There’s a phenomenon in the inner city called the “ghetto mentality”. I learned a lot about the way people in the ghetto think when I was in Master’s Commission in the inner city in Phoenix. This mentality encompasses many things, but for the sake of this blog, we’ll focus on anyone who tries to better him/herself.
In the ghetto, the thinking is largely that one will never improve his or her circumstances, and anyone who tries will be belittled and intimidated until they give up the dream of ever achieving anything or becoming anything else. “Who do you think you are – you think you’re better than us?” Keeping the proper order is important in the ghetto. If you upset the rank, then others will be forced to take a hard look at themselves and the excuses they have adopted for not even trying.
It’s even worse than that. In the ghetto, people assign importance to learning how to “get over” on the system and therefore, knowing how to get what they want without any effort. Those who work are ridiculed. Why work when you can learn how to get free handouts, i.e. entitlements. This mentality spills over into every part of life and it becomes a very cynical, shallow and dishonest way of dealing with life. It takes a miracle to break out of such an existence, so many have learned what they believe is how to be “happy” within it.
You will often hear me say on the show “don’t be a victim!” That may sound like such an overly simplistic thing to say to some people. But having learned from those in the ghetto the mentality of always blaming something else for your circumstances or situation in life, it’s a commonly held belief that needs to be torn down.
Even in the inner city, there are ways to help yourself and to dig out of those circumstances if you put your mind to it – which often entails hard work and preparation! One thing is for sure, if you do nothing and blame everything and everyone else for your station in life, you have NO chance of ever changing it!
And so it is in the church.
In many ways, those who try to be anything other than a nominal Christian are often ridiculed. Their mentality is to let others do their studying, praying and spiritual warfare for them. Then when the events or circumstances of life turn out badly, they are angry, unprepared and can’t muster the faith they need to overcome.
Jim says he learned the same lesson from Billy Graham many years ago. It went something like this; if you stick your head up above the crowd, you’re going to get the tomatoes!
It’s time for the church to rise above the ghetto mentality. It’s time for the church to pay attention to those who are telling them to prepare and be ready. It’s time for the church to work together to help one another. It’s time to encourage one another to rise above the “happy church” mentality and to get ready for difficult times that are surely coming. We can’t depend on the government to do it for us. The church should be prepared to help ourselves and others.
Pay no attention to those who ridicule you for being prepared. Learn to dodge the rotten tomatoes!
It’s time to break out of the “ghetto mentality” within our ranks!
Love,
Lori
