Posted on 02/02/2012 7:45:35 PM PST by WXRGina
The other day I was talking to Kipp Greggory, our morning talk show host, during whose program this radio blog broadcast airs. We do not see each other very often, but when we do, it’s a fast-paced gab fest! He brought up a point of aggravation to him that amazed me, because it is something that bothers my husband and me, as well, and I have not heard anyone else make the point. It is the profusion of advertising that appeals to the prevalent sense of entitlement that infects many people in our society today.
You have heard the ads on the radio. You have seen them on television. Whatever product is being pushed, the message is often phrased in the “you deserve” angle. “Get the credit you deserve.” “Get the home you deserve.” “Get the job you deserve.” “Get the body you deserve.” “Get the love life you deserve.” “Get the good night’s sleep you deserve.” The list goes on and on, and is enough to drive you crazy, if you are paying attention to such foolish messaging.
I think one of the earliest incarnations of this dumb message was by McDonalds, when it launched the early-1970s “You deserve a break today” ad campaign. Yes, we all deserved our splendid pick from a delightful fast food menu.
What is it that bothers me so much about this message? Well, for one thing, it is stupid. How can we logically conclude that we “deserve” any of the things the advertising world pushes at us? If we have eaten ourselves into five sizes too big, how can we justify believing that we “deserve” to have a body like the beautiful, trim model on the exercise machine pictured on television? If we have spent ourselves into a chasm of debt, how can we imagine we should get the credit we “deserve”? It makes no sense, except to a mind blinded by lazy, selfish greed.
But, the bottom line of why this message irks me is the fact that I know what we all deserve, and some of you will not like to hear it. We all deserve death. Yes, death. Whether we like it or not, and whether we even accept it or not, we are accountable to our Creator. God is. And, we owe him our very existence, because we cannot take a breath without receiving it from Him. All we have comes from Him (and we think we earned it on our own). He made us and all we see, and He has a standard of perfection that none of us can achieve. His law requires perfect obedience, but not one of us could ever perfectly obey, and God’s penalty for breaking His law is death, which is eternal separation from Him.
God knew from before He created time and set us in it that we would choose sin and death, and Adam wasted no time in making that choice in the Garden, so God, Who loves us infinitely, made a way, a bridge, between God and man. That bridge is God the Father’s only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus willingly took on the form of fallen mankind and lived a sinless life—not once did He break God’s law—and He offered Himself up as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. He gave His life—no one took it from him, because no one could. He took upon Himself the death we all deserve.
There is no other way to God, except through His Son. Yes, it is exclusive. That is why Jesus said that broad is the way that leads to destruction—with the many, many false religions, false versions of Christianity and idols in the world—and many people go down that deadly path, but narrow is the gate that leads to life, and few find it. Jesus is that Gate.
I suppose this message of salvation is what makes the “you deserve”-entitlement-mentality advertising so sinister. The very message of “you deserve” is a lie, and although I realize lots of advertising is lies, this lie is somehow worse, because it directly contradicts the truth of God’s Word. It serves to lift man up on his own mini-god pedestal, where he “deserves” the finest things this world has to offer, and if he is up there on his lofty perch, how can he see himself as the hopeless wretch he truly is, who is in desperate need of salvation? He can’t.
The message of salvation is plain and simple, and it is a sweet fragrance to those who embrace it, but it is a stench to those who refuse it as they perish. The Apostle John transcribed the words of Jesus in this powerful passage,
“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
The fact that we are moving around and living our lives is a testament to God’s great patience and mercy. Most of us do not get what we deserve in a timely manner. God gives us countless chances to turn to Him and accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus. I thank God that I will not get what I deserve, for though I stumble on a daily basis, when I die, I will not experience eternal separation from Him. I will be covered by the blood of Jesus. Thanks be to my Father in Heaven!
The principle of getting what we deserve also applies to the shabby state of our nation today. The Word of the Lord through the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians states one of God’s immutable truths,
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
America turned its collective back on God several decades ago. Those among us who despise God and Christ have worked hellishly and feverishly to force even the mention of the Lord’s name out of the public square, and those of us who love the Lord allowed it to happen with hardly a fight. What do we suppose we deserve as a nation for spitting in His holy face? We have the degenerate society we deserve. We have the corrupt government we deserve. We have the wicked public education system we deserve, which cranks out the godless, socialist automatons we deserve (Occupy Wall Street, anyone?). We have the criminal fraud of a President we deserve.
And, unless this nation somehow makes a sharp, right-hand U-turn to the Lord, we will continue to get the hell we deserve in increasing measure. But, no matter how bad things get in our country and the world, each of us individually has the opportunity—as long as we are still alive—to accept God’s free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. If you have not already done so, please accept Him while you still can, so that you can possess true peace, wisdom and knowledge during your time on this earth, and so that on that great and terrible Day of the Lord, you will not get what you deserve.
Ping to betty boop’s excellent post 20 addressing public education.
I know it’s preaching to the choir, but Screwtape Proposes a Toast is a classic.
Nonsense, those saying that haven't a clue!
Paul asked for release from his "thorn" as well...and we all know the response. Jesus asked "the cup be removed"...God said no... Bottom line is His healing is for all Christians,... for with certainty that will happen once we're home with Him.
Just because God chooses to delay healing does not mean it isn't coming....the desire will be fulfilled in us...the timing is His.
BTW, I recall realizing that those types of "people" more times then not read every Word of God as a 'promise' to them when in fact those "promises' are actually possibilities alone. Just not sit in stoane.
OH SO VERY TRUE, dear sister in Christ! It was written some 50+ years ago. And I daresay it was prophetic....
And so I hereby "propose": There is no just rationale for "public" education in the first place. The federal Constitution doesn't even contemplate that. Therefore, abolish the Department of Education.
The DoE hasn't got any constitutional authority to "educate" anybody. Not even Congress has that power.
Since Jimmah Carter founded the so-called Department of Education, our national test scores have steadily plummeted, in the areas of mathematics and science especially, in comparison with those of competitor nations. Meanwhile, it's costing the federal taxpayer a fortune, each and every year. All to spread the most anti-social, irrational, and pernicious doctrines, designed to undermine civil society from within, from the get-go.
Or so it seems to me. Thanks for listening to my rant, dear sister in Christ!
And thank you ever so much for your kind words of support. Yes, it was about public education! And Lewis is glorious on this subject!
JMHO FWIW
Preach it, sister!!!!!
Thank you, Betty Boop! Thank you!
I recently read an article about how the costs for "educating" our students and yet they no longer are competitive with those of other countries spending far far less.
My son took his teenage daughters out of the school system this year, who are doing Cyber-Schooling. It's better but the criteria is still the same....but they at least believe they can counter that since the parents are directly involved with what's being taught as it's being taught. Thus far all their grades have been par excellant for they do not have the distractions etc. that floods the halls in the school system...and they were good students even then. Hopefully my family will give enough of the otherwise teaching to offset some of that from the school system. But I do question if this is even going to stop what's being stuffed into these kids.
Hi Alamo-Girl,.....
This election is going to reveal much I think....it does seem God is drawing a line in the sand and asking each one who they will serve....the problem is the deceptions are so convincing to the uninformed, and those unfamiliar with scripture, that the public is so very easily mislead and willingly so..... We saw that at Obamas election...and now we have one running who ‘counterfeits’ what people somehow now believe we need to turn back to...(God)... but it’s a movement to the “false religions” under a One World Unity of Religions. I am very afraid we may have waited too long...it sometimes seems the most we can accomplish is slowing the trajectory down at best.
Here’s a 16 yr. old gal who just had a ‘unified’ schools prayer removed from it’s walls....her photo appears pretty smug IMO, but the article is interesting when you read how she came about taking this thru the courts.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46160046/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/
Use every man after his desert, and who should ‘scape whipping? -Hamlet
Use every man after his desert, and who should ‘scape whipping? -Hamlet
Thank goodness there are still those among us who can still understand “Shakespeare.”
Thank you for your encouragement, dear WXRGina!
I confess I am one of those who takes God's promises as a done deal. Though I'm pretty sure no one would call me a "name it and claim it" sort of Christian.
Thank you oh so very much for your informative and engaging essay-post, dearest sister in Christ!
Thank you for your encouragement, dear brother in Christ!
I do too. It's the people who tell me that it's not God's will for me to be sick and that I just have to rebuke Satan and claim the health that is my "right", who I take issue with, especially when they aren't healed from everything themselves and I know that.
God's promises are "yes" and "amen" but that is no guarantee that I'll never be sick or struggle with finances but rather that God will provide and not fail me when I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that His grace will be sufficient.
However, I'm not into blackmailing God or trying to force His hand to meet my demands by misappropriating Scripture.
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