I am so sorry for dragging this on for so long, but I’m still just talking about what I got some perspective on as we were driving through Eastern Europe. Both my other posts (1 & 2) about this were long-winded statements of the problem, almost critiques of American culture and the way it is perceived abroad. So I’ll ask myself again, what is the solution?
I guess what I’m saying is that not only are other countries drowning in America - America is drowning in itself! And the solution begins with America saving itself. I recall a simple man who stood up one day and shouted into a huge gathering of people who were supposedly involved in the holiest religious activity of their time. His warning: “Save yourselves from this generation that has gone astray!” Jesus was killed by the religious leaders of his day because they were jealous of him and because he offended their religious sensibilities. But he also spoke out against their greed and materialism. I’ve heard it said by many preachers that Jesus spoke about money more than any topic, other than the kingdom of God itself. These facts are usually presented as the exhortation (i.e., the shaming and arm-twisting) that takes place before the offering. (Christian teaching about money has usually centered around how we give, not how we save or spend our money.) The fact is, Jesus only talked about money so much because the people he was ministering to were greedy and materialistic (Shame on you if you think this is some sort of anti-Semitic remark. It is not. Many cultures over the centuries have become greedily obsessed with money - the Phoenicians and the Venetians being two clear examples). He was speaking to the people standing right there in front of him at the time. The sermons he preached in the Gospels were not preached in a vacuum, and then preserved so that later generations, that would actually need to hear those truths taught, would have access to them. No, Jesus was speaking straight to the heart of the culture he lived in when he said, “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Usually preferring to teach using stories and parables, Jesus didn’t communicate too many things this plainly or strongly.
The church has a once-in-a-generation opportunity here. We can go on with the status quo, pretending that there is no problem, continuing to believe in a fantasy world in which America is a Christian nation, and continuing to think that free-market economics and the gospel are one and the same. OR… The church can do what Peter did on the day of Pentecost. He didn’t call people to become religious zealots. He didn’t call people to formulate a conservative social agenda and try to dominate the political landscape in his country. He said in a very Morpheus-like way, “Save yourselves from this materialistic society. Wake up from the dreamworld you have been living in. You are all missing the point, and you’ve lost your way.”
Three thousand people woke up that day. Only a couple of verses later you see the change - real community. People enjoying one another, enjoying God, and looking out for each other. Their stuff did not mean as much to them as their people, their friends, their brothers and sisters in Christ. Can we really say that about the church in modern-day America? My answer is a hopeful, “Not yet.” Today, materialism exists in the church as much as it does in society at large (how do most churches get the congregation excited? A building program.). But there seems to be a growing number of believers that are realizing what is going on. It’s nothing organized enough to be called a movement, but there seems to be a confluence of forces within several different streams of Christianity that seem to be cutting against the grain of modern consumer culture. As long ago as 1997, Christian leaders like Ted Haggard (Senior Pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs and President of the National Association of Evangelicals)[please see this post for my apology for including Ted Haggard in anything Christian] and Glenn Stanton (of Focus on the Family) appeared in the PBS documentary Affluenza. This documentary should be required viewing for all Christians (in the spirit of the video, go check it out at your public library instead of buying it). Maybe because of the anti-free trade bias and neo-paganism of many environmental activists, evangelical Christianity’s involvement in the environmental movement has been at best spotty. But the recent statement release by the Evangelical Climate Initiative shows a willingness to part with the free-market gospel. Even if you think global warming is junk science, I’m just glad to see some major Christian leaders take a stand on an issue that is counter to our consumer culture. It just serves to prove what I was saying earlier. A sleeping giant, the church, could be in a season of reawakening after decades of being lulled to sleep by economic prosperity.
And here’s my point: The church is the only societal institution that can pull this off, precisely because it is spiritual. The neo-pagan, tree-hugging environmentalists have had their day. I appreciate their contributions. The consumer advocates like Ralph Nader, have had their say. But all of these movements lack the spiritual depth to institute lasting change. To quote Willem Dafoe from Mississippi Burning, “This can of worms only opens from the inside.” The only way to permanently change people’s behavior is to change who they are on the inside. Actions proceed from a person’s nature. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Also, a person who is truly following God will not allow greed to overcome them. Paul told his young friend Timothy that “true religion with contentment is great wealth.” When the church (1)realizes that they must stand and face the flood of consumerism, (2) realizes that in the gospel they have that power to overcome overconsumption, and (3) they realize how to wield that power - we could see a huge societal change. This type of change does not take place overnight, and might seem impossible with so many qualifiers, but that’s what faith and patience are all about. And it’s just the type of change America needs. It’s the type of change the whole world needs. And it might be the biggest opportunity the church has had to make a measurable change in modern industrial society.
Tags: american culture eastern europe materialism Observations
