In The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt highlights the increase in anxiety amongst U. S. adults. While those in the 18-25-year-old age range showed the greatest increase (139% from 2010 to 2020), the 25-34 and 35-49-year-old age ranges also saw increases over the same time period—103% and 52%, respectively. Only the 50+ year old age group saw a decrease (8%). He also highlights a similar increase in adolescent suicides (91% increase in boys and 167% increase in girls from 2010 to 2020). Though he does not dismiss other factors, he argues that the increase in anxiety was prompted by a fundamental shift in the social lives of teenagers in the United States as social interactions moved online. As Haidt notes, “The first generation of Americans who went through puberty with smartphones (and the entire internet) in their hands became more anxious, depressed, self-harming, and suicidal.”
Anxiety may be a growing problem, but it isn’t necessarily a new problem. For instance, Isaiah addresses those with “weak hands” (35:3), “feeble knees” (35:3), and “an anxious heart” to “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance with the recompense of God. He will come and save you” (Isa 35:4). The “heart” is “anxious” because it is not anchored in the surety of God’s deliverance. It seeks security elsewhere but does not find it.
If we describe anxiety in a general way as a heightened sense of alertness and concern about some aspect of our lives that threatens our basic sense of security, we see that anxiety is, in part, about directing our attention toward real or perceived challenges instead of attending to God. When we become overly focused on the things of this world, we will become overwhelmed with our relative helplessness and inability to control our own destiny.
In framing anxiety as an attention problem, I am not suggesting that anxiety may be solved through an act of willpower. Mental disorders have too often been detached from the physiological mechanisms that cause and/or reinforce them. As such, construing anxiety as an attention problem would not preclude the need for medical interventions.
Similarly, I do not wish to suggest that anxiety denotes weakness. It seems to me that those whose overconfidence leads to bravado, for instance, exhibit a similar problem. They are putting too much weight—paying too much attention—on what they can accomplish without recognizing their own limitations. It isn’t so much that bravado is a form of anxiety in every instance (I assume it could also be a sign of delusion) but that both bravado and anxiety are, in part, produced by attending to the world rather than attending to God. In both instances, God is not recognized as infinitely more relevant than any other actor or factor.
So, what do we do to combat anxiety? What is it about our current age that makes anxiety more prevalent? There is no single answer to these questions; however, every answer to these questions must be nested in our unqualified loyalty to God. As I note in “Living an Unbalanced Life,” we need to avoid the myths of balance and prioritization and think of our lives in terms of a Russian nesting doll because “The image of the nesting doll offers a different way of thinking about how the various aspects of our lives ‘fit’ with our unreserved commitment to God. Our families, friendships, hobbies, work, etc., are ‘nested’ within our commitment to glorify God.”
We see these two ideas of unqualified loyalty to God, and attention come together in Matthew 6:19-34. Before turning to these verses, however, it is important to situate them within their larger context of Matthew 5-7. These chapters offer insight into how those who have been united with Christ are to act within the world.
The Sermon on the Mount Defines a People United with Christ
How are we to understand Jesus’s teachings in Matthew 5-7? These passages have, at times, been understood as ethical teachings intended to guide God’s people in their everyday lives. Others have argued that the beatitudes are eschatological, suggesting that they pronounce the presence of a New Age. Whatever these approaches may add to the interpretation of the beatitudes, it is crucial to recognize that in Jesus’s initial address to the crowds in Matthew, he is not simply offering a new ethic or eschatological vision—he is marking out the boundaries that will define a people united with him.
While it is true that the beatitudes reflect a reversal of fortunes for those who are poor in spirit (Matt 5:3), in mourning (5:4), or meek (5:5), those fortunes are not to be found in this world but in the kingdom of heaven. For instance, Jesus speaks about the blessing of being persecuted because of his pointing to a great reward in heaven (5:11-12). Jesus’s instruction requires his people to be distinct from the Pharisees and Scribes (5:20)—likely numbered among the hypocrites (6:2, 5, 16; 7:5)—and the Gentiles, yet it does not set forth a particularly optimistic vision of existence in this world. This world will continue to be challenging for those who follow Christ.
Being distinct would, on the one hand, mean that other groups (e.g., the Judeans and Gentiles) would have the opportunity to see the difference Christ makes. On the other hand, it would inevitably create tension and conflict as other groups are challenged by the lives of those who follow Christ. This new community rooted in Christ’s teachings and united with Christ himself would raise the bar for everyone else. In doing so, their lives would be marked by a unique joy, peace, hope, and love, but not necessarily the sort of prosperity and dominance that some had come to expect with the coming of Messiah. The community, like its King, would find victory not through traditional political or military means but through a deep commitment to living as those who belong to the Father.
The whole of Matthew 5-7 provides a description of what it means to be united to Christ. While those who follow Jesus may still give, pray, and fast, they are to do so in a different manner than other groups. The community of Jesus is no carbon copy of his day’s Judaism, nor is it roughly analogous to it. Was there an overlap? Certainly—but Jesus was fulfilling the Hebrew scriptures not improving on the religious practices of the Pharisees and Scribes or revising the spiritual understandings of the Gentiles. As such, while it may be easy to speak of the “new people” constituted in Christ, what we mean by “new people” is that Jesus is calling together Israel’s faithful remnant and welcoming faithful Gentiles. Those who recognize Christ as the Messiah are also those who, as Bonhoeffer notes, “are prepared to renounce and live without everything the world calls happiness and peace.”
What Is Jesus’ Answer to Anxiety?
Matthew 6:19-34: Do Not Be Anxious
With this broader context in mind, we may now turn to Jesus’s teaching on anxiety. While anxiety is first mentioned in v. 25, Jesus ties his instruction on anxiety to his teaching on treasure in vv. 19-24. In vv. 19-24, Jesus calls for those listening not to pursue earthly but heavenly treasures. We should not construe this as a critique of wealth per se. Wealth is not unproblematic (Matt 13:22; 19:23), but it can also be used in the advancement of the kingdom (Lk 8:1-3; 16:9). So long as money does not become one’s source of security—thus involving one’s loyalty and attention—wealth may be kept in its proper place.
In Matthew 6:19-24, the emphasis is on avoiding the situation in which those following Jesus are compromised because of money. Serving God and money is impossible because “no one can serve two masters” (6:24). In other words, opening the door to serving money by pursuing earthly treasure distracts us from giving our full attention and unqualified allegiance to the Lord. When money begins to compete with God, we are less able to serve the Lord in the manner he requires.
As Jesus turns to anxiety in vv. 25-34, then, he is reminding those who would follow him that they need not worry about how—or perhaps even if—they will survive. Anxiety won’t solve our problem (6:26-29). It only distracts us from the work God has given us to do. As such, we are to “seek the first thin kingdom of God and his righteousness” as a strategy for receiving all we need to accomplish God’s work from God (6:33). It is not that God will make all Christians prosperous in this era, but that our circumstances should not distract us from remaining loyal to God and pursuing the work he has given us to do.
How do we avoid anxiety? I’m not sure we do. We are imperfect people whose faith in the Lord is being strengthened day by day. It is likely that we will struggle with anxiety as we navigate an uncertain world and learn to trust God with all we are and have. At the same time, however, Matthew 6:19-20 offers a simplified framework for avoiding anxiety.
The Framework for Avoiding Anxiety
First, we are not to “store up” or accumulate earthly treasures. This accumulation is problematic because it assumes, as Hauerwas notes, “We think we can be something other than what we do and own, but Jesus challenges that assumption.” Accumulating wealth for ourselves—for our own comfort and security—is not in keeping with Jesus’s vision in Matthew 5-7.
Second, we are to “store up” or accumulate treasures in heaven. All that we are and have is to be given over to the Lord (Deut 6:4-5). In this sense, we are to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (6:33). It is not that, at some point, we finish seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness so that we can move on to other things. Instead, we are to allow our quest for God’s kingdom and righteousness to envelop, shape, and condition everything else that we do, even when seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness, comes with negative consequences in the near term.
Avoiding anxiety may involve counseling or medication, yet it cannot involve only counseling and medication. Avoiding anxiety may mean stepping away from social media or putting down one’s smartphone, but it can’t only involve these things. Instead, if we want to avoid anxiety, we must nest everything we do in discipleship. We must learn to live under the authority of Christ. It is only as we recognize that we are part of what God is doing in the world that we will develop the sort of trust in him that is capable of beating back our anxieties and worries. If we are not actively learning to live under the authority of Christ, we are far more likely to find ourselves without sure footing in a confused and fallen world.
A Prayer for the Power to Fight Anxiety
Lord, we admit that we are vulnerable and prone to worry. Our limitations too often drive us to anything other than you. We want to have control over our lives—we want to push past our limitations so that we are less vulnerable and, ultimately, less dependent on you. We pray that we will find the peace that comes from setting aside the unsecured foundations of worldly wealth, power, and position so that we can find productivity and rest as we follow Christ. Help us, Lord, to recognize that you are the one who is capable of doing more than we could ever ask or think as you build your kingdom. When we attend to you and live with unqualified allegiance, we surrender ourselves to your will and find freedom from the tyranny of money and earthly prestige. Lord, give us hearts that no longer long to shape the world according to our agenda or to find security in our own strength but that desire to depend on you so that your strength and glory may be evident in our weakness. Amen.
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