SAYING 'NO' TO MATERIALISM
I remember a bank advertisement that encouraged people to borrow, asking the question:
"What do you need to make you happy?"
How foolish, I thought, to believe that a new car, a boat or even a house can bring lasting bliss.
Materialism is a disease that infects the human family - and it's not a problem only in affluent countries. Author and financial counsellor Ron Blue tells of visiting a small, rural village in Africa. Ron asked a villager what was the biggest problem which his community had. The man said that it was materialism.
Ron was taken aback. He expected it to be the lack of food or medical help, or perhaps problems with neighbouring villages. But materialism? These villagers didn't have television or cars or cable TV - the sorts of things we associate to 'the good life'.
But this villager told Ron, "If a man has a mud hut, he wants one made out of cow manure. If he has a cow manure hut, he wants a stone hut. If he has a thatched roof, he wants a tin roof. If he has one acre, he wants two. Materialism is a disease of the heart, it has nothing to do with where you live... I hope all of you will take a good hard look at the love ones in your life and then see where your real priorities are.
This article rang in a similar frequency with a scripture I read today.
"Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, till there is no place they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!" (Isaiah 5:8)
This woe was against real estate owners because of their greedy materialism.
"Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them! The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the LORD, Nor consider the operation of His hands. " (Isaiah 5:11-12)
This woe addressed the drunkards for their neglect of the Lord's work of judgement and redemption, and their devotion to pleasure. It is related to Ephesians 5:18 (which talks about do not be drunk with wine...but be filled with the Spirit). The main issue is not so much that we should not get drunk with wine but more importantly, there are things which we may over-consume or indulge which cause us to be less sober minded or less appreciative of the God and the things of God. So what can possibly cause us to be 'drunk'? Material.
I have been observing the people around me and I must admit i-phone is cool. But do I really need i-phone? Won't a simple phone do? How much do we really need? Can we put all this down when God asks you to follow Him? Do we desire God as much as we desire other material goods in life?
May God's word be with us to keep us sober minded and contented with God's providence.
We are a beautiful letdown, painfully uncool.
The church of the dropouts, the losers, the sinners, the failures and the fools.
Oh what a beautiful letdown!
Are we salt in the wound?
Let us sing one true tune.
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