What images come to mind when you think of consumerism? Perhaps troubling images of maxed out credit cards, deforestation, crowded malls, hoarding, or open pit mining.
But Wilkens and Sanford (2009) reminds us that “the Bible clearly teaches an idea you will seldom hear from the pulpit…This idea…is that God created us to be consumers. Really! In Genesis 2, God created [humanity] and then proceeded to give [them] the things [they] needed for a good life. “The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit.” (Hidden Worldviews, p. 44).
Consumerism is the tendency of people to identify strongly with and/or attach security to products or services they consume or own. Conspicuous consumerism refers to lavish spending on goods and services with admired brand names and status-enhancing appeal, especially for the purpose of causing envy. A few special brands take consumerism to a different level. These are the so-called cult brands: Cult brands sell lifestyles, not just a product or service; cult brands get into your heart and create absolute loyalty and fierce opposition to their “evil, third-rate” competition – lit. redefining the consumer relationship into a community identity and just cause. Examples include Harley-Davidson, Star Trek, Volkswagen, and Apple (esp. the Macintosh computer).
A person might be able to work for two different employers at the same time. However, God and money (Mammon) are not employers but slave owners. Mammon roughly equals our concept of “net worth” which is the value of a person’s assets, including cash, minus total liabilities. Of course, many people do try to cherish both God and net worth, but ultimately only one will be chosen. “Love” and “hate” in early mid-eastern thought are often roughly equivalent to choose and not choose. So the one not chosen will be “hated,” even if only by neglect.
The Brethren in Christ church declares one of their values as: “Living Simply: We value uncluttered lives, which free us to love boldly, give generously, and serve joyfully.”1 In advertising-filled culture where everything seems more complicated than it needs to be, it’s natural to long for “the simple life.” But as this core value suggests, the commitment to living simply is not just a reaction to our consumerist culture, it’s deeply connected to a desire to trust in God and be generous to others.
This does not imply that rich people cannot be Christians. It does imply that wealth brings grave dangers, not least of which is the extra anxiety of having to protect one’s possessions for fear of losing. To serve the consumerist worldview is to serve a hard, unloving taskmaster; it’s one that will never say “it is enough; it is finished.”
“These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” (Mt. 6:32-33).
1 Brethren in Christ Canada, Core Values, retrieved from http://www.canadianbic.ca/core-values/
No comments:
Post a Comment