The Attitude of Entitlement

Thankful to Blake for leading our singing this morning, and thankful to you for your being here today, and Scott Overstreet has given me a note this morning letting me know that there was a baptism at the jail ministry this morning.

Ronnie Thibodeau was baptized into Christ today, and we’re thankful for that. And as is our custom, we’re going to offer a word of prayer for Ronnie, and so that God can be worked in his life to help him on his walk. Let’s pray together.

Father in heaven, we rejoice this morning that one has decided to obey the gospel and to be baptized for the forgiveness of his sins, and we’re thankful today for our new brother in Christ, Ronnie Thibodeau. Father, we ask that you bless him, that you help him to walk in the light. We pray that you would help him in the situation that he’s in.

We know that there’s great challenges that surround Him, and we just pray, Father, that He would stay faithful to You and that He would continue to follow the course that He has before Him in Your Son, Jesus Christ, that will order His life all right.

Father, we are so grateful for this prison ministry and for Brother Scott Overstreet, who works there and does some good things. We thank You for His good work. Father, help us all as we walk every day to live according to Your holy will. Please help us to have more holiness in our lives and to order our lives aright in following Your holy word. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

All right, well, this morning we’re going to study from our Bible, so I hope you have your Bible with you, and let’s open to the book of John chapter 11. John chapter 11. And we’re going to read together a few verses here, starting in about verse 45. And let’s begin. John chapter 11, verse 45.

Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in Him, but some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, What shall we do? For this man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.

And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people and not that the whole nation should perish.

Well, this morning, I would like to talk to you about the attitude of entitlement. And we see an example of that right here in John chapter 11 and verse 48. What did they say? They said, if we let Him alone, everyone will believe in Him and, notice this statement, the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.

Now, I think that’s an interesting statement made on behalf of the Pharisees and the chief priests here in this council. They believed that they were entitled to their place, and they were entitled to their nation. And I want you to notice the possessive pronoun here that they use. They say it’s ours, ours.

That indicates their belief in the ownership of these things. And so they display this attitude of entitlement. They believed that they were deserving of their place and their nation here, and they believed they deserved it so much that they were willing Jesus, to murder Him, to set Him up and crucify Him on the cross. They felt like He was a threat to what they owned, to what they were entitled to. They thought that they were preserving themselves, their place, and their nation, but ultimately they ended up destroying.

The attitude of entitlement has this notion of ownership within it. The word entitled has the word title in it. Maybe you know what a title is. It’s an instrument of ownership, right? Maybe you own a home and you have a title to your home. I have a title to a home. It’s an instrument of ownership.

And when one feels entitled, and not necessarily to the title of a home, but maybe to other things, he believes that he has a right to something. And many people hold this attitude today, that they have rights to so many things, that they are entitled to these things, and that they are owed these things.

Maybe they believe that they are entitled to position, such as the chief priests and Pharisees here. They wanted their place, you know. Or maybe they believe they’re entitled to certain people. They think that they own other people. Maybe not in a literal way, but maybe in an emotional way or in a spiritual way.

Maybe they think that they have a right and are entitled to certain things in their culture and their society. And this attitude of entitlement is very destructive to individuals and to society. In fact, this attitude ended up destroying the city of Jerusalem eventually. They felt so entitled to the things that they had there that, ultimately, they became so jealous of those things that they were willing to go to war for them, and then the Romans came in 70 AD and just wiped them out.

Their attitudes led to that destruction. Well, the Bible teaches that really we should not have an attitude of entitlement, an attitude that is, you know, I expect these things, I have a right to these things, I own these things, they’re mine, and I deserve them.

This kind of attitude, this kind of thinking is something that is anti-biblical, and it’s very destructive to us spiritually as well. First of all, the attitude of entitlement is spiritually destructive because it conflicts with reality. What do I mean by that? Well, first of all, the fact of the matter is that I don’t own anything. God owns everything. And that’s the reality.

In fact, the things that I have in my possession that may be mine, whether they may be implements or tools or other things, food in my pantry, furniture, whatever it might be, you know, those things are just temporary. They are not here forever. They are transient and they are passing.

Even things that are more permanent, we may feel like, you know, our house or our land or something like that, maybe an automobile of some kind, you know, those things also are not permanent. They are also very temporary. Even our relationships with our closest relatives are things that we don’t own, that we don’t possess. They don’t really belong to us, and they belong to God.

In Psalm 24, verse 1, the psalmist writes, The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world, and those who dwell therein. Now, that doesn’t leave any exceptions there, you know. Do you have something? Yes. Is it in the earth? Yes. Yes? Well, then who does it belong to? It belongs to God. Is there a special person in your life? Yes. Who does that person belong to? He or she belongs to God.

Psalm 100, verse 3 says this. Know that the Lord, He is God. It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. And so God owns everything, and that’s the reality of the situation. The attitude of entitlement conflicts with that reality because God owns everything, but we really own nothing.

There’s nothing really that is in our permanent possession so that we can say we own it. Now, I know that there’s a legal definition of ownership. I’m really not talking about that. I understand. I own my car, you know, you own your car, you own your house, that kind of thing. There’s a legal definition there. But I’m talking about beyond that. I’m talking about in an absolute sense.

We don’t own anything in an absolute sense. Think about Psalm 102 and verses 25 through 27. It says, Of old, talking about the Lord, of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure.

Yes, they will grow old like a garment, like a cloak. You will change them, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. Everything in the world is perishing, and one day will perish.

Think about Isaiah 40, in verses 6 through 8, talking about people perishing. The voice said, cry out, and He said, what shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flowers fade, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. So even people fade and wither and ultimately perish, according to the Scriptures. And it means we don’t own them.

2 Peter chapter 3, verse 10 says, “…But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are therein will be burned up.” Everything that exists one day is going away, and we do not own it.

Well, what does that put us? God owns everything. We own nothing. Well, where does that put me then? It means this, that I am a steward of what is within my possession. I’m a steward of it. And this is Bible teaching. Everything that I have, whether it is my possessions, whether it is my job, whether it is my family, my closest relationships, I am in a relationship with those things of being a steward.

What does that mean? What is stewardship? Well, stewardship is when you take care of something that belongs to someone else, right? And so I’m a steward of what belongs to God. It belongs to Him, and I’m just here to take care of it for a little while.

1 Corinthians 4, verses 1 through 2 says, “…Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ as stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.” I’m just a steward of that which I possess here on the earth. 1 Peter 4 and verse 10 says, “…as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another We’re as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Maybe you have a gift. Some of you are teachers. You have a gift for teaching. That’s something you possess. But God owns everything. And what does that mean? It means He even owns you. And that you’re just a steward of what you have and a steward of the abilities that you have.

And we’re supposed to use them in a way that’s going to honor and glorify God. Luke chapter 12 and verses 42 through 43, we read, And the Lord said, Who is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?

Blessed is that servant whom the master will find so doing when he comes. That is, recognizing that we are all stewards of what we have, whatever that might be, possessions, relationships, even our own bodies, how are we using them in relationship to God and in relationship to Jesus Christ?

Because that’s ultimately who we are going to give account to for our actions in this world. So the attitude of entitlement is spiritually destructive, first of all, because it conflicts with reality. But secondly, it is contrary to redemption. Conflicts reality and it’s contrary to redemption.

Think about the attitude of entitlement for a minute. It says, I am my own. I own me. My life is mine. My body is mine. My tongue is mine. Everything that I have is mine, and I can do whatever I want with it. That’s the attitude of entitlement.

But you know, the Bible says that we don’t really belong to ourselves. In Psalm 12, in verse 4, the psalmist writes concerning the wicked person, and he says about that wicked person that they say, Now, that’s the attitude of entitlement. You know, I own free speech. I can say anything I want. I own my own lips, and I’ll use them to blaspheme and curse and say horrible things about other people all I want. I’m free speech, you know.

Well, the Bible says that we don’t own our own tongues, that we can’t do with them anything that we want, and that there is a Lord over us, and that the Lord is the Almighty God. In Romans 1, verse 21, this same attitude is spoken concerning the Gentiles when Paul wrote, “…because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

And that led them into all kinds of selfish sins because they were not thankful. They didn’t glorify God. They said, we belong to ourselves. We can do whatever we want. We don’t have to worry about God. That was their attitude of entitlement.

But redemption means that we have been bought and that we are not our own. I don’t belong to myself. You don’t belong to yourself. 1 Peter 1 and verses 18 through 19 says, “‘Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but you were redeemed with what? With the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.'”

So God has paid a price for you and He’s paid a price for me. And with that price, He has purchased us. Now we know what that means. If you go to the store and you take some money out of your wallet and you buy a loaf of bread, then you’ve purchased that loaf of bread and then that bread is yours to take home and you can make a sandwich with it or whatever you want to do with it, right?

Well, God has purchased us with the blood of Christ, and that means that we belong to Him. Titus 2 and verse 14 says that Jesus gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous of good works.

If we have been bought, then that means that we belong to another. Now, this is explicitly stated in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verses 19 through 20. Listen to what it says. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own. Now, it explicitly says it right there. You are not your own. You don’t belong to yourself.

Who do we belong to? We belong to God. The rest of that verse says, “…for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God’s.” I belong to God. You belong to God. And we need to glorify God with everything that we have, that we have with my body, my tongue, my life, my possessions, my relationships, everything that I have belongs to God. And I’m just a steward of those things. So you see, in contrast to the attitude of entitlement, to be redeemed means to be blessed. Now think about that for a minute. There’s the attitude of entitlement, which says, I own everything. It’s mine, and I’m going to do blah, blah, blah. But then there’s the attitude of being blessed. I don’t own anything, but God graciously gives me all of these things. He’s entrusted them to me as a steward to manage carefully and wisely. Now, that’s an attitude that we should have, the attitude of being blessed.

Think about Ephesians 2 and verses 8 through 10, and this is really the heart of what this verse means. It says, “…for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

Grace means that God has blessed me. Not that God owes me anything, or that I have a right to something. That’s the attitude of entitlement. But the attitude of blessing says, thank you. Thank you, God, for blessing me. Thank you for saving me. And thank you for giving me something to do with my life that means something.

That’s the attitude of being blessed. The attitude of entitlement, though, is contrary to redemption. But then finally, the attitude of entitlement cripples responsibility. When one believes that they are entitled, they believe that they’re accountable to no one. And you can see that playing out in the lives of many people out there in the world today. The way they act, and the way they think, and the brashness and boldness that they have toward others, just sometimes just flabbergasting to see that kind of thing go on in the world, you know.

We think, well, how in the world can someone act like that? Because they do not believe they are accountable to anyone. This attitude of entitlement is the attitude that, I don’t owe anything to anyone else, but everyone else owes me everything.

Now that is spiritually destructive. That leads to what happened in the book of Judges in chapter 17, verse 6, and chapter 21, verse 25. Where it says, everyone did what was right in their own eyes. And we saw what happened in those books. People turn to wickedness and evil. They devise iniquity. They work out evil on their beds. At morning, they practice it because it is in the power of their hands. Micah 2 and verse 1 says, they’ll do anything and everything because they don’t believe they’re accountable anymore.

They believe that things and people are there just to be used for their own selfish purposes. And they believe they’re entitled to those things. Now think about this description in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verses 2 through 4. It says, For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers.

Now, that’s the attitude of entitlement. Everything is here for me. It doesn’t matter about anyone else or anything else. That’s this horrible attitude that many people have today in this world. Paul described it in Titus 3 and verse 3 when he says, “…for we ourselves also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.”

The attitude of entitlement cripples responsibility because they believe that they’re accountable to no one. They believe that they’re entitled to things and people for their own selfish purposes, and they then believe that everything is disposable. Now, think about that. Why do people act like everything is disposable today, you know? Because why should you take care of something? It belongs to you. You can do whatever you want with it. If I’m a steward, well, then I know I need to take care of it because It belongs to someone else. But if I think it’s mine, well, I can just get rid of it. That’s the problem. If you have the attitude of entitlement, you don’t see yourself as a steward. And so people get rid of their possessions, they get rid of their relationships, and they get rid of themselves sometimes.

Entitlement leads to very destructive things. Think about Ahab and Jezebel. They believed they were entitled to anything they had in Israel, and maybe you remember that they wanted Naboth’s vineyard, and so Jezebel developed this scheme, well, we’ll set old Naboth up, kill him, get him out of the way so that we can take that vineyard that he has.

The attitude of entitlement. Think about the Ten Commandments. They are given to prevent the attitude of entitlement. Honor your father and mother. You’re not entitled to those parents. They’re a gift to you that you’re supposed to honor and respect. Thou shalt not murder. Don’t use other people in wicked ways. Think about those things.

Those who are entitled believe that everyone else is the problem, and they blame everything on someone else. Adam and Eve, after they ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden, what did the man say? The woman whom you gave me blamed God, blamed the woman for his own sorry behavior. And then the woman said, well, this serpent blamed someone other than herself.

Think about Aaron, when he made that golden calf. Moses said, “‘What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?’ So Aaron said, “‘Oh, don’t let the anger of my Lord become hot. You know the people. You know those guys. They’re set on evil.’ And I said to them, “‘Whoever has any gold left?’ So they gave it to me, and I cast it in the fire, and out came this calf.”

Aaron said, it’s not my fault. It’s the people’s fault. It’s the gold’s fault. It’s the fire’s fault. You know, anything except Him. That’s the attitude. And this attitude creates many emotional sins in the lives of those who hold it.

Envy, anger, jealousy, neuroticism, obsessiveness, narcissism. James 3, in verses 14 through 15, describes this. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.

The attitude of entitlement is spiritually destructive. It conflicts with reality because God owns everything and I own nothing. It’s contrary to redemption because I’ve been bought with a price. I don’t even belong to myself. I belong to God. And it cripples responsibility. By taking away accountability, by blaming things on everyone else, the attitude of entitlement puts us in a very bitter and dark place.

Well, let’s resolve instead to have the attitude of being blessed, the attitude of blessing. I’m a steward. I don’t own anything. God owns everything. And He has blessed me with the things that I have. And then I now have the opportunity to be responsible for the things that He’s blessed me with.

And I can use those things for good or I can use those things for ill. But the bottom line is, I don’t want to have that attitude of entitlement, that feeling that many people have that the world owes me everything and I owe nothing. No, to the contrary, we owe God everything. And He owes us nothing. And yet, He still blesses us.

Now we need to reflect that within our lives, that good attitude of worshiping and serving God and being thankful for everything that we have. Maybe this morning you need to come out of that attitude of entitlement and come into the attitude of blessing.

Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3 says, He says, “‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.'” Now, that’s where you want to be, blessed with every spiritual blessing. Would you be redeemed out of sin and into freedom? You can be free today from that attitude of entitlement.

Confess Jesus as Lord and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins and come out of the world and into the church of Jesus Christ. While together we stand and while we sing.

End of transcript. Thank you for reading along!