The "Success Sequence" - It's Biblical!

Sociologists apply themselves to looking at social trends in
order to understand more fully the human condition.

One societal trend that has been noted recently is “The
Success Sequence.” I came across this subject in reading a
National Review article of July 5 entitled, “What If Major
Causes of Poverty Are Behavioral?”

He points out that the major cause of poverty plaguing one
generation after another is “family disintegration.” He says,
“Some cause of this remain unclear, but something now seems
indisputable: Among today’s young adults, the “success
sequence” is insurance against poverty.” He then cites the
study that supports this conclusion.

The success sequence is defined in the study is: get at least a
high-school diploma, then get a job, then get married, and only
then have children. “Wang and Wilcox, who did the study,
“focusing on Millennials 28 to 34, the oldest members of the
nation’s largest generation, have found that only 3 percent
who follow this sequence are poor.” In other words, if a
young person wants to avoid poverty and be successful follow
this sequence.

Sadly, this sequence for success is being followed less and less
in 21st century America. To make sure this sequence
continues, Mr. Will advocates promoting this sequence in
various ways to ensure that we do not substitute supposed new
realities in old principles that worked well.

The question is where did these old principles that worked
well in America for most of its existence come from? Mr. Will
does not explain.

Another author, Melissa Mackenzie, addressed the success
sequence on July 6, 2017 in a piece, in the American
Spectator, entitled, “Church, Family Millennials, and the
Success Sequence.”

She agrees with George Will’s data, but she concludes the
values of “success sequence” have a very definite Christian
origin.

She writes, “Parents who believe that education, selfsufficiency,
and marriage before children are going to raise
their kids with those beliefs and more importantly, choose
environments that support those beliefs and strengthen those
beliefs. Their beliefs drive their reasoning which drives their
decisions.”

Ms. Mackenzie asks, “What institution reinforces lifeaffirming
beliefs and gives social and economic support to
people beyond their families? The State? No. The Church.”
We would agree because we know that the success sequence is
biblical and would be part of what the church would promote
for its young people.”

She further states, “The “old principles” that Will alludes to
are taught in church. Don’t fornicate or adulterate. Take care
of your children (I Timothy 5:8). Get married (I Corinthians
7:9). Work hard (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Don’t get divorced
(Matthew 5:31). Care for widows and orphans (James 1:27).
Take care of the hungry and needy (Matthew 25:35-45). How
quaint, right?”

The sociological study that points to the “success sequence” is
a recipe for a better life for all who follow the sequence.

As of July 2017, we find a diminishing number of young
people following this prescription primarily because of the
breakdown of the family and the trend away from church
attendance and adherence to biblical values.

As the Sabbath draws near, we can know that there is time
coming when the “success sequence” will be a worldwide
standard.

Have a pleasant Sabbath,

Gary Smith

Could You Pass The Marshmallow Test?

I am currently reading, “The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America” by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld. The book has offered some interesting insights into how and why different groups have achieved success. Most of the book is about conventional success such as money, education, and rising cultural status. While there are some applications to us as Christians in this material, there is one section that is especially pertinent to us as members of the Church of God.

“Led by social and developmental psychologists . . . a large and growing body of research has demonstrated that the capacity to resist temptation to quit when a task is arduous, daunting, or beyond one’s immediate abilities—is critical to achievement. This capacity to resist temptation is exactly what we mean by impulse control, and the remarkable finding is that greater impulse control in early childhood translates into much better outcomes across a wide variety of domains (Chua and Rubenfeld, p. 117).

This finding was first stumbled upon by Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel in his famous “marshmallow test”. He was trying to determine how children learn to resist temptation. His test placed marshmallows in front of three- to five-year-olds. The children were told that if they waited a few minutes they would receive a second treat. Children who held out for fifteen minutes received a second marshmallow.

The result? A majority of the children ate up and only a minority resisted temptation.

The great surprise was discovered later on when Mischel decided to follow up on the 650 children used in the test when they were in high school. “It turned out that the children who had held out were doing much better academically with fewer social problems that those who hadn’t” (Chua and Rubenfeld, p. 118).

In a New Zealand study tracking over 1000 individuals from birth to age thirty two, Mischel’s findings were further confirmed. “. . . the study found that individuals with low impulse control as children were significantly more likely to develop problems with drugs, alcohol, and obesity; to work in low-paying jobs; to have a sexually transmitted disease; and to end up in prison. Those with high impulse control were healthier, more affluent, and more likely to have a stable marriage, raising children in a two-parent household” (Chua and Rubenfeld, p. 118).

There is one additional finding of note in these experiments and findings. “Willpower and perseverance can be strengthened. That’s where culture comes in. Cultivating impulse control in children—indeed in anyone, at any age—is a powerful lever of success” (Chua and Rubenfeld, p. 119).

Does this have any translation to our lives as a Christians?

We only have to turn to Genesis 2 and 3 for the answer. Did God’s first two children display impulse control? It’s as if God put Adam and Eve in the Garden and said, “Don’t eat of the marshmallow and you’ll get a treat later.” Sadly, like most of the children in the “marshmallow test”, they ate of the forbidden fruit, were expelled from the Garden, and have the penalty of death hanging over their heads.

Were their progeny any more successful in delaying gratification than first two people created by God? Sadly, few of those who came along later followed God. The ultimate outcome of a lack of impulse control is brought out in Genesis 6:5-6, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” Human history is a chronicle of man being unwilling to wait for gratification of his desires. The outcome has been disastrous.

As Christians, God wants us to be yielded to God’s Holy Spirit and guided by God’s word so that God can create in us His character. He wants us to resist our carnal desires. The outcome of our denying our carnal impulses, not giving in to temptation, is to be readied for a treat of much greater and lasting value than a marshmallow that treat being eternal life in the family of God.

Happy Sabbath!

Gary Smith