I recently watched part of a documentary on "The Collapse of America."

It started with scenes of vacant industrial buildings, barbed wire fences, and broken down homes. The music was morbid - a funeral theme.

Soon, a man in khakis and a white button-up sat alone at the kitchen table pouring milk over generic Rice Krispies.

As I watched him going through his day, throwing on his jacket and kissing his wife as he walked out the door, driving to work, and sitting at his desk, a voice-over came through.

"It's tough nowadays," the guy from Boston said. "I make 110,000 dollars a year and after expenses, saving for the kids' education, and putting a little away for retirement, there's not much left. We hardly ever eat out, and we can barely afford to buy more clothes when we want to."

"Are you kidding me!?" I might have said the words out loud.

Something about those comments made me angry. Angry at the guy for saying them, angry at the director who allowed them, and angry at the bonehead producer who sent it into the world.

Do you see why?

We live in a world where people are legitimately suffering.

2.7 billion people live on less than two dollars a day. Say it with me. "Two point seven BILLION (with a B.)" Then say, "Two dollars a day is seven hundred thirty dollars a YEAR."

The vast majority of people on Earth will never receive quality education, much less save for their kids. Tens of millions are illiterate.

And retirement? Try explaining retirement to a mother who's watching her bloated two-week-old baby die because her breast milk has gone dry from lack of nutrition.

"It's tough nowadays," he says.

Right.

Things are so bad I can't afford to buy my kids an XBox. It must be Armaggedon.

I'm not saying it's wrong to save money, wear new clothes, send our kids to college, or buy them toys. I believe just the opposite.

But I also know we should be thankful always, complaining never, and live well below our means because we give a lot away. Having financial security allows greater freedom for ministry and generosity. But the day we start whining because we can't have everything we want is a day we've walked straight to the Almighty and spit at the base of His throne.

There is more food in the dumpsters of restaurants near your home than many people will see in their lifetimes.

This weekend I was with my wife's family in Memphis Tennessee doing outreach in the projects.

After the outreach we went to world famous Gus's Fried Chicken. Standing outside waiting to get in, my father-in-law turned to one of the seven boys we had brought with us.

"Have you eaten here before?"

"Nah." The kid was tugging on the strings of his worn hoodie.

"Really?"

"Nah. I never ate out before."

I talked to the ministry director later. He said it's common to meet boys from the projects who had never eaten in a restaurant.

The kid was fourteen years old.

A friend of mine, Gabrielle Kwai is one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan." His father was murdered when government-sponsored militia raided their village. After several years he was brought to the United States. He says when he arrived he experienced three firsts in his life: his first meal, his first bed, and his first hot shower. He was in his twenties. While escaping Sudan, he and thousands of other children had nothing to eat but tree bark and tree leaves while they walked for weeks. And things didn't improve much after that.

Yes, times are tougher.

Yes, money is tighter.

Yes, some people are concerned about the future and our country needs to take spending and debt seriously. I don't mean to diminish any of that.

But we need a change of perspective.

You're reading this on a computer or a smartphone.

You know where your next meal is coming from and you just might have coffee and dessert.

Think about that for a while and then try complaining about times being tough.

I dare you.