Spiritual Consumerism: What's in it for Me?

Consumerism is what drives the success of our Western society. It is the very foundation of our economic structure. Everything hinges on the buying and selling of goods and services. Advertisers spend millions upon millions of dollars in an effort to convince you that their product is something you want--- no need! We are urged, manipulated, and coerced into thinking that particular products will set us apart from the crowd and make us feel better about ourselves. We are courted and seduced by the beckoning flattery that consumerism promises. We are told that it is all about us, our pleasure, our reputation, our attractiveness, our happiness. We are told that we can be made whole by satisfying our desires and feeding our egos-- we deserve it.

And it’s all a lie.

At its core, capitalistic consumerism is benign. Any society depends on the trade of goods & services to be successful and healthy. However, this benign industrial innovation has mutated over time to become a malignant attitudinal cancer in our world. It’s infected our hearts and minds. It has carefully groomed and nurtured a dark part of our souls that has been there since the Fall of Creation: It’s convinced us that how we feel at any given moment is the utmost priority.

My biggest struggle in life is this: to get over my desperate, overwhelming, all-consuming desire to be… comfortable. I want to be emotionally, physically, relationally, financially, psychologically, and spiritually comfortable. I’ve bought into the lie that I deserve to be comfortable. I deserve to live a life that is safe, pleasant, and relatively easy. I deserve … happiness. The serpent coils around this ripe fruit and invites me to take and eat, because this is how I’ll be made whole.

I’ve bought into the lie time and time again.  

It is surprising how prevalent this attitude is among believers, isn’t it? We have the very Word of God set before us--- the Word that blatantly contradicts everything that has to do with any sort of entitlement--- and yet, we continue to believe the lie… that “we deserve”…

Entitlement grasped for forbidden fruit, because we deserved to be like God.

Entitlement raised up the stone that murdered Abel, because Cain deserved to have his sacrifice accepted.

Entitlement jeered at the Son of God--it beat and whipped him, it demanded his death-- because we deserved a Saviour that fit our expectations. We deserved Someone better than a humble carpenter! We deserved to feel like good people and not have to come face-to-face with our sinfulness!

(Oh, thank God He chose not to give us what we actually “deserve!”)

Entitlement culture continues to pervade our daily lives, including the church! How often have we criticized a worship service because we just didn’t “feel” into it? We’re entitled to have an emotional experience! We’re entitled to hear music we like!

Or perhaps we’ve jumped from church to church because we weren’t “getting anything” out of the service? Because we deserve to be spiritually fed? (Or is that "spoon-fed"?)

We’ve turned our backs on serving others because it doesn’t “feel” right. We’ve refused to give because it was difficult. We didn’t speak the Truth in Love because we were afraid of damaging our reputation or losing friends. We live a double life of going through the “Good Christian” motions on Sunday, while living a life of hedonistic selfishness the rest of the week--- because we deserve to have fun! We deserve to be happy! We deserve pleasure and comfort and appreciation and respect and excitement and entertainment… right?

“Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people…
I can’t impress this on you too strongly. God is looking over your shoulder. Christ himself is the Judge, with the final say on everyone, living and dead. He is about to break into the open with his rule, so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple.
You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.” (2 Tim 3:1-5, 4:1-5, MSG)

 

Hmm. Looks like God saw this coming...

The default approach to life for our selfish, sinful hearts is to ask, “What’s in it for me?” It takes incredible effort to continually shift our perspective back to, “What’s in it for God-- and how can I help?” We feel apathetic, uninterested, stressed out, burnt out, and cynical because we’re looking at the world through self-focused lenses--- “how are we feeling about this?” We are loving, peaceful, joyful, patient, selfless, kind, generous, gracious, and faith-filled when we are looking at the world through God-focused lenses---”how is He feeling about this?”

The shift in our lives happens when we recognize the truth of what we really, truly, “deserve” in this life--- nothing. In fact, worse than nothing! We deserved to be “scrapped” as the defective, ungrateful, broken creation we chose to become! But God looks upon his foolish, naive, entitled creatures and extends His hand with an offer to restore us, redeem us, and transform us into His precious children! When we can begin to comprehend that--- even some small fraction of what that means-- our outlook is transformed! What joy! What privilege! What amazing love!

Suddenly church ceases to be about what we “get out of it”, and becomes a place to worship and to practice selfless living. Suddenly people cease to be obstacles/annoyances and begin to be precious image-bearers of God. Suddenly life’s hardships become a spiritual fitness bootcamp where we can exercise our faith “muscles” and grow stronger. Suddenly life’s goodness ceases to be taken for granted as what we “deserved” all along, and becomes precious blessings and gifts from a Good Father.

"Whoever loves the life they have now will lose it. But whoever is willing to give up their life in this world will keep it. They will have eternal life." 

(John 12:25 ERV)

God, my Father,

Help me to see the world through your eyes. Help me to see where you’re working and how I can help. Please forgive me for my warped attitude and for placing my own comfort ahead of my love for You. Help me to grow. Help me to become more like Christ. Refine my heart, so that I can live for you instead of for me. Keep me encouraged in Your work, rather than consumed by mine.