I'll go ahead and take on the first thing on my list of challenges to the Church. Lots of people have talked about this and plenty of them are smarter than me. So I hope you are able to glean something from here even if it's only a reminder.
Growing up I heard a lot about the evils of our culture. I was basically told I should walk around in a bubble lest I be lured into "acting like the world". I have watched and listened for years as conservative evangelicals have fought the so called culture war. They war against the movie industry, music, politics, liberal agendas, etc. But even though they try so hard to be in the world and not of it, they've slipped up and let the world not only into their lives, but their churches.
I now realize that many of them have just traded one version of conforming for another.
The United States, is without a doubt, the largest consumer culture in the history of the world. Whether it is what we eat, drive, live in, or buy to make our lives better, we spend lots of money and take it to extremes. Recently I was at a buffet with my brother and they had so many things to eat and choose from that he made the comment that this place was" pure decedance". And isn't that the kind of society we live in? We are constantly lavishing ourselves with stuff to make us feel good.
Look at our bodies. Estimates from many sources say that over 60% of Americans meet the criteria for being overweight or obese. I would fall into the overweight category myself as I am probably about 15 pounds too heavy.
Look at what we drive. Who really needs an SUV the size of a tank that gets 8 miles to the gallon?
Look at many of our houses. I wonder who these people are that can afford these HUGE houses with 5 bedrooms or more and more bathrooms than some elementary schools.
And while I am a proponent of finding good entertainment for yourself and your family, I know too many folks that go overboard with their TV's, game systems, computers, electronic gadgets, home decor, and on and on. And they do a lot of it on credit.
Oh, did I mention that I am not talking about our culture right now, but our churches? Yep, the church has conformed to world when it comes to consumption. And there are some very damaging effects.
First, too many churches now are like shopping malls where we go to find the goods and services we like and want. Things that are compatible with (don't get in the way of) our secular lives, and make us feel good. We go to church to consume instead of giving ourselves away to the mission of God. And when we aren't able to "buy" the things we want anymore, we just head on down to the next mall, er, church. We never hang around to get to know and love folks. We are always running to this event or that, or we are leaving to go somewhere better. What a shame.
Not only do the churches become like shopping malls, but in order to do so, and draw their customers, they spend %80-%90 of their money on salaries and physical plant. And they do this while there are people nearby who have some real needs they could meet if only "they had more money"
Next, to have all of this cool stuff in our personal lives, we have to work hard to make the money to afford them. I know a lot of people who can't enjoy a good family life because they have work 60+ hours a week to keep up the house, the cars, and the toys. I have no problem with folks working hard to survive, but there could be a problem if you are forsaking relationships to keep up an affluent lifestyle. It can only hurt the church for it's members to be in this position.
And lastly, we aren't differentiating ourselves from the world as much as we think as long we are consumer driven. Damaging effect? Bad witness. You can listen to Contemporary Christian music all day long, but when it's both a copy of what's already been done and the marketing is no different, you look like everyone else. Your music is just sanitized. Their is a cottage industry of Christian T-Shirts. I see them all the time. You are no less a consumer of junk simply because you have changed a slogan on a Tee. You're just wasting money on different supplier (and I have nothing against cool T-shirts, I am quite the fan, but come on, how goofy is it to take a Nike or Coke slogan and make it Christian. it trivializes things IMHO.)
Books could and have been written on this subject but I am keeping this post brief. What do we do about this? How do we shift our mind set from being takers to being givers? Is it hopeless as long we live in such a prosperous nation?
Earlier in this post I said that we like to lavish ourselves with stuff to make us feel better. And why do we do it? Because since Adam and Eve disobeyed and fellowship was broken with God, we've had an empty space that we don't know how to fill ourselves.
And that is the ultimate answer. We need to be thinking less of ourselves and look to God to fill that hole.
Talk to me.
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