Monthly Archives: July 2012

Sunday Worship – It’s About the 8th Day of New Creation!

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Shel – this Easter I shared the early church language of Sunday/resurrection day – as the “8th day” of the in-breaking new creation.  Skye has a great reminder why we worship on Sunday…

 

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Why it matters when we gather for worship.

by Skye Jethani

I recently read a report in USA Today that more churches are shifting their worship gatherings from Sunday morning to Wednesday night. For some it’s a matter of convenience, and other churches are simply trying to reach those who can’t/won’t come on Sunday morning.

I’m not sure this can really be called “news.” Churches have been providing alternative worship times for as long as I can remember, and I’m certainly not against that. I’ve spoken with many church leaders, including at my own congregation, about alternative worship times. But what bothers me is the lack of biblical or theological understanding around this topic. Most evangelicals seem to believe Sunday morning worship is merely historical tradition, and therefore carries no great importance. They conclude that we can or should abandon Sunday if a more convenient or missionally effective time can be found.

Occasionally I may hear someone make the connection between Christ’s resurrection and Sunday morning worship. As Keith Green sang many years ago, on Sunday “Jesus rose from the grave and you, you can’t even get out of bed.” You may hear about the resurrection as the reason Christians now observe the Sabbath on Sunday rather than the Old Testament’s command to rest on Saturday, but that’s usually as far as the theology of Sunday worship goes. In the end, most church leaders are so thrilled if anyone comes to church, they’re not about to fight about which day people come.

Still, we need to remember that there is a deeper reason why the church has worshiped on Sunday mornings–one that is still relevant today.

When Jesus rose from the grave, he was doing more that conquering death. He was doing more than displaying the vindication of God. He was doing more than giving us hope for our own resurrections in the age to come. Jesus’ resurrection is the first fruit of the New Creation. His raised and transformed body, as Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 8, is indicative of the transformation that awaits all the saints and the creation itself. As N.T. Wright says:

Jesus’s resurrection is to be seen as the beginning of the new world, the first day of the new week, the unveiling of the prototype of what God is now going to accomplish in the rest of the world. -Surprised by Hope, page 238.

Following the creation account in Genesis 1, Sunday is the first day of creation. So Jesus is raised on a Sunday to mark the beginning of God’s new creation. This fact was not lost on the early Christians. They did not worship on Sunday because it was convenient. They gathered on Sundays because they were people of the new creation, people of the resurrection, and people of the in-breaking Kingdom of God. Wright goes on:

Many Christians will find, for all kinds of reasons, that Sunday is a difficult day to attend church services. But we should remind ourselves that the earliest Christians lived in a world where Sunday was the first day of the working week, much like our Monday, and that they valued its symbolism so highly that they were prepared to get up extra early both to celebrate Easter once again and to anticipate the final Eighth Day of Creation, the start of the new week, the day when God will renew all things. -Surprised by Hope, page 262.

The move away from Sunday worship can have many motivations, and some of them are honorable and even Spirit-guided. But I sense some congregations opt for non-Sunday worship without considering these deeper realities. In other words, the merely utilitarian reasons on which which we abandon Sunday may be another sign of how theologically, historically, and biblically ignorant we have become. We view our gatherings as a time of self-improvement, therapeutic enrichment, social connection, or artistic expression–and it can be these things. So we make human-centered, self-centered decisions about when these functions can happen most conveniently during the week.

But we often fail to see our gatherings as a spiritual and embodied display of our participation in a new cosmic reality. We fail to see how Sunday morning is when and where the church displays the wisdom of God before the powers and authorities in the heavenly realms by aligning ourselves with Christ’s resurrection and the work of God’s new creation.

If you are considering abandoning Sunday morning worship for another time, I’m not saying you shouldn’t. Leaders ought to prayerfully seek God’s guidance on the matter, and do what is right for your flock and mission. Obey the Lord. But as part of the discernment process, at least study the richer reason behind the church’s historical commitment to Sunday morning worship, and teach this facet of worship to your congregation. I think many would be surprised by the real value of Sunday.

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How Does Physical Exercise Relate to Sanctification?

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Shel – the Piper I like…

How Does Physical Exercise Relate to Sanctification?

from Desiring God Blog by Jonathan Parnell

Exercise, sleep, and diet — how do they relate to our sanctification?

Over 40 years ago John Piper was confronted with this issue after realizing the relationship between patience and sleep. Basically, it is easier to be patient after a good night of sleep. So then, as he puts it, “Is patience a fruit of sleep or a fruit of the Spirit?”

In this eight-minute video Piper and Bob Glenn discuss this important (and fascinating) aspect of being human.

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Read Piper’s past series on physical exercise (Part 1; Part 2).

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Thom Rainer: Entitlement and the Local Church

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Thom Rainer: Entitlement and the Local Church

In an previous post, I wrote about the problems with leaders who have a sense of entitlement. Those leaders become self-serving, selfish, and ineffective. But entitlement is not a problem with the leader alone. To the contrary, the dreaded disease is infecting all levels of society in many areas of our nation and the world.

In a very general sense, entitlement typically means that someone is due certain economic or similar benefits. The term is also used to refer to massive federal and state programs that guarantee citizens income or benefits.

Entitlement and the Federal Government

The federal government, as the most obvious example, has 235 entitlement programs that cost the taxpayers over one trillion dollars every year. Those programs present the most serious challenges to the economic future of the United States. The three biggest entitlement programs are Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. In the most recent annual reports of Social Security and Medicare, the respective trustees of the trust funds said the funds are on an unsustainable path. Their very solvency is in jeopardy.

When Entitlement Becomes Epidemic

Entitlement, however, is not confined to certain leaders or government aid recipients. It is epidemic and widespread at multiple levels of family and society.

Have you ever supported someone in need? Perhaps you have been on the receiving end of a generous gift. Many people will be ever grateful, having expected nothing then or in the future. But some people will be grateful for a moment. The gratitude turns to resentment when more gifts are not forthcoming. They have a sense of entitlement.

Have you ever known an employee with a decent salary and benefits to complain because he’s not receiving more? He feels entitled.

Entitlement creeps into our marriages. We expect our spouses to serve us in a particular way because they’ve done so in the past, or because our parents treated us that way.

When the French government reduced the standard workweek from 39 hours to 35 hours in 2000, many leaders and workers lauded the move. They saw the change as a twofold victory. First, they conjectured, the reduction in a workweek would cause businesses to hire more workers to maintain production. Thus, unemployment would be reduced. Second, the move would improve the quality of life of the workers. The French unemployment rate in late 2000 was 8.8 percent. Today the rate is 10.0 percent.

Attempts to move the French workweek back upward have been met with fierce opposition. Many workers now feel entitled to a shorter workweek.

When Entitlement Comes to Church

If there is one place where entitlement should be anathema, it is the local church. Remember the reason Jesus came to earth? “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life – a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45, HCSB). And how are we followers of Christ to live? We are to “make (our) own attitude that of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).

Servanthood should dominate the lives of church members. Putting others first should be our first priority. Entitlement has no place in our churches.

How do we know when entitlement becomes pervasive in our churches? We can be sure it’s present when we hear comments similar to these:

  • “I have been a member of this church for 20 years, so I deserve things my way.”
  • “Someone was sitting in the pew where my family sits.”
  • “I tithe to this church, so you work for me.”
  • “If I don’t get my way, I’ll withhold my money from the church.”
  • “Some people will be in trouble if they mess with the worship the way I like it.”
  • “We’ll just visit another church until he changes things back to the way they were.”
  • “Why didn’t you visit me? That’s what we pay you to do.”

I could continue. Indeed you could add to the quotes as well. But my point, I believe, is clear. There is no place in the church for a self-serving attitude. To the contrary, we are to give cheerfully and serve others joyfully.

Where Entitlement Must End

Perhaps entitlements will continue to expand in the federal government. There seem to be no signs of it abating. Unfortunately, many marriages will fail because the husband or the wife has an entitlement mentality. And many employees will never be happy at their places of work, no matter how many job changes they make. They will always feel entitled to something more, something better.

But entitlement must end in the church.

Countless believers went to church this weekend in nations around the world. But many of them were not concerned about the music style, how long the pastor preached, or if the budget was to their liking. These believers’ primary concern was for their lives and the lives of their families. Indeed the persecuted church may be the one place where no entitlement exists.

I do not live in a nation where churches are persecuted, at least not for the moment. But I pray God will give to me and other believers a spirit of consuming servanthood. And I pray entitlement will be eradicated from the places we worship the Living God.

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Simple Lifestyle by E. Morris Sider

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Shel – The the BIC are one of many Anabaptist denominational/network groups around.  They have some great statements this one on simplicity speaks to me.

Simple Lifestyle by E. Morris Sider

Brethren in Christ Church of North America

Simple Lifestyle by E. Morris Sider

 

In an affluent age, why should Christians practice a simple lifestyle? Why should Christians deny themselves the relative luxury that most people in the West can have?

 

To ask these questions is to suggest the influence that our culture has on us. The advertisements by which we are bombarded insinuate that we are not truly happy, never quite fulfilled, unless we buy the latest and best products. Even the church sometimes reflects the thinking of the world: “Love Jesus and get rich” is the promise we occasionally hear from pulpits and religious communicators.

 

Other voices also deserve our attention, especially the Bible and, above all, the example of Jesus. His lifestyle was symbolized by birth in a manger. In his ministry he could claim that he had no place to lay his head. He called his disciples to leave everything and to follow him. He taught that it was difficult for a

rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. He elevated poor and humble people to positions of spiritual significance-the widow with the two mites, the lad with the loaves and fishes, the child set in the midst of the disciples.

 

Because we are Jesus’ followers, His twentyfirst-century disciples, we must translate His example into action appropriate for our lives and time. Some Christians propose to do this by composing a list of activities that do or do not conform to a Christian lifestyle. Whatever the value of such a list for the individual, on a broader level, it may imply that one’s righteousness depends on how one conforms

to the list. This is the legalism that Jesus condemned in the Pharisees.

 

We may, however, rightly talk of principles. Principles for determining a Christian lifestyle are clearly established in the Bible; they may be applied to all times and places – to the disciples and the New Testament church, as well as to Christians in our own century.

 

The following principles are among those that must be taken seriously by all who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ:

 

A simple lifestyle reflects rightness of heart and mind. If our lifestyle is to conform to God’s will, we must have a heart that is right before God, a heart that seeks first his kingdom (Matthew 6:33). With that as the attitude of heart and mind, we shall find the other aspects of life falling into proper perspective.

 

This principle does not automatically condemn persons with riches, providing their attitude toward wealth is right. On the other hand, it does reprove persons with few possessions who unduly treasure the little he or she has and covets the possessions of others.

 

For both rich and poor-the principle calls us to be sensitive to the things of the Spirit. Then we shall not be dazzled by or made covetous of the material, thus essentially superficial things of life, whether they be large houses, expensive cars, swimming pools, or even impressive church buildings.

 

A simple lifestyle places values on human dignity. Christians measure the worth of people not by the things they possess but by their being created in the image of God.

 

That is why we are all – rich and poor – equal in God’s sight. To measure worth by wealth, status, expensive possessions or other similar standards is to take away from the dignity of being created in the image of God. A simple lifestyle affirms our acceptance of that truth.

 

Lazarus, for all his begging, was a nobler person than the rich man from whom he begged (Luke 16:19-31).

 

A simple lifestyle embodies stewardship. Christians know that they receive so that they can give. Our farms, our bank accounts, our professions, indeed all we have, are not ours but God’s. To hoard our money, to exploit our land, to turn work only to our own advantage is to abuse the gift God has given us. Rather, with the Apostle Paul, Christians say that the reason for acquiring money is not to spend it lavishly on themselves but that they may have in order to share with others (Ephesians 4:28).

 

A simple lifestyle understands world need. Christians, above all others, are concerned about how their lifestyles relate to the millions of people who lack the means to live healthy, normal lives. The comfortable lifestyle of affluent people in the West is a major contributing factor to the discomfort of many people in developing countries. To make spiritual sense to such people, Christians in the West must also make economic lifestyle sense. “How can you Americans be Christian when you have so many possessions and so much wealth?” an African once asked a missionary. Centuries earlier, John asked

much the same question: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (I John 3:17).

 

A simple lifestyle recognizes that our needs are minimal. We have been conditioned to want much, and our wants have a way of becoming needs. Yet, as Christians, our contentment is not in the accumulation of things, the satisfying of perceived wants, but in Jesus. Spiritual maturity for the Christian includes saying with Paul, “…I have learned to be content, whatever the circumstances” (Philipians 4:1 lb). Those words take on added meaning when we realize that Paul wrote them while in prison.

 

A simple lifestyle avoids the dangers frequently resulting from affluency. Riches are deceitful, Jesus said in the parable of the sower, because they choke out the word (Matthew 13:22). Jesus was warning us that unless we are careful, possessions have a way of affecting the soul. We may come to trust in our riches rather than in God. Our possessions may give us a false sense of power, leading us to think that we are in control of our lives when we are not. That is why Jesus, in another place, said that we cannot serve God and money at the same time (Matthew 6:24). To put our faith in material things, as one writer has said, is at best a detour on the way to the promised land.

 

A simple lifestyle values beauty and happiness. Christians may live simply but still enjoy life. Paintings on our walls, books on our shelves, music, if conforming to good taste and bought at moderate prices, are means of enriching our lives and of glorifying God. Times of feasting with family or with friends-may also be part of the joyful world of the Christian. Jesus himself feasted in the homes of the rich; he did not condemn the woman who poured expensive ointment on his feet; he undoubtedly admired the beauty of the Temple. Paul set the correct tone for us when he said, “So whether you eat or drink [if you are invited to a feast], do all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

 

John Cooper in The Joy of the Plain Life gives three guidelines (he calls them counterhabits) for putting biblical principles into practice.

 

The guidelines are not exhaustive, but they do illustrate the practical thinking that Christians should do something about the simple lifestyle:

 

1. Cultivate an attitude of aloofness toward advertising for some Christians, this may mean turning off the commercials on television and radio, cancelling subscriptions to magazines that specialize in lavish

consumer-oriented advertising, overlooking Internet ads, and avoiding the sales sections of the newspapers.

 

2. Reassess what you already own. Ask yourself whether some of the things that you now possess are really necessary. Cultivate joint ownership of equipment and tools with your neighbors.

 

3. Resist comparing yourself with those who have more than you do. The North American dream is built on “keeping up with the Joneses.” Remember that this is measuring by the wrong yardstick. Feel good about yourself even though you have fewer “nice” things than do your friends or neighbors. We are in trouble, spiritually and otherwise, when we set our eyes on what we lack and on what others have.

 

Through the centuries, spiritual renewal among groups of Christians has nearly always been accompanied by a call to a more simple lifestyle. That call comes to our own age, perhaps more forcefully than ever before, as we consider how, in an affluent age and society, we may become worthy followers of the One who was born in a manger.

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9 WAYS TO FIGHT THE TEMPTATION OF PORNOGRAPHY

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Shel – very good stuff here.  what do you think?

9 WAYS TO FIGHT THE TEMPTATION OF PORNOGRAPHY

BJ Stockman from the resurgance 

In an earlier post I wrote, “7 Negative Effects of Porn,” I focused on the harmful psychological and sociological effects of pornography. This post will focus on a biblical and grace-centered way to resist the temptation to view porn. This post is primarily aimed at men, but I hope that there is some help here for the growing number of women who are addicted to porn and I hope that more Christian women will write on this hidden issue.

1. FIGHT LUSTFUL IMAGES WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S WRITTEN WORD.

Images are unbelievably powerful, but God has made the universe through his Word and the explosive power of his Word trumps the alluring power of an image. God didn’t give us a picture Bible, but revealed himself through words and sentences to be read and heard. The longest chapter in the Bible shows that the way a young man keeps his way pure is through knowing God’s Word (Psalm 119:9,11). Therefore the firecracker of pornographic images is no match for the napalm of God’s spoken and written Word.

2. REALIZE THAT VIEWING PORN UNLEASHES INSATIABLE CRAVING BUT KILLS GENUINE SATISFACTION.

Leering at naked women online incites yearnings for more and more naked women, yet never gives ultimate satisfaction. On the other hand, the body of one’s wife is a garden of pleasures that leads to holy satisfaction. The book of Proverbs gives the wisdom of a father to son: “Let [your wife’s] breasts satisfy you at all times” (5:18, 19). The body and breasts of your wife contain an intoxicating influence that no other body and breasts can bring. If you don’t think they are satisfying or intoxicating, the problem isn’t her, but the fact that you settle for inferior and ultimately unsatisfying cravings. Why settle for cheap wine when your wife is a fine vintage?

3. TREAT ALL WOMEN WHO ARE NOT YOUR WIFE LIKE SISTERS AND MOTHERS (1 TITUS 5:2).

Look into the eyes of your mom or sister and recognize that the centerfold you gazed at last night probably has a heartbroken family member who loves her. The thought of your daughter or mother being a centerfold should appall you and jolt you out of the objectification of women and back into the reality of treating all women as created in the image of God as they are.

4. SEVER THE SOURCES OF TEMPTATION TO VIEW PORN.

When discussing the adulterous sin of lust, Jesus said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). In doing so he prescribes a radical violence toward that which leads you to sin. Jesus knew that amputating your hand doesn’t kill lustful desire—after all he said sin starts in the heart (Matthew 15:19), but his call does mean that you need to get drastic on non-sins that may lead to sin. For some of you this will mean disconnecting the Internet for a period of time or only accessing it in public places, for others this may mean an extended media fast of all kinds. You fill in the blank.

Remember, though legalism is never a means to sanctification, the call to holiness and following Jesus demands radical steps.

5. THINK ABOUT THE ETERNAL RESULT OF LUST.

As Jesus’ words indicated above, at on one level, his answer to how to fight lust is: fight it or risk going to hell. God’s wrath is coming for all kinds of sin and one of them is sexual sin (Colossians 3:5–6). Therefore since purity is of eternal importance, don’t give up in the fight for it. This is only one of the ways to fight this particular sin, but it is not the most significant way. The primary way to repent is through seeing God’s magnificent kindness and undeserved grace in Jesus (Romans 2:4), but this does not mean we that we ignore the other biblical incentives of repentance in light of God’s future terrible wrath. Grace is the best motivator, but it is not the only one.

6. ENJOY THE PLEASURES OF PURITY MORE THAN THE PLEASURES OF PORN.

Eighteenth-century preacher Thomas Chalmers, in his classic sermon “The Expulsive Power of a New Affection,” demonstrated how the greatest power in killing a sinful desire is not just by harping on the sinful desire but on replacing it with a new and greater holy desire. The promise of experiencing sinful lustful pleasures at almost any moment via your Internet connection is hard to argue with, unless you replace it with a superior pleasure, then it becomes easy. Jesus said it is the pure in heart that will see God (Matthew 5:8), and the Psalmist tells us that in the presence of God are infinite pleasures (Psalm 16:11). In view of this reality, the desire to see God who gives eternal pleasure far outweighs temporal lustful desire.

It’s insane to settle for a mud puddle of pleasure when you have an ocean of pleasure awaiting you in the presence of the Triune God.

7. AVOID ACCOUNTABILITY GROUPS.

Instead, link up with believers radically focused on encouraging one another in the gospel of grace. Well, maybe this is a bit of an overstatement against accountability groups, but the point is that often accountability groups turn into focusing on sin rather than experiencing the gospel of grace. You don’t just want a group that kills, but gospel-driven community that gives life. Men’s groups I’ve been apart of in the past tend to focus more on the experiences of failure the week before not the event of God’s grace in the death and resurrection of Christ 2,000 years ago.

Don’t get me wrong: Christian relationships should engage in confession of sin (James 5:16), but they are also meant for encouragement in grace (1 Thessalonians 5:14). The author of the Hebrews reveals that the key to not being hardened to the deceitfulness of sin is daily encouragement not an excessive concentration on sin (Hebrews 3:13). The use of accountability software between brothers to keep one away from online pornography is helpful, but grace-oriented encouragement between brothers is best.

8. STARE AT JESUS, NOT AT PORN.

Trying harder and harder to stop looking at porn isn’t the way to stop looking at porn—you must look somewhere else, namely, the person of Jesus Christ. Paul in 2 Corinthians 3:18 writes, “And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.” True inward change comes from beholding Jesus not from not looking at porn. As it has been said, what you behold you become, or as biblical theologian Greg Beale puts it, you become what you worship. Look at porn and become a person controlled by lust and idolatry or look at Jesus and become a glorious and whole human being that reflects the beauty and glory of God.

9. FIGHT AS SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF GOD.

As a Christian, you have been freed to walk in purity. The key to fighting lustful temptation (and any temptation for that matter) is to know who you are not by evaluating what you have done. Becoming a child of God is not dependent upon your not looking at porn, but upon being united to Jesus by faith and the result of the Spirit of God’s work in your heart (Romans 8:3–4,14). No longer are you defined by your entanglements with porn, but by your connection to the person and work of Jesus.

Jesus was crucified for your lust, and he has made you objectively pure in him.

Therefore you can work from a place of purity as covered in the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), not toward a place of purity to earn righteousness. Kill the urge to view porn because you are a child of God who is dead to sin and free to walk in purity (Romans 6:1–14). Pornography is no longer your master—God is your Father who radically loves you (1 John 3:1) and Jesus is your sin-bearer who is not ashamed to call you, with all your inordinate lusts, “brother” (Hebrews 2:11). So, to paraphrase John Piper, fight the temptation of pornography as a victor not a victim.

This article is adapted from a post on BJ’s blog. For more on porn in light of the gospel, check out Pastor Mark Driscoll’s sermon for Mars Hill Church this week, “The Porn Path.”


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Stanley Hauerwas: “You Never Marry the Right Person”

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Shel – I posted the orginal Relevant article when it came on FB some time ago.  But here is another one.  Read and learn or enter marriage from “light, romantic, lusty, comedy” hollywood view and start over ever 2-5 years…

Stanley Hauerwas: “You Never Marry the Right Person”

Stanley Hauerwas“Stanley the Manley”

I’m not typically one to like much from Relevant magazine, but Tim Keller has a nice article  here about marriage and Christians that includes this infamous – and spot on – paragraph from Stanley Hauerwas.

“Destructive to marriage is the self-fulfillment ethic that assumes marriage and the family are primarily institutions of personal fulfillment, necessary for us to become “whole” and happy. The assumption is that there is someone just right for us to marry and that if we look closely enough we will find the right person. This moral assumption overlooks a crucial aspect to marriage. It fails to appreciate the fact that we always marry the wrong person.

We never know whom we marry; we just think we do. Or even if we first marry the right person, just give it a while and he or she will change. For marriage, being [the enormous thing it is] means we are not the same person after we have entered it. The primary challenge of marriage is learning how to love and care for the stranger to whom you find yourself married.”

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Ed Stetzer: Consumerism and the Mission of God

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Wednesday July 25, 2012   ~

closer-look.pngThis week’s essay from the Mission of God Study Bible focuses on consumerism within the church.

I’ve written on consumerism as it relates to the church and worship services, but Skye Jethani, senior editor of Leadership Journal, shares another danger of consumerism and how it inhibits us from living out the mission of God.

Many of you have emailed or tweeted to me and Philip Nation (who helped edit the project) about how much you’re enjoying it. Please know we appreciate the kind words. For those who might not be familiar with the project, the Mission of God Study Bible encourages followers of Jesus Christ to see their everyday life from God’s perspective and have His heart for people. It includes essays (which I’m posting here on the site) from today’s top thinkers, theologians, and leading voices in the church about what it means to live in the mission of God as well as “Letters to the Church” from elder statesmen that speak to the grand narrative of God’s mission in Scripture.

I’m giving away a copy each week to commenters, so be sure to leave a comment below to be entered in the giveaway.

 

by Skye Jethani

Critiques of consumerism usually focus on the dangers of idolatry–the temptation to make material goods the center of life rather than God. But this misses the real threat consumerism poses. As contingent beings we must consume resources to survive. The problem is not consuming to live, but rather living to consume.

We find ourselves in a culture that defines our relationships and actions primarily through a matrix of consumption. As the philosopher Baudrillard explains, “Consumption is a system of meaning.” We assign value to ourselves and others based on the goods we purchase and how useful they are to us. One’s identity is now constructed by the clothes you wear, the vehicle you drive, and the music on your iPod. In short, you are what you consume.

mogsb.jpegWhen this understanding of the world and self is brought into Christian faith, two very damaging things occur. First, consumerism reduces God from a deity to a commodity. His value, like everything else, is determined by His usefulness to the user (i.e. the Christian). In consumerism, personal desires and their fulfillment are paramount, therefore everything and everyone– including God–exists to satisfy these cravings. This is precisely the opposite of what Scripture teaches. We are called to live in submission to God and walk humbly with Him. Consumerism, however, reduces God so that He becomes a means to an end. He is presented as a useful tool that supplies us with our desires and expectations. As one sociologist noted, in our consumer culture we have come to view God as part cosmic therapist and part divine butler.

Secondly, consumerism reduces Jesus Christ from Lord to a label. When the early Christians declared “Christ is Lord” they were subverting the popular belief of the day that “Caesar is Lord.” It was a proclamation of Jesus’ authority and power over all things, and it was a declaration of allegiance to our heavenly King.

But in consumerism the customer is king, not Jesus… As a result Christianity becomes just one more brand we integrate and display along with Gap, Apple, and Starbucks….Read the rest here.

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