The Attitude of Entitlement

1. Read: John 11:48 – “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.”

2. About the Text:

1) The chief priests and Pharisees had an attitude of entitlement.

2) They believed that they were deserving of both their place and their nation.

3) Notice that they refer to it as “theirs” indicating a sense of ownership.

4) This sense of entitlement/ownership led them to crucify Jesus.

5) They saw Him as a threat to what they felt entitled.

6) They thought that they were preserving themselves, their place, and their nation.

7) They ended up destroying it.

3. The attitude of entitlement.

1) The word “entitled” has within it the word “title” indicating an instrument of ownership.

2) When one feels entitled, he believes that he has a right to something.

3) Many people hold this attitude around us today.

4) They believe that they are entitled to things, positions, and people.

5) This attitude is very destructive to individuals and society.

6) The Bible teaches that we should not have such an attitude.

4. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.

1. God Owns Everything

1) “The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1).

2) “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” (Psalm 100:3).

2. We Own Nothing

1) “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 all 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” (Psalm 102:25-27).

2) “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 flower fades, ??Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; ??Surely the people are grass. ??The grass withers, the flower fades, ??But the word of our God stands forever’” (Isaiah 40:6-8).

3) “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 in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

3. We are Stewards

1) “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)

2) “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10).

3) “And the Lord said, “Who then 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? 43 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes” (Luke 12:42-43).

1. The attitude of entitlement says that I own me, my life, my body, my tongue, etc. and I can do whatever I want with them.

1) “Who have said, ‘With our tongue we will prevail; Our lips are our own; Who is lord over us?’” (Psalm 12:4).

2) “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” (Romans 1:21).

2. Redemption means that we have been bought and are not our own.

1) “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

2) “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).

3. If we have been bought, then we belong to another.

1) “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? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

2) God owns me: my body, my tongue, my life.

3) As one who has been redeemed, I must glorify Him with these things.

4. To be redeemed means that we are blessed.

1) The concept of grace is the notion that God gives us salvation as a gift.

2) It isn’t because we deserve it, but because of God’s love and goodness.

3) “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” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

1. The entitled become accountable to no one.

1) You don’t owe anything to anyone, but everyone else owes you everything!

2) “…everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, 21:25).

3) “Woe to those who devise iniquity, And work out evil on their beds! At morning light they practice it, Because it is in the power of their hand” (Micah 2:1).

2. Things and People are there simply to be used for the entitled person’s selfish purposes.

1) “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 of God” (2 Timothy 3:2-4).

2) “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another” (Titus 3:3).

3. Entitlement makes everything “Disposable.”

1) We stop taking care of our possessions, our relationships, and ourselves.

2) We don’t see ourselves as stewards anymore.

3) King Ahab and Jezebel with Naboth’s vineyard.

4) Think about the 10 commandments – they are there to hold us accountable as stewards of our relationships and possessions.

4. The entitled blame everyone else for the problems he creates.

1) Adam and Eve – “Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’ And the LORD God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” (Genesis 3:12-13).

2) Aaron – “And Moses said to Aaron, ‘What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a sin upon them?’ So Aaron said, ‘Do not let the anger of my lord become hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil.’…’And I said to them, “Whoever has any gold, let them break it off.” So they gave it to me, and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came out’” (Exodus 32:21-24).

5. The attitude creates many emotional sins in the lives of those who believe it.

1) Envy, Anger, Jealousy, Neuroticism, Obsessiveness, Narcissism.

2) “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” (James 3:14-15).

1. The attitude of entitlement is spiritually destructive because …

1) It Conflicts with Reality

2) It is Contrary to Redemption

3) It Cripples Responsibility

2. Invitation