whole thing right. OK?

   Then there are these questions:

   Whose power is used?
   Whose will is done?
   Who gets the praise?

   And then to put it in perspective I paraphrase the words to a modern hymn:

   I should not boast in anything
   No gifts, no power, no wisdom
   But I should boast in Jesus Christ
   His death and resurrection

   The hymn uses the word "will" in lines 1 and 3, but, since I know myself, I have to substitute "should".

   Beware of the American Dream trap