The American Dream...

So I've been reading this book called Radical by David Platt, and its inspired this new subject of the American Dream.

The American Dream as of James Truslow Adams - "a dream...in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are."



This is the "dream" of seemingly every American today, and to most it is accepted. This phrase is generally associated with the freedom that America also stands for. That we can do anything we work and strive for. Setting high goals and hard work are definitely not a bad thing. The bible teaches these things. And the liberty to achieve our goals is a blessing we should celebrate. But to the Christian there's a  dangerous underlying assumption and goal. This assumption is we usually unknowingly accept is that our greatest asset is our own ability. The American Dream rewards those with accomplishments to those that rely on their own abilities and trust in themselves. But, this is now what the gospel demands of us. God wants us to give ourselves to Him, to die to ourselves and trust in Him.

John 15-5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me."


The fatal goal of the American Dream is that we will pursue it and achieve our goals. This first problem i see with achieving our goals is that they are OUR goals. Only when our goals are His goals, thats when the we are effective. The other problem and more dangerous is that when we pursue and achieve those goals on our own power, we also give the glory to ourselves. Because when we do things on our own, its natural to give props to ourselves for achieving them. Adams - "...and be recognized by others for what they are." The American Dream - to make much of ourselves. The gospel - to make much of God. As Christians, i think we should look beyond the "American Dream" and look to what's greater and sprint to God's goals for you. They are definitely WAY more amazingly, unimaginably, better than what we have for ourselves. : )