Americans are consumers! We buy stuff to make ourselves feel better, to enhance our status, to make life easier, and just because everybody else is buying it! We are self-centered, our selfishness fed by a whole economic system that depends on creating a sense of entitlement and want so we will spend more to get the things that somebody else says we must have in order to be happy. That’s an issue bigger than I want to tackle today. What’s bugging me is that we bring our consumerism to our spirituality. The practice of Christianity has been hugely changed by responding to consumer demands. “Give me a Jesus Who works for me, makes my life better right now, and promises me customer satisfaction.” While few actually say these words, aren’t they usually just below the surface of our conscious thoughts?
In an article “Jesus Is Not a Brand” published in Christianity Today, January 2009, Tyler Wigg-Stephenson responds to that idea. He writes, “This attitude inhibits the disciple’s growth into living God-centered, neighbor-focused life. Yes, the Christian life brings fulfillment beyond imagination, but such fulfillment is strangely elusive if it is your main priority as a Christian. Indeed it only comes when we seek God instead of ourselves. Those who come to the Church expecting to find brand satisfaction or seeking to save their lives will find neither. … How do we convince people who are dedicated to self-creation that life is really about the grace and power of God?”
It requires a major overall of perspective that can only be accomplished by the Spirit. The Bible calls it conversion and I am convinced that few of us have experienced that in fullness! We love Jesus, but more for the practical things we believe He can do for us (think – “Does it work for me?”); than for the simple delight of knowing Him! Perhaps the current economic crisis in America may prove a boon for disciples by breaking us from our love of stuff and self and driving us into the arms of Jesus.
Then, too, Christianity cannot be all God wants it to be for us, if we are unwilling to radically love others! Over this past year, my travels to central Pennsylvania to care for my Dad, brings me into contact with a culture that rejects consumerism, that is committed to communal living, and that uses material goods less to pursue illusory happiness, than to simply live. Who are these people? The Amish! They have no need for dozens of shoes or outfits. They dress the same- for market, for church, and at home! Nobody impresses their neighbor with a designer name brand. They have no need to buy a new something because it’s fashionable, for fashion is a meaningless concept to them.
Meaning in life for the Amish is not about ‘things’ at all! It is about people. If their neighbor’s barn burns down (as one did recently) the whole community gathers resources, comes together, and rebuilds the barn in days, making a celebration of getting their brother back in business. In Amish culture (admittedly I have a limited understanding) it’s seldom about ‘me’ and always about ‘we.’
We cannot take just enough “Jesus” to make life work! We cannot hold onto our selves and cling to Him at the same time. Ponder these words of Jesus, familiar though they are. Really think about them. They will rock your world.
“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.
“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference?
Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?
What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
(Matthew 6:24-33, The Message)
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