Choosing Gratitude In a “Gimme” World (Part 1)
Photo Credit: Jon Tyson on Unsplash
I once heard one of the Shark Tank investors quip: “Greed is good.” Sadly, because of the shark’s high profile and impressive portfolio, his incendiary sound bite is taken seriously by many.
How can a word like greed一which dictionaries unanimously define as selfish, excessive, and exploitative一be so sloppily endorsed?
The answer is, we live in a “gimme” world, that is, one that relentlessly markets to our desires, blurs the line between want and need, and redefines words so that what’s blatantly self-serving might become common一even respectable.
Ingratitude is the catnip marketers use to draw us in. And most of us take the bait. As with any cultural vice, it’s easy to point at the extreme examples and separate ourselves from the problem, but for most of us, ingratitude is instinctual, while gratitude can feel like a chore.
Why is it so easy to ignore what we have一and exhaust ourselves to gain what we don’t?
Cultural Catechesis
The answer is, consumerism has catechized us. Greed is the air we breathe. Certain values are assumed: more is better than less, new is better than old, easy and quick is better than difficult and well-earned (cue “Automatic” by Miranda Lambert).
Marketers spend billions to convince us that we’re #1一that we should have exactly what we want, whenever we want it. Consider the following company taglines and the mindset they promote:
Loreal: Because you’re worth it
Burger King: Have it your way
Uber: Move the way you want
Walmart: Save money. Live better
Wrigley’s Gum: Double your pleasure, double your fun
Visa: Everywhere you want to be
Outback Steakhouse: No rules, just right
You’re worth it. Your way. What you want. Your pleasure. Your fun. No rules.
Consumerism has catechized us.
We hear these taglines so often, we can quote them. We might not even like some of those brands or use their products一but realize the power of this marketing: you’ve memorized their values, whether you wanted to or not.
I grew up near a little man-made lake, and to keep it from growing algae, they dumped gallons of this blue chemical into the water. As a kid, sometimes I’d go fishing there, and every fish I caught was totally coated in that blueish-green sludge. The fish had no idea they were dyed like a neon Easter egg一that’s just what happens when you live in that environment.
It’s impossible to live in our world without the residue of entitlement clinging to us. Like oblivious fish, we swim in the cesspool of consumerism, absorbing its noxious chemicals, slowly color-shifting to match the waters around us.
What Ingratitude Sounds Like
How do you know that ingratitude has taken root? Here’s what it sounds like:
If only I could have , then I would be satisfied.
That person gets , so I should too.
Life should be easy. Things should go my way.
If only I could fix up my house, or afford a house, or buy a bigger house.
I deserve to take awesome vacations.
I deserve kids who listen to me, a spouse that helps me more, in-laws that I like being around.
I deserve a job that pays me what I’m worth.
I don’t look at porn, so I deserve sex with my spouse whenever/however I want.
I obey God in most areas, so it’s fine to mess around with the person I’m dating.
Sometimes well-meaning friends, even other Christians, push us deeper into ungrateful entitlement: Yeah, you do deserve more. I just updated my house一you should too! Your boss is a jerk, so don’t worry about slacking on that project. Serves him right! You work hard, so just take an expensive vacation even though you can’t afford it.
Entitlement is what Satan himself marketed to Adam and Eve in the Garden. Did God really say not to eat from the tree? Don’t you think you deserve more?
Our wallets and worship are connected.
If the deceiver wielded the weapon of ingratitude, we can be sure he’s still at it, making greed look exciting and contentment look boring. It’s no coincidence that Colossians 3:5 equates greed with idolatry: our wallets and worship are connected.
Contentment says: “God, you’re everything to me. I’m satisfied in you.”
Discontentment says: “God, you’re a means to an end. Give me what I want.”
Don’t underestimate the power of our “gimme” culture一the world, our flesh, and the devil himself nudge us toward discontentment every day. Entitlement is like a fog surrounding us, and after enough time in the cloud of “I deserve this” and “I deserve that,” we start believing it.
A Way Forward
The bad news is, entitlement and discontentment live in all of us. But there’s good news too: God has given us a strategy to live with countercultural contentment in a “gimme” world, and that strategy is gratitude.
You don’t have to live with the aching heart of discontentment. You can be free of the plague of envy and entitlement, which blind you to God’s abundant blessings that are already yours in Christ.
In my next few posts, I’ll explain how that’s possible.
