The Good News in a Culture of Consumerism

A compilation

In a very perceptive book called Life: The Movie, author Neal Gabler argues that entertainment has conquered reality. All of life has become a stage, and the way to success is through the pathway of becoming a celebrity. Gabler suggests that we spend our lives buying and shopping according to images and ideals that we hold as we seek to shape ourselves for our own performance.

The constant use of significant celebrities to model lines of clothing, sporting goods, and cosmetics tell us subtly that if we own these items, we too can be like our heroes. We are strategically convinced that we don’t simply have to watch the rich and famous; we can become them. The democratization of credit and the availability of easily-accessed goods guarantee our ability to play the part or parts we choose.

The practical aids are many. Credit and finance options bluntly inquire, “Why wait?” In earlier times people had to consider whether they could afford such things, and they might have had to delay while they saved. The time between viewing and having was often considerable, but not anymore. The messages are clear that we can have it if we want it, and we can have it now. It comes, of course, with a huge price tag in terms of increasing debt and anxiety. ...

Is the bottom line to make money at all costs? Is happiness really being able to get what you want when you want it? Maybe it is time to recognize that life is far more than these trivial yet powerful views. Maybe it is time to call foul, to insist that real life is something far more nuanced, focused, and holistic than what the prophets of materialism have to offer.

The Christian view and alternative is that we are the products of a personal, loving Creator, and that our lives, opportunities, and resources are gifts to us. We interact with nature and the material world, we see God within it, but we also have other dimensions to our nature. The psalmist explains it in a way that much of the world rejects: The earth is filled with the glory of God. Because we have been made by God and for God, our ultimate glory—our claim to fame—is found in God.

The pretensions of the world are many, the seductions vast, and the attractions powerful. Yet in a world of invasive desires, intrusive demands, and restless indulgence, another voice can be heard: “Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” The answer is not in a product but in a living Person.—Stuart McAllister

Relaying the message in contemporary culture

As Christians we face the task of delivering the good news, the Gospel, God’s message of love and salvation, to the world of today. In order to do so in a relatable fashion, it’s important to understand the fundamental changes that have occurred in society, affecting many people’s worldview, values, and perception of Christianity. Recognizing that these changes run deep and bring with them fears and insecurities, as well as skepticism, can help us to better convey the message in a manner that relates to those we are commissioned to reach.

We know that the Gospel is a message for today’s world, but finding the manner to reach those who have not yet been attracted to the message, or who have been put off by it for one reason or another, is an ever-increasing challenge. The modern world has changed incredibly and rapidly within the past thirty years, and it continues to do so. Secularism has heavily permeated spheres of thought and influence with values that promote self-interest and materialism, as well as other values that are incompatible with and ultimately undermine Christian and traditional values.

Meanwhile, certain principles or concepts that have been accepted as bedrock in the West for the past half century are no longer as solid as was supposed. Many people feel insecure about their future. They have much less trust in governmental, religious, and educational institutions, or in the veracity of what they read and hear in the news and media. Even saving money has increased risk, as many financial institutions have failed, and even countries are teetering on the brink of economic collapse.

Today’s cultural, societal, intellectual, secular, and moral environment, fused with widespread questioning, skepticism, and rejection of what have been accepted standards and values for years, has brought about a fundamental shift in many people’s values, ethics, worldview, relationship to authority, and their interactions with other people. For many it’s much more difficult to know what one can place trust in. While for some, conditions of the world and society may draw them to the message of the Gospel, for others the environment of today’s world makes it much more difficult for them to relate to it, much less believe it or receive it.

This presents those of us who are committed to sharing the Gospel with numerous challenges, not least of which is that we are called to bring a message about a man who lived and died and was resurrected 2,000 years ago—with the claim that this is the most important message they will ever encounter. It is therefore vital for the mission-minded Christian to find new and creative ways to express and deliver the timeless message of the love of God in a manner that speaks to the people of today’s world. No doubt Christians of the past have had challenges in their time periods as well, but today’s world is our challenge.

We are faced with the challenge of how we present Jesus in a manner that resonates with those we interact with, especially when, in the West at least, many non-Christians hold values which cause Christianity to be seen as irrelevant to their lives and worldview. In many countries, it can sometimes be difficult to bring up the topic of God, let alone Jesus, because widespread secularism and materialism have replaced belief in God and made Him irrelevant to their belief system.

Many people today are wary of the messages they hear, and why wouldn’t they be? Every day on the Internet, on television, in the news, in advertisements, they are bombarded with messages that they need this, that, and the other, that this is the right way to think, the right position to take. To them the message of the Gospel might seem like another advertisement telling them what they need, how to live, what will make them happy. People are often not inclined to trust such messages, because their experience is that many messages contain little or no validity. People are searching for answers, but many are cautious regarding where they place their trust.

To be effective in making the Gospel known to people, it is necessary to relate to them. To reach the people in your city or your country, or those you work with in your job, or your neighbors and acquaintances, you need to understand them, their culture, what they value.

Each person in every country or culture deserves and needs to hear the Gospel. As Christians, we are commissioned to bring it to those in the country, culture, and community in which we live, in a manner which they can most easily relate to and understand and accept.—Peter Amsterdam

Countering the gospel of consumerism

The gospel of consumerism has three core tenets: (1) we are created to be individual consumers; (2) we are meant to be passive; (3) our sole duty is to consume more.

The first tenet relates to our identity: who we are and how we see ourselves. The second tenet relates to our agency: how empowered we are to effect change and engage the world around us. The third tenet relates to our purpose: what is our reason for being and our way of life? The gospel of consumerism infiltrates every part of our personhood and runs counter to … the God revealed in Scripture.

God is not a consumer. God is a creator. Being created in the image of God means we are made to create too. Ephesians 2:10 says that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”—Reesheda Graham-Washington and Shawn Casselberry¹

Shaped for a greater purpose

Jesus spoke often about the challenge of materialism. Sure, there weren’t all the advertisements, brands, cosmetics and fashion magazines, but he did explain in Luke 12 how things have a way of taking hold of our hearts and becoming our master. He did talk about how we can so easily give our heart to the wrong grid, define ourselves by our “treasure,” and end up serving money.

Paul writes in Romans 12 that we get “conformed to the patterns of this world” without even thinking. Paul wasn’t writing about consumerism as such, but he was talking about how the dominant values of the empire have a way of moulding who we are. Consumerism, as an advanced cultural expression of materialism, is just a modern institutionalised expression of the same selfishness that has always been the problem. As Christians, we are called to live with a different hope and desire and remember that we are shaped for a greater purpose. …

The biblical story of Daniel highlights how we can live, and even thrive, in Babylon—an empire that symbolises false worship. Daniel purposed in his heart that he belonged to a more significant empire. He prayed with and sought support from friends with similar values. He recalibrated around God’s purpose for him often (at least formally three times a day) and remembered that everything, including his intellect and ability to interpret dreams, was from God and that only God was worthy of ultimate glory. …

As Christians we are called to give our life to a different story. Rather than conformed, we are to be transformed.² We will consume, but with different glasses on. We will find our hope, desire, and identity in Jesus and ironically find our life by giving it away—shifting from our agenda to serving God’s. We will value people, take time to grow, serve, share, and worship in ways that resist commodification. We will live to God’s glory in a world that focuses on self. This is the starting point of a significant life that matters for now and eternity.—Brendan Pratt³

Published on Anchor October 2021. Read by Simon Peterson.

Posted in: audio, compilation, discipleship, mission, values, witnessing

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