Today’s post is a little different.
Normally, when I sit down with my coffee in the morning, the Lord places something on my heart that leads me into Scripture, doctrine, or a lesson He is teaching me. Today, however, I find myself simply observing the world around me and wondering how we arrived where we are.
Maybe this is what happens when you get older.
Maybe every generation reaches a point where they look around and feel like a stranger in their own culture.
Or maybe something deeper is happening.
I was out running errands the other day, watching people pass by, and I found myself shaking my head. Everywhere I looked there were backpacks slung over shoulders, backwards ball caps, Crocs, earbuds, yoga pants, and faces buried in phones. Everyone seemed connected to everything and everyone except the people standing right beside them.
Now before anyone gets upset, this article is not really about backpacks, hats, Crocs, or yoga pants. Those things are simply symbols of something larger that I have been noticing for years.
What concerns me is not the clothing.
It is the culture.
The more I observe, the more it feels like we have become a society that values comfort over character, feelings over facts, rights over responsibilities, and self-expression over self-control.
We have become a people who desperately want freedom while simultaneously rejecting the discipline required to maintain it.
The Death of Personal Responsibility
When I was growing up, if you failed a test, you studied harder.
If you got fired, you looked in the mirror before pointing fingers.
If you made a mistake, you owned it.
That doesn’t mean people were perfect. Far from it. We had our share of problems and sins. But there was generally an understanding that your choices had consequences.
Today, everything seems to come with an excuse.
Nothing is anyone’s fault.
Someone else is always responsible.
If a person struggles financially, society failed them.
If they make poor decisions, their circumstances are blamed.
If they behave badly, we are told to understand rather than correct.
Accountability has become a dirty word.
The Bible teaches the exact opposite.
Galatians 6:5 says:
“For every man shall bear his own burden.”
God created us with free will, and with that freedom comes responsibility. Scripture consistently teaches that our choices matter. We reap what we sow. We are accountable for our actions.
Yet modern culture increasingly teaches people that they are victims first and responsible individuals second.
A person who sees themselves as a victim can never truly become victorious because they are always waiting for someone else to fix their life.
The Pursuit of Comfort
Perhaps the greatest idol of our generation is comfort.
We want comfortable lives.
Comfortable relationships.
Comfortable jobs.
Comfortable churches.
Comfortable sermons.
Comfortable truths.
Anything that challenges us is labeled toxic, offensive, judgmental, or hateful.
We have become experts at avoiding discomfort.
Yet every meaningful thing in life requires discomfort.
Marriage requires sacrifice.
Parenting requires sacrifice.
Work requires sacrifice.
Faith requires sacrifice.
Growth requires sacrifice.
Jesus never called His followers to comfort.
He called them to carry a cross.
Luke 9:23 says:
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Notice what Jesus did not say.
He did not say follow your heart.
He did not say pursue your dreams.
He did not say seek comfort.
He said deny yourself.
That message is almost completely opposite of what modern culture teaches.
The Culture of Self
The world has become obsessed with self.
Self-esteem.
Self-care.
Self-expression.
Self-discovery.
Self-fulfillment.
Self-love.
The focus of nearly every message we hear is ourselves.
The problem is that the more we focus on ourselves, the more miserable we often become.
The human heart was never designed to be worshiped.
It was designed to worship God.
When self becomes the center of life, everything eventually revolves around our desires, our feelings, our preferences, and our opinions.
This is one reason anxiety, depression, loneliness, and hopelessness continue to rise despite living in one of the most technologically advanced and prosperous periods in human history.
We have more convenience than any generation before us.
Yet many people have less peace.
We have more entertainment.
Yet less joy.
More connection.
Yet less community.
More information.
Yet less wisdom.
Because the problem has never been external.
The problem has always been spiritual.
Freedom Without Responsibility
One thing I struggle to understand is how many people openly criticize the very system that provides them the freedom to criticize it.
They enjoy the blessings of liberty while condemning the foundations that made liberty possible.
America is far from perfect.
Human beings are imperfect.
Governments are imperfect.
But freedom is not free.
Someone paid for it.
Men fought for it.
Families sacrificed for it.
Generations worked to preserve it.
Yet many seem eager to tear down institutions, traditions, and values without understanding what may replace them.
History teaches a simple lesson:
When people abandon personal responsibility, freedom eventually disappears.
Someone always steps in to fill the vacuum.
Freedom requires self-governance.
Self-governance requires self-control.
And self-control is becoming increasingly rare.
What Scripture Says
The Apostle Paul wrote:
“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:11
Imagine how different society would look if people simply followed that verse.
Mind your own business.
Work hard.
Take responsibility.
Live quietly.
Serve faithfully.
Honor God.
There is nothing flashy about that.
It won’t make you famous.
It probably won’t get you followers on social media.
But it will build a life of substance.
The Christian life has never been about drawing attention to ourselves.
It has always been about pointing people to Christ.
Maybe I’m Just Old
Perhaps some people will read this and conclude that I’m simply becoming an old man yelling at clouds.
Maybe there is some truth to that.
I don’t understand many modern trends.
I don’t understand why people voluntarily wear Crocs everywhere.
I don’t understand why hats are worn backwards.
I don’t understand why everyone carries a backpack.
I certainly don’t understand half of what I see on social media.
But the truth is those things are not really what bothers me.
What bothers me is watching a culture drift further away from God.
What bothers me is seeing personal responsibility replaced by excuses.
What bothers me is seeing discipline replaced by entitlement.
What bothers me is watching people search everywhere for meaning except the One who created them.
Because no political movement, social trend, self-help program, or cultural revolution will ever fix what is broken inside the human heart.
Only Jesus Christ can do that.
The answer has never changed.
People need to be born again.
Not reeducated.
Not reprogrammed.
Not validated.
Not entertained.
Born again.
That was true two thousand years ago.
And it is still true today.
💭 Reflection
The issue isn’t really backpacks, backwards hats, yoga pants, or Crocs. Those are simply outward signs of a culture increasingly focused on comfort, convenience, and self. As Christians, our calling is not to complain about the darkness but to shine a light within it. The world may change, but God’s truth never does. Our responsibility is to live lives marked by humility, discipline, faithfulness, and obedience to Christ regardless of what culture is doing around us.
🙏 Prayer
Heavenly Father, help us not to be swept away by the spirit of the age. Give us discernment to recognize the difference between cultural trends and eternal truth. Teach us to take responsibility for our lives, to work diligently, to serve faithfully, and to walk humbly before You. Guard us from becoming bitter or judgmental, and instead fill us with compassion for those who are lost. May our lives reflect the character of Christ in a world that desperately needs Him. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Lord help us, we know not what we do.
Jeffrey Trester
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