Emphasis Preaching Journal

In his book, U.S. Lifestyles and Mainline Churches (Westminster/John Knox, 1990), Tex Sample argues convincingly that a major shift has taken place in American culture. We have moved from the ethic of self-denial to the ethic of self-fulfillment. No longer does the culture expect parents to do without in order to provide their children all the things they never had. No longer do people expect an experience or acquisition to be delayed in order that something else might be possible at a later date.