"Entitlements"-we hear this word on a daily basis, yet seldom realize where it came from and what it leads to.
Before we go any further, we must accept the fact that there are legal entitlements. If we contract to work for a certain wage, we are entitled to the salary paid. The U. S. Constitution tells us we are entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Contracts, if fulfilled, entitle us to the terms. But it ends there.
Today, "entitlements" have taken on a life of their own. For example, we are told that we are entitled to healthcare, welfare, affordable housing, a college education, a minimum wage, and the list goes on and on. The error here is that these, and other perks, are rightly ours just for "being." Benefits are "owed" to certain people. In our society, there seems to be no hesitancy, humility, or shame in putting a hand out and taking what was not earned. My grandfather, no friend of socialism, had it right when he said, "You never get enough when you get it for nothing."
A more serious problem is that there is a lack of gratitude toward those who make these provisions. Why be thankful if we are entitled? Today's concept of "entitlement" leads to ingratitude because it denies grace. It is an insidious danger. There seems to be little thankfulness around us in our world. But, there does seem to be a steady stream of complainers who feel they are entitled to get their "fair share."
What is a serious societal problem is also a serious spiritual problem. I believe that it was seriously exacerbated by the theology of "self-esteem," which has grown to maturity in recent years. Robert Schuller stated in his book of 1982 (Self Esteem: The New Reformation, 98) "The most serious sin is the one that causes me to say, ‘I am unworthy. I may have no claim to divine sonship if you examine me at my worst.' For once a person believes he is an ‘unworthy sinner,' it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ." This false theology has permeated much of modern evangelicalism.
Salvation becomes a right, not a gift. All we have to do is be reminded to take it (sort of like the letters we get in the mail telling us not to miss out on some government program). Sin and the sinful nature of man are mere minor impediments. Modern evangelicalism with its insistence on the free will of man also insists that Christ died for all men. It is there for the taking if man decides he needs it. Add to that the fact that increasingly we are taught that our works are a basis for justification-good works entitle us to righteousness.
Because entitlements deny grace and lead to ingratitude, the disastrous results are seen all around us (see Part III of the Heid. Cat.). Entitlements feed greed.
The first result of such ingratitude is less and less proper prayer-either to thank God or to seek God's grace. Then lawlessness and disregard for God's commandments also rises when ingratitude increases. We know that "God is love" (1 Jn. 4:8, 16), but many assume that He therefore owes us that love. In fact, however, love is the gift of God. Our secular view of entitlements has caused people increasingly to look to the government instead of to God for their necessities. Since the government gets its revenue from the people, entitlements result in us ultimately giving to ourselves and others and yet giving the credit to a politician.
The scriptures ask the rhetorical question, "Who has first given to Him [God] and it shall be repaid to him?" (Rom. 11:35). In other words, who has merited an entitlement from God? No one. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). It is true that God rewards good works in this life and in that which is to come, but "the reward comes not of merit, but of grace" (HC Q63).
True thanksgiving must begin with a realization of both our utter poverty and accursedness, and then of our helplessness and unworthiness. What God has given us for this life and that which is to come has been given to us by His marvelous grace alone. The promise of salvation, righteousness, and everlasting life is a sure promise to the children of God. But this is not an entitlement in the secular sense. It is by God's sovereign grace, through faith in Christ, that we were adopted and made heirs to the promise.
We are dependent people, but not entitled people. We depend on God. Paul put his finger on this in 1 Cor. 15:10, "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me."
As Christians, we have everything to be thankful for when we have a biblical understanding of what we possess, where it has come from, and why. "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I hope in Him!" (Lam. 3:22-24)
