Do you dream, in the sense of aspiring to live a productive life in line with your values? The American Dream is constantly talked about. As an immigrant I have struggled to define what this is. It seems that today it is about having the opportunity of building a successful life from humble beginnings. Obama must be the poster child for achieving this dream, coming from a humble black beginning and arriving on the political stage as the new president of the United States. It is interesting to compare how Americans through the ages have regarded the “dream” and it is relevant to challenge ourselves about what we prioritize and aspire to.

My son James, who is a junior at high school, was writing an essay about the American Dream and how this ideal has changed for Americans through the centuries. Last night he asked me to edit his writing and it was this that prompted me to think about this further. James compared the colonists’ focus as pleasing God rather than themselves. Their ultimate hope was heaven and this was their “dream”. At the time of the revolutionary war the dream was now related to freedom. Unless they were free and independent they could not be fulfilled. The Romantics were intrigued with nature which was reflected in their art and literature. The American dream for them was to focus on the natural world, to escape from the urban, to see this as their ultimate goal.

I am sure that many other influences have affected the “dream” through the years but I thought that the analysis of the colonists, the patriots and the romantics was fascinating. I was particularly intrigued by the reference to Jonathan Edwards, one of the “colonists” who influenced the “Great Awakening” revival and encouraged many to focus on Heaven rather than on worldly pursuits.

Jonathan Edwards wrote “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” My son, James , said that many of his class mates were put off by the strong references to God’s anger and man’s pitiful nature in Edwards famous sermon preached in 1741. However, I see it as a necessary warning to those who have not recognized that without God’s mercy they are on the way to hell. Edwards says “There is nothing that keeps wicked men, at any moment, out of Hell, but the mere pleasure of God.”

Unless we respond to Jesus we are incapable of correcting our own sinful nature, to make ourselves good enough for Heaven. In today’s Christian market place we are accustomed to hearing the “prosperity Gospel” and Christian book stores are full of self help advice on how to be a better Christian mother, lover, sister etc…. If we are not careful we will miss the point. Unless we repent and believe in Christ and obediently follow His Word, we are on a dangerous, wrong path. There is a real danger that we will try and improve ourselves without falling at Christ’s feet, seeking mercy from His righteous anger. Let’s make sure that our friends understand why we need to submit to Christ. Avoiding mentioning hell might be politically sensitive but we all need to know that hell is a place where we deserve to go and we can only avoid it if we seek Christ’s mercy and forgiveness.

In Edwards’ sermon: “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” he refers to the likely response of someone who finds himself in hell. This individual had planned to avoid this awful destination but had failed to follow Christ’s path, following his own dream instead:

“No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself — I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief — Death outwitted me: God’s wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me.”

We should be loving, welcoming, sensitive and kind yet not to the extent of avoiding telling the truth to those who without Christ will perish. Edwards was preaching a sermon in church. It seems totally appropriate to challenge people directly in church: to wake people up to the necessity of pleading for Christ’s forgiveness rather than assuming that Jesus will pamper them.

Many people do not attend church. They may be pursuing the American Dream or a version of this: prosperity or freedom or New Age ideology. Little seems to have changed. People continue to dream but Christians are Jesus’ representatives on earth and like Edwards, we can help them understand our fate. We need to show, through our behavior, that we are God’s children, changed by Him to reach out in kindness and self sacrifice. Our generous and loving response to those who are not Christians will make it more likely that they will want to listen to God’s message of hope and warning. If we genuinely care about their eternal future we will explain about heaven and hell. We might find Jonathan Edwards’ fire and brimstone preaching offensive, but avoiding spelling out the truth to both Christians and non Christians is ultimately much more offensive.

The parable in the Bible about Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16: 19-31) reminds us of the reality of hell. The rich man goes to hell and the beggar, Lazarus, goes to heaven. The rich man wants his brothers to be warned about the horrible reality of hell. His life of luxury could not help the rich man in his eternal plight and his desire for his relatives is not a life of ease or of political correctness, but that they should be told the truth. I want to emphasize that we should avoid any type of American dream that fixes our attention on present riches, or on created things rather than on the Creator. The message of the Bible will be offensive to some but it will persuade others to seek God’s mercy. Jesus received God’s righteous anger when He died on the cross, receiving the punishment that we deserve. We can only expect God to avert His anger if we follow Him on His terms and seek His forgiveness. In contrast, worldly dreams may be inspiring but if they are not true, we will be bitterly disappointed one day.

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