Fixing the Entitlement Mindset

There is an interesting irony when it comes to aid programs. Oftentimes those who truly need help will feel ashamed applying for and receiving benefits.

Everyone needs help occasionally. Situations such as a job loss or an accident leading to the inability to work and earn an income do happen. This is when aid and welfare programs should be helpful. When receiving assistance, we could simply be reaping what we have sown when helping others.

Even God built aid programs into His Law to help people when they needed it. Ancient Israel, for example, was instructed to not strip their vineyards bare or harvest crops to the edges of the field. Leaving a portion of grapes on the vine and portions of standing wheat gave the poor and the stranger a chance to glean what was left for food (Lev. 19:9).

The Church’s third tithe program, which is funded by members in their third tithe year, is a modern example of a divine aid program to help members in their times of need.

Yet on the other hand of the irony, there are those who become so dependent on aid that they begin to expect it—without any merit of work on their part. The apostle Paul addressed this when he told certain Christians, “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (II Thes. 3:10).

Though God made provisions for the impoverished, they still had to work to collect it. Third tithe is similarly distributed based on a member’s inability to work and earn income. With God’s aid programs, both the provider and the recipient have to do their part.

The recent coronavirus pandemic forced many to join those already dependent on the government for financial assistance. The nature of the illness prevented typical gatherings, including in traditional workplace settings. Containing the virus meant people lost their jobs or were forced to quit. Businesses closed and millions worldwide lost their ability to earn an income.

This all magnified what can go wrong even with well-meaning welfare programs.

Paying people, in effect, to not work is a very expensive proposition. The money being distributed by the government must come from somewhere—typically from taxpayers. This means someone somewhere must work to keep everything going. An influx of government funds has its own negative impact such as economic inflation.

But the problem of people being paid in lieu of working can run far deeper.

The longer people receive benefits without physically earning them, the more harmful the outcome. It is possible to help people to their hurt. Unfettered aid can destroy a person’s character—specifically their willingness to work. Appreciation for temporary help can turn ugly and morph into an expectancy.

It is when aid programs become entitlement programs that individuals and greater society suffers. Even those in the Church can fall prey.

The way to prevent or undo this mindset is built into God’s aid programs—seeing the necessity and benefit of work. It is by labor we can earn money to put food on our tables, clothes on our backs, and roofs over our heads. Most important, it helps us avoid falling into a self-destructive trap.

Root of the Entitlement Mindset

Entitlement, by definition, is holding a right to something. You are entitled to a paycheck if you earned it, for instance.

An entitlement mindset is different. This thinking involves making a claim to something regardless of merit.

Those who feel they have limitless access toward the Church’s or government’s welfare programs believe either entity is supposed to help them “just because.” Such a person could think: “The Church is obligated to take care of me with no strings attached.” Or: “People in my local congregation must pool together funds to get me out of a bind, since God’s people are generous after all.” There is also the thinking, “I deserve extra help because I am poor, everyone who gets paid more or is more fortunate owes me.”

Of course, those who are disenfranchised should seek help. But there is a fine line between having legitimate needs and making excuses for laziness.

When able-bodied people are consistently compensated despite not putting in much effort, human nature kicks in. Motivation and drive are diminished. Why work for something we can get for free? This is a deceitful mindset we must not fall into.

Human beings were designed to benefit from working. It is not a punishment or something to avoid at all costs. People are wired to seek the reward and satisfaction of both working on and finishing a project. Even those who retire from a job in which they toiled for decades often find themselves picking up another endeavor for fulfillment.

Receiving rewards when not putting in the effort short-circuits our thinking. I am being compensated without having to apply any effort, we may subconsciously feel. Why apply effort to be paid when funds are just sent to me without working? The virtue of hard work barely stands a chance in such a situation.

This wrong-headed entitlement thinking toward physical needs is not unheard of in the Church! And for us, it can feed into a more dangerous form of thinking—spiritual entitlement.

The Corinthian congregation in the New Testament suffered from a case of spiritual entitlement. They were puffed up and essentially thought they could do no wrong and their blindness kept them from dealing with obvious sin in the congregation (I Cor. 5:1-2). (A young man in the congregation sleeping with his stepmother should not have been hard to see and address!)

The entitlement mentality, whether physical or spiritual is driven by a feeling of “you owe me” and “I deserve it regardless.”

When these feelings are applied to spiritual matters, some can go so far as to think God owes them salvation regardless of their actions. They may not say it that way, but their actions prove they do not believe God will hold them accountable for wrongdoing. They act as though the Kingdom of God is their reward regardless of what they do.

This feeling of privilege may come in degrees and happen over time but, once it takes over a person, congregation or society, it is very dangerous and hard to shake.

No sane person would ever work to earn a living if he was able to receive something for nothing. This is human nature at work—it always seeks the easiest path. This same human nature, which is Satan’s nature, can lead Christians to cease from the work of overcoming sin and still assume they are set for salvation.

The implications of either are catastrophic.

Faith Tied to Work

Entitlement eats away at the foundation of what mankind has always done to survive. Over time we see the fruit of society’s driving goal of getting more by doing less.

We have seen the way to combat this mindset is to break a sweat. But it is not always easy.

Work is hard. It requires effort. It takes patience. But often what drives us to push through and get it done is the anticipation of a payoff. It could come in the form of a paycheck. It could also be the satisfaction of a job well done. “The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,” Proverbs 13:19 states.

Spiritually speaking, hard work has an even greater reward—salvation. While we cannot earn eternal life in the Kingdom, God does require us to qualify for our reward. Faith in God without works is dead. It is utterly useless.

Unless we are willing to put in the effort required, we should in no way feel entitled to what God has to offer. He would never give us eternal life with absolutely no strings attached (Jms. 2:18-20).

Instead, we should always feel that there is more to do on our part. This will help us build a strong physical and spiritual work ethic, which will lead to receiving the gift of eternal life (Rom. 6:23).

Work ethic is based on the principle that hard work is worthy of reward. A person who is fixated on the fulfillment of this promise will push toward it. This would naturally help break the “I deserve it” mentality. It also keeps you humble and helps make the journey toward accomplishment more enjoyable.

Look at the ultimate examples. The Father and Christ are both not above working (John 5:17). These all-powerful Beings could choose not to lift a finger and let others do all the work, yet they still apply effort to get things accomplished. What motivates them to work? The payoff that is still yet to come: having many new members born into their Family.

If the two greatest Beings in existence choose to work, how much more should we?

God commanded the first man, Adam, to dress and keep the garden (Gen. 2:15). God told him by the sweat of his face he would survive and take care of himself and his family. When we work, we are fulfilling that command. When we choose not to work, despite being able to, we are not doing what God expects of us.

This brings many physical rewards, such as securing our survival and the ability to afford food, clothing and shelter for ourselves and our families. It has also allowed mankind to accomplish incredible technological feats and other amazing things for thousands of years. But the rewards are not solely physical.

Along the way there are spiritual rewards such as the joy and satisfaction that comes from serving others. Working almost always entails some form of giving or service.

A part of Christ’s work, for example, was to take on the form of a servant and come to Earth for mankind’s benefit (Phil. 2:7). Christ was a carpenter, which was hard work. He also gave His entire life working for others with physical and spiritual needs.

We cannot simply claim to be believers in God—we must allow our works to prove it. The work comes in the form of serving God by employing the five tools of Christian growth and serving others outright.

Studying the Bible, prayer, fasting, meditation and exercising God’s Spirit are forms of work—they require us to apply ourselves by getting on our knees and opening our mouths in prayer, exercising our minds, and focusing our eyes to read. But if we are willing to push through and apply effort, we are rewarded along the way.

Building a Work Ethic

The scriptures have a lot to say about slothfulness and laziness. Consider verses about work ethic laid out in Proverbs 6:4-11. The description warns us not to loaf around but instead to be awake and working. It then compares avoiding the seductive trap of laziness to a deer or bird delivering itself from a hunter. Physical and spiritual slothfulness both have deadly consequences.

The verses then go on to describe the extraordinary example of the ant—one of nature’s hardest-working creatures. Read the verses and notice what the writer emphasizes. The ant is a self-starter. It does not require someone watching over it to stay busy. The ant’s tremendous effort is directed toward preparation for the future, along with immediate needs.

A strong work ethic is the antidote to the entitlement mindset. It is the reason God commands us to push ourselves physically and spiritually.

If you are in a funk, there is no need to be discouraged. With God’s help and the following advice, you can work your way to a much better place. Much of it is based on the foundational laws to success that are detailed in the Church’s booklet on the subject.

Building a strong work ethic begins by having a goal in mind. The goal could be finding a suitable job to provide for your family or to reach a certain objective such as getting promoted at work, finishing your education, or learning a new skill.

The end goal for a Christian is to be chosen by God for salvation. But along the way there are other aims, including serving others and improving your skills with implementing the tools of Christian growth. After determining your goal, the next step is to apply drive toward accomplishing it.

Drive is the desire to do or accomplish something. Along the way to our goals, we will face challenges. There will be problems, some expected and some unexpected. There will be difficulties and pitfalls all with the potential to throw us off track.

We must train ourselves to build and apply drive. Sometimes we do better than other times. But over time we can build our drive muscle and go above and beyond more consistently.

But work ethic is not merely applying brute force. God also gave us the ability as human beings made in His image to be creative in our pursuits.

God creates, and so can we. Creativity involves developing different ways to overcome obstacles.

This God-given ability to think through and around our problems is known as resourcefulness.

Being creative does not mean applying as little energy as possible to accomplish things in life. While there is nothing wrong with being efficient, putting forth too little energy for too long can mean we fall short of our goals or we end up accepting less than what was possible had we put in more effort.

If you are having trouble finding work in your field, be resourceful and figure out how your existing skills may transfer to another job. Maybe you have to get creative and move to another area or go back to school. If you have trouble praying enough, try praying more often for shorter periods of time or reading Psalms while on your knees.

It takes effort to be resourceful. Stopping to rethink your approach or position on something is not what many people naturally want to do. Most just power through only to find that they get frustrated and eventually quit. God gave you the ability to think through spiritual and physical challenges.

When facing such problems, stop. Remain calm and think through the best course of action. Building up the desire to outthink our problems and our opponents helps us overcome the entitlement mindset.

If drive is the energy we apply to work ethic, perseverance is the mindset of never giving up.

It is not enough to apply energy for one day, or one week. You must learn to sustain it even during difficult periods. If a project is difficult, stick to it. If a boss is making life difficult, do not panic and quit. Endure and stick it out.

When you boil down the entitlement mindset to its core, it is really a way of escape from difficulties. Weak-minded or weak-willed individuals frequently take the shortcut and circumvent the challenge. As a result, they end up losing out on the valuable opportunity to build character and reap the rewards that come with being willing to work hard.

Strive to be different. Go against the grain of human nature. Enjoy the fruits of both physical and spiritual labor. Aim for the ultimate payoff, a time we all seek to hear these words from God: “Well done, you good and faithful servant…”