The world today seems to be run by the need to consume. Advertisements permeate our lives trying to convince people that they need the latest gadgets that everyone else has. With this lifestyle surrounding us, it is easy to get caught up in the world. As Rodney Clapp said in his article, "Why the Devil takes VISA," the consumer ethos is of individual self fulfillment. We have been conditioned to think about ourselves first and worry about getting what we want. Christians, however, are called to live their lives above the world and keep their focus on God.
I think people often confuse consumerism and wealth. Plenty of people are rich but resist becoming enveloped in their material possessions. Others are more radical and give up all their possessions in an attempt to simplify their lives and focus on God. The Bruderholf, a group of eight communities, gave up everything they had in response to consumer capitalism. I think doing something like this would be a great experience, but I do not believe it is necessary to be a "good" Christian. Even someone very wealthy can resist being caught in our capitalistic society; it just depends on where there heart is. In fact, if this wealthy person's intentions are to serve God, they can actually help out a lot of people. My friend Liz and her family have been very blessed monetarily and have a huge beautiful home. Some people say that Liz does not need a house that large but her house is always filled with teens from the youth group, women for baby showers, or men for devotionals. I don't think it matters whether you are rich or have virtually no possessions, as long as you are focused on God and not material things.
One way, I believe, for Christians to live above consumerism is to be content with what God gives us. So many people try to climb the "ladder of success" in the search for happiness, but are disappointed because they are not fulfilled. Many others turn to possessions thinking that if they just had the latest phone or the fastest car they would find joy. They too are unfulfilled because they are longing for products and not for God. We must be careful not to place the items we want or the items we have before God because then they are nothing but idols.
Consumer culture constantly leaves people dissatisfied. Instead of dwelling on what we want, we should:
1- Focus on the blessings God has provided,
2- Step back from the world and its constant advertising, and
3- Take a walk or just sit outside and enjoy what God has created.
http://www.theadcompany.com.au/2006/web/creative/articles/Consumerism_and_marketing.pdf
http://www.gotquestions.org/materialism-Christian.html
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This article was interesting to me not just because it shed some mondo light on how we use goods and how much we crave them, but also how through history, christianity is blamed for our consumer capitalism. Yes, because we are inundated with over three thousand ads a day, we have a burning need to get stuff, to be instantly gratified. and unfortunately, we want what we want...which isn't how we are to be as Christians. But to say that our establishment of religion is the root of this consumerist mindset is false. I know what the problem is. WE'RE HUMANS. we always gotta go screw things up, be selfish, do things our way. We have no right to blame the church or anything like that. We only have ourselves to blame. I mean look through history. As the article mentioned, even in the history of revivalism and especially industrialism, this need for more, better, faster, smarter stuff grew and grew. yes, some are going to have more than others, and some are going to use their income more wisely than others. But as Christians we have to look at our own lives, as individuals, not the masses or the statistics. I Jenni Smith can choose not to buy into consumer capitalistic ideas. I can use my money wisely and help others and do my best to live and spend in a way to take care of my family to please God. If I try to worry about everyone else and how they spend their money or how they live, I won't get very far. If I change my ways to benefit others as well as myself and those I care for, that's the first step. As Christians and humans, we each have a duty to live in a pleasing way to God. If everyone does this, we might begin to back away from the 24/7, have it now, have it my way lifestyle rut we're all stuck in.
ReplyDeleteI want the new iPod! It's so cool! It has so much memory! And new colors! And a touch screen! It's so much better than the last one!
ReplyDelete*nine months and $400 later*
I want the new iPod! It's so cool! It has so much memory! And new colors! And a touch screen! It's so much better than the last one! It has Apps!
The life of the American consumer, right there. We always want the new thing, and so corperations like Apple are making a killing off of our greed. That's the beauty of Capitalism: Your economy runs on greed, and therefor it will never burn out without almost supernatural occurences.
I can't say I've conquered the materialism of the iPod, but I have made small steps. About a year ago, my ipod was stolen. I was going to replace it with a brand new iPod Touch for like $500. I finally decided against it. Turns out, I don't miss it at all. My mac book covers my music listening needs. Or my car. Or my amazing surround sound system. Truth is, I didn't need an iPod. Truth is, we don't need half the shit we buy. Got to love the American Dream.
I totally agree with your perspective of your friend Liz. I know families who have well above six figure incomes and who give 90% of that money back to their community and friends. I think it's easy for us to confuse wealth with consumerism because we comfort ourselves into not thinking we're being zealous consumers with the fact that we don't have a lot of money. When in reality, sometimes the most zealous consumers have the smallest income.
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm rich. I really do. But not because I want fancy things, but because I want to be able to help people in a way that can do many things, and money is a great avenue for that. It's just all about our motives and what we prioritize in our lives.
I'm rambling. But I think I've made my point.
Capitalism, so far, is pragmatically the best universal economic system we, as humans, have come up with. Ok, let me back that up a little.
ReplyDeleteThe other kinds of economic solutions that have been proposed in the past (Marxism, communism, socialism) don't work. They may have existed to some success, but they are far more easily exploited than capitalism. Because of it, they don't last long.
This is not to say that our consumerist culture is without fault and is "the best of all possible worlds" as Leibniz might say, but that so far it's just about the only working solution we can come up with. It's up to us as the tenants of that system to prevent the large entities that now control nearly all of the wealth in it to refrain from exploiting the system on our own ignorance and greed. Their goal is not to make us or anyone else in the world truly content, that is something we have to do for ourselves. Instead of allowing them to slowly consumerize and game everything, even the church, we have to realize that no one can market or sell contentment.
I totally agree that a distinction should be made between consumerism and wealth. My seminar class last semester read a biography about Dr. Paul Farmer. Dr. Farmer established a medical clinic in Haiti and eventually expanded his health care efforts to Peru and Russia. His organization was funded largely by a single benefactor, Tom White, who owned a construction company and contributed millions upon millions of dollars to Farmer's cause. If White had suscribed to the Puritan notion that profit should be limited and agreed with Augustine that business is evil, Farmer's organization probably would have never been a reality, or at least it would not have been as successful as it was. There is absolutely nothing wrong with making a lot of money; problems arise only when we don't use a significant amount of that money for the good of others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kyle. I think certain people are given the gift of making money. They are blessed with the intuition and education to be extremely wealthy. However, I think many people, Americans in particular, take advantage of this ability and don't attribute their success to God. Just imagine: if we kept in mind that God gave us our talents and then we used those talents to make money, we'd realize that all we own is God's. Our perspective wouldn't be, "How much do I have to give?" It would be, "How does God want me to use His cash?" If the spirit directs you to spend this money on huge house, great! If He directs you to spend it all on poor Ethiopian orphans, great! The important thing is that, in both those situations, glory should be given to God. If you give all the money to orphans and use your generosity to your own glory, then in no way does God approve of your selfishness. If you buy the big house, however, what are you using that for? Are you using it for your own glory? Or are you using it for God's glory? Are you living in the American dream? Are you living in humanity's obsession with self? Or are you living in obsession with Jesus Christ?
ReplyDelete