A sermon against entitlement in the church, calling believers to stop viewing responsibility as toxic and start stewarding the gifts God gave them: time, resources, energy, a body, communication ability, and relationships. The speaker argues that growth requires pressure and that avoiding it stunts both spiritual and personal development.
There are too many leeches in the kingdom of God. There are too many people who take, take, take, and never give. We live in a generation that thinks it's somebody else's responsibility to give them what they need. We live in a generation that thinks any amount of pressure is, quote, toxic, that any amount of responsibility is, quote, bad for their mental health, end quote. I understand principles of rest. I understand that we should take care of ourselves. I understand that we shouldn't let people take advantage of us in terms of our work. I get that. I understand that. I accept that. At the same time, there is an unhealthy attitude that is creeping into the church where men, young men, young women are afraid to take on responsibility because the pressure or slight pressure of that responsibility is looked at as a negative. Pressure is how you grow. How are you ever supposed to grow in strength if there's never any resistance? You have to learn to face resistance. You have to learn to take things on that stretch you beyond your capacity. God created you to be efficient. God created God created you to produce. God created you to have dominion. God created you to create, to cultivate, to steward, to be responsible, to make something of the life that He gave you. He gave you all the ingredients. He gifted you time. He gifted you resources. He gifted you energy. He gifted you a body. He gifted you the ability to communicate. He gifted you relationships. And yet we squander it because we think somebody else is going to come along and rescue us. My friend, God has given you everything you need to flourish. In this world.
