Skye Jethani has written a provocative piece titled "From Lord to Label" at Leadership Journal's Out of Ur blog.
I could have written this and I wish I had written this, and by that I mean I love what Jethani has written and these are things I ponder and talk about in my circles a lot.
For those who get irritated by this sort of thing, I know, I know that it's not a black and white dichotomy. I "get it". But the lack of clear cut blackness and whiteness does not excuse our idolatrous consumerism. There is an "economy of signs" that is about prestige and distinction through materialism. There is an economy of the Kingdom of God. We should repent of participating in the materialistic economy of signs, trying to signal our elite status. We should live as subjects of God's Kingdom, signalling the things He loves (like....godliness, faith, hope, love).
Here's a long excerpt:
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. 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.
This explains why shopping is the number one leisure activity of
Americans. It occupies a role in society that once belonged only to
religion—the power to give meaning and construct identity. Consumerism,
as Pete Ward correctly concludes, “represents an alternative source of
meaning to the Christian gospel.” No longer merely an economic system,
consumerism has become the American worldview—the framework through
which we interpret everything else, including God, the gospel, and
church.
When we approach Christianity as consumers rather than seeing it as
a comprehensive way of life, an interpretive set of beliefs and values,
Christianity becomes just one more brand we consume along with Gap,
Apple, and Starbucks to express identity. And the demotion of Jesus
Christ from Lord to label means to live as a Christian no longer
carries an expectation of obedience and good works, but rather the
perpetual consumption of Christian merchandise and experiences—music,
books, t-shirts, conferences, and jewelry.
Approaching Christianity as a brand (rather than a worldview)
explains why the majority of people who identify themselves as
born-again Christians live no differently than other Americans.
According to George Barna, most churchgoers have not adopted a biblical
worldview, they have simply added a Jesus fish on the bumper of their
unregenerate consumer identities. As Mark Riddle observes, “Conversion
in the U.S. seems to mean we’ve exchanged some of our shopping at
Wal-Mart, Blockbuster, and Borders for the Christian bookstore down the
street. We’ve taken our lack of purchasing control to God’s store,
where we buy our office supplies in Jesus name.”
Ultimately we shouldn’t be surprised that American Christianity has
succumbed to the pervasive power of consumerism. Alan Wolf, a leading
sociologist and the director of the Boisi Center for Religion and
American Public Life, has concluded that, "In the United States culture
has transformed Christ, as well as all other religions found within
these shores. In every aspect of the religious life, American faith has
met American culture—and American culture has triumphed."
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