What is the American Dream? There are probably as many iterations as there are communities in the US.
But, coming from a family (albeit generations removed) of immigrants, I can say that the hope that made my ancestors leave Sweden and Poland with just a trunk of belongings was increased freedom. Social mobility, economic prosperity, freedom of opinion and religion all doubtless appealed to them.
Still, it wasn’t all a rosy picture: my family name was so unpronounceable to US English speakers that my ancestors changed it to “Chase” to better fit in and avoid being called unsavory nicknames that my dad wouldn’t tell me.
My dad and mother weren’t taught the old languages as much, in an attempt to help them assimilate, though their parents and grandparents spoke it.
So, language and name were largely abandoned for this new dream.
And, I am losing some of the culture, I am sad to say. It has been diluted to the point where I know of traditional Swedish Christmas foods, the tradition of Santa Lucia day, a tomten (a folktale character), and lutefisk. But, it’s not a coherent whole.
Keeping the Faith
One thing my family did retain was Christianity, albeit in a protestant direction rather than the Catholicism of some of my ancestors and relatives. But, this too became conflated with the new homeland’s culture.
But, does the calling to follow Christ in the US allow the believer to embrace the American Dream?
Can I accept the dream that, regardless of my background or ethnicity, I can pursue happiness–often through economic prosperity–as my highest aim, and expect to have a better life than my ancestors?
Surely, this is a call issued by US culture, but is it also in line with Christianity?
Is that Jesus Calling or America?
I remember a Christian book my parents owned that I was too young to understand: “What Ever Happened to the American Dream?” by Larry Burkett.
I was too young to fully understand it, but it seemed Mr. Burkett believed that the benefits of hard work and perseverance were being shoved to the wayside:
“The dream that the founders [of our country] gave us was not one of perverted materialism . . . It was an idea: that God had created all men to be equal in opportunity, so that each could elect to work hard and prosper or lay around and suffer hunger.”
Written in 1993, the book sounded the alarm about government welfare, liberalism, and other perceived social and moral ills.
The noteworthy thing here is the conservative, evangelical imagination captured by the founding fathers as creating a “nation under God,” operating on Christian principles.
Indeed, my childhood church’s lobby had conservative political literature and candidate brochures along with evangelistic tracts. They also had a banner celebrating the US’s anniversary (1776-1976) alongside a painting of Jesus.
A Dual Allegiance
We pledged allegiance to both the “Christian flag” and the US flag in kids’ club.
This mindset of the church allied with conservative politicians stemmed from a fear of godless communism and forged an alliance between cultural Christianity and the US government and its ideals, as filtered through the lens of the Republican party.
And, as my childhood church embraced this Cold War mindset, it became part of my thinking as well.
If God had blessed America materially as a sign of his favor, then it was incumbent upon us to turn back to God continually to maintain the material favor of God. That meant loving our troops, supporting conservative politicians, and also attending church.
If the American Dream was to die, I gathered, it would be at the hands of liberals, whose behavior would turn Christianity into a social gospel instead of the true gospel.
Thus we had to work–if not for our own salvation–then for our country’s. The line blurred between the protestant work ethic and earning God’s favor by a set of actions, instead of accepting state welfare.
But, what was inherently Christian about becoming wealthier, climbing the social ladder, and so on? Maintaining religious freedoms made sense, but not necessarily achieving prosperity as a sign of God’s favor.
I worked to that end, but felt a counter current, not from liberalism, but from within my church.
Memory Verses and The American Dream
In contrast to embracing US values wholesale, we also read Bible verses at my church that were hard to overlook as they pertain to the American Dream:
- “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added into you.” (Matthew 6:33)
If this is our first priority, we must put material prosperity second.
- “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24)
If we value the kingdom of God, how can we value wealth?
- “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” (Luke 12:27)
Our wealth may not bring us the glory we desire.
- “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’” (Luke 12:20)
Death comes for everyone, in the end.
Our material wealth is very temporary, and will not last.
- “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:19-20)
Our wealth, like we ourselves, can easily perish.
My conclusion is that wealth should not be viewed as a calling in itself. Nor should freedom, the other aspect of the American Dream. Rather, we are to use both as tools rather than goals in themselves:
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13)
We who enjoy material prosperity to varying degrees and also have freedoms of belief and action should not take them for granted. They are not ours for the purpose of overindulgence or security, but service to others.
The American Dream can distort our calling if we view selfishness as a calling. We can take pleasure in our freedoms and our possessions, but our ultimate joy and happiness will not be found there.
Wealth should not be viewed as a calling in itself. Nor should freedom, the other aspect of the American Dream. Rather, we are to use both as tools to serve others. Click To Tweet
