"...perhaps after listening to these messages about squashing the entitlement attitude and reading those words of our text, 'We are unworthy slaves,' you’ve been wondering, 'So, am I just to consider myself a big fat zero? Am I nothing before God? Is that supposed to be my goal, to be a nobody? Does God want to reduce me to zero? Sounds like negative, defeatist thinking to me. How can anything good come from such teaching?'"

I’m reading from the words of Pauline Wallin, Ph.D., on her website dedicated to her book with the strange title: Taming Your Inner Brat.(1)

She continues: There are specific reasons why we repeat such patterns. The reasons are embodied in a concept called the "inner brat." Not a psychiatric diagnosis, this inner brat is nevertheless responsible for getting us into trouble with ourselves and others. People with a strong inner brat lash out at others; they fall into addictive patterns of eating, drinking, or smoking; they get involved in affairs or end up in self-defeating cycles. They don't acknowledge blame or responsibility for what goes wrong in their lives. And despite how they may appear to others, they are usually unhappy with themselves.

That’s the end of the quote.

Dr. Wallin’s website is actually an ad for her book, Taming Your Inner Brat, which I have not read. I did read excerpts from it on the website however, and as I did I realized that this "inner brat" that she describes was actually diagnosed long before she or anyone else in modern times figured it out and wrote a book about it. A long time ago the Apostle Paul and other writers of the New Testament described it quite accurately – only they referred to it as "the flesh."

"For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please," wrote Paul in Galatians 5:17-21. "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these…."

It was the potential of this "flesh" (or "inner brat") raising its ugly head that Jesus was trying to head off in his apostles as He spoke those words in Luke 7:7-10 that have been our text for the last three Sundays. Let’s read them again:

For three weeks now we’ve been in series of sermons that we’ve called, Squashing the Entitlement Attitude. This is the fourth and final message. The entitlement attitude is just another expression of the flesh (that "inner brat" living in us.) It is the self-centered attitude that says, "You owe me," "I have it coming," "I deserve it." It will not be happy until it gets its way and because of this it sets a person up for a very unhappy life. The entitlement attitude is at the root of many of the problems we have, which is our reason for addressing the subject.

Here’s a quick review of what we’ve concluded so far:

We applied these truths in five common areas of concern to Christians and concluded that:

1. God has every right to treat us differently than His other Servants.
2. God has every right to take back anything He has given.
3. God has every right to expect us to be good stewards of what He has given us.
4. God has every right to expect us to give grace to others even when they don’t deserve it.
5. God has every right to expect our faithful service to him even when others don't seem to recognize or appreciate it.

Acceptance of these truths would go a long ways in taming that inner bratty flesh that wreaks so much havoc in our lives.

But perhaps after listening to these messages about squashing the entitlement attitude and reading those words of our text, "We are unworthy slaves," you’ve been wondering, "So, am I just to consider myself a big fat zero? Am I nothing before God? Is that supposed to be my goal, to be a nobody? Does God want to reduce me to zero? Sounds like negative, defeatist thinking to me. How can anything good come from such teaching?"

If this instruction about squashing the entitlement attitude were coming from any source but God’s word, I would probably be asking some of the same questions. But I’ve learned in the years I’ve been a Christian that the teachings of the Bible are always reliable when properly understood and always contain the richest blessings for us when we heed them. This passage is no exception.

I can think of at least three wonderful, positive, life enhancing benefits that come from putting Jesus’ words in Luke 7 into practice. First, when we squash the entitlement attitude in our lives:

That’s just another way of saying that were suddenly more aware of the blessings we have than the things that don’t have.

I hope that you’ve figured out that so much of the joy (or misery) we get from life is found not as a result of our circumstances but rather in the attitude we adopt in toward those circumstances. I’m sure you’re familiar with the half-full/half-empty glass metaphor. One man looks at the glass and rejoices because there is still a half glass of water. Another man looks at the very same vessel and worries that it is already half-empty. One sees refreshing water. One sees distressing empty space. One is an optimist, one a pessimist. One is content and happy. One is worried and stressed.

How does this intersect the issue of the entitlement attitude? The person who believes he is "entitled" sets himself up to be a pessimist – a "half-empty glass" thinker - because he’s focused not on the blessings he has but on the things he does not have but believes are rightly his. When he cannot get them he’s frustrated, angry, and bitter. Such a person takes the things he has for granted. He seldom enjoys them because he’s focused on the things he does not have but feels he deserves. In his mind the things he possesses are not blessings to be appreciated. They are entitlements to be assumed. His life is spent looking at the half-empty glass, that is, demanding the additional things he believes he’s entitled to. Such a one sentences himself to a life of frustration because no one gets all he wants or thinks he’s entitled to.

The wisdom of that old song, "Count your blessings, name them one by one" is lost on him. According to his way of thinking he has no blessings. Life (and God if he believes in Him) has shortchanged him. All he can count are the things he thinks he should have but doesn’t.

On the other hand, the person who has squashed the entitlement attitude, understanding that he’s entitled to nothing, can relax about what he doesn’t have, leave that part to God, and appreciate and praise God for the blessings he does have. It’s a much better way to live.

Here’s a man who is on his way up the corporate ladder. He’s very busy with his work. He’s competitive. He’s sharp. He’s successful. He’s "driven" as they say. Then one day he comes home and his wife has left him, taken the kids, and filed for divorce. No amount of persuading will change her mind. He took her for granted. He treated her and his family not as a blessing to be appreciated but as an entitlement to be assumed. Now he’s lonely and the things he has striven for don’t seem to have much meaning anymore. He’s been robbed by the entitlement attitude.

Or here is another man in a similar situation. He’s busy. He’s successful. But he has no time for his God. He’ll take care of that relationship later – once he has spent his youth and accomplished his goals getting those things he believes are rightly his. Suddenly he gets sick. The diagnosis from the doctor is inoperable cancer. He has three months to live – maybe. His whole life is thrown into a tailspin. He took it all for granted. He knew he wouldn’t live forever – no one does. But somehow he figured he would live a full life. He treated life as an entitlement rather than a blessing. Now, perhaps too late, he realizes that each new day is a privilege, not an entitlement. He "slows down to smell the roses" as they say. He now sees life as it was meant to be seen – not as something to be demanded or taken for granted, but as a blessing to be savored and appreciated. Far better that he had put his relationship with his God first, then pursued his goals. Knowing God would have taught him how to look at life.

When we squash the entitlement attitude in our lives, we begin to appreciate the blessings that God has given us because without the entitlement mindset, everything is a blessing. The glass is indeed, "half-full." We learn to appreciate that. We aren’t driven to misery over all the things we don’t have.

Secondly, when we squash the entitlement attitude in our lives:

I’m speaking to Christians here – people who recognize that God is the Master and we are supposed to be the servants. What kind of servants are we? Are we good servants who do a first class job or are we like hirelings who just show up for the benefits but have no loyalty or faithfulness to the Master?

There are some words that I look forward to hearing from God sometime in the future. I really hope you do, too. I look forward to hearing Jesus’ words found in Matthew 25:21: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master."

I was listening to Sean Hannity interview Secretary of State, Colin Powell a couple of weeks ago. Hannity asked Secretary Powell whether he was going to consider a run for the Presidency in ’08. Ever the consummate diplomat, General Powell said, "I am too busy to consider such matters right now. Until I am relieved of my duty I will serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States." Aside from the Secretary’s artful dodging of his interviewer’s question, I was struck by his phrase, "I will serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States." What a humble statement! It’s an attitude that is sorely lacking these days in many of our so-called "public servants."

As I heard those words from Secretary Powell, I thought that this should be the attitude of every Christian. "I will serve at the pleasure of the God of Heaven. My own pleasure, my own gratification, comes only after that."

Isn’t that what we see reflected in our text in Luke 17? Look at verse 8 again:

One with the entitlement attitude serves at his own pleasure. He must eat first. He’s in it only for number one. God is OK in his life as long as there is an evident benefit to be had. But if the circumstance does not reward him, if there is no noticeable benefit in a service, he is nowhere to be found. Such a one serves God only at his own convenience, not at the pleasure of the God of Heaven. Why? Because he’s entitled to a life of his own, thank you, and no service to God or anybody else is going to stand in the way of getting and keeping what he feels he rightfully deserves!

One who squashes the entitlement attitude will begin to serve at God’s pleasure. Not denying that he has desires of his own, and even pursuing them as circumstances allow, he will always defer to God’s pleasure rather than his own when circumstances call for it. This is the quality of a first class servant. Such a one is loyal. Such a one is faithful. Such a one doesn’t run away with the hirelings when things get tough. Then, when the work is done, he doesn’t stand around expecting something special. He says, "I have only done what I ought to have done. I still serve at the pleasure of my Master."

Which kind of servant are you? Are you just a "hireling" or do you serve at the pleasure of your Lord?

Squashing the entitlement attitude helps us move from "glass half-empty" people to "glass half-full" people." It also causes us to become first class servants.

Thirdly, when we squash the entitlement attitude:

As I’ve already noted, a person with a bad case of the entitlement attitude will never be happy. Such a one is constantly keeping a score card of wrongs done to him by others – things where he feels that he has been cheated and deserved better. Such a life is a life of misery because no one who believes he is entitled ever gets all he thinks he deserves. Also, such a one will inevitably whine and complain to others to the extent that soon they don’t want to be around him. This will dig him further into the hole of his own self-made misery. Misery may love company but company certainly doesn't like misery!

My friends, we were not made to be self-focused. We were made to be God focused and other focused. We begin to unwind and self-destruct when we focus inwardly on self because inside us is that flesh, that bratty, spoiled child – that "inner brat" that will never be satisfied. We end up with all kinds of emotional problems. Joy leaves us. In the worst cases we crash and burn.

Jesus said in Matthew 10:39: "He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it." I believe that what Jesus meant was that if we wish to find the good life He offers, we must give up trying to find it in ourselves and our cause and find it in Him and His cause.

The great part of the genius of Christianity is that it delivers us from ourselves. Selfish people are persistently unhappy. They miss out on the joy the Bible speaks of in such passages as 1 Peter 1:8 which speaks of a "joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Race cars aren’t made for the street. If #8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or one of the other NASCAR drivers decided to use his race car for running to the store to buy bread and milk, there would soon be problems. Cars with 750 horsepower engines that can go 200 miles per hour aren’t made for low speed, short trips. Fuel wouldn’t burn right. Carburetors would clog up. Soon they wouldn’t run at all.

Likewise, we are made to serve the God who created us. We were not made to serve only self. When we deny Him and serve only ourselves we are soon clogged up with troubles for which we have no solution and there comes to us a thirst that no amount of self-gratification can quench. We find the joy God intended only when we run on the track God designed us for – the track of service to Him.

So how do we get on that track? What are we supposed to do? Let me give you another illustration.

An old prospector was about to die from thirst as he wandered through the desert country of the Wild West. He staggered up to an old abandoned barn and found a creaky old pump. Heartened and hopeful, he began to pump. But nothing came out. Then he noticed a jug of water sitting beside the pump. When he removed the stopper in the neck of the bottle of warm water, however, it smelled old and musty. He took a sip and quickly spit it out. It was foul and bitter.

A note was attached to the jug. It read, "Friend, if you want water you must pour this whole bottle into the pump to make it work. When you use it be sure to refill the bottle for the next traveler." The old prospector faced a dilemma. Should he trust that the pump would work, or satisfy his thirst of the moment with the bitter water, then ultimately die anyway? After some careful consideration, he made his choice. He poured the whole bottle of water into the pump and began pumping. At first it creaked but nothing happened. Had he made the wrong choice? Then suddenly a few drops of water appeared, then a little stream, and finally the old pump gushed out gallons of fresh water. He quenched his own thirst and filled his canteen. Then he filled the bottle back up and attached another note.

"Believe me it really works; but you have to give it all away to get some."

That’s what Jesus meant when he said, "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it."

The entitlement attitude will not allow us to give it all away. It’s self-focused limits cause us to restrict ourselves only to the bitter gallon of water. Life can only be joyous when we lose it for the sake of God’s cause. But it’s a step of faith that we must take.

Let me finish this series with a quote from Gilbert W. Bowen in a sermon on gratitude:

I encourage you to adopt the third alternative. It teaches us to appreciate what we have but to hold our possessions loosely and trust our God fully. Life itself is a gift from God, not an entitlement. Squash the entitlement attitude!

Footnotes: Use your back button to return to your place.

1. http://drwallin.com/innerbrat_desc.shtml
2. http://www.kuc.org/sermons/112199.htm

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

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All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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