Materialism is such a slippery thing and it's hooks in me are deep. It is so easy to read the Old Testament and condemn the people we read about for their blatant idolatry. How could those who had seen the Lord part the Red Sea bow down and worship an image forged out of the gold they donated for it? Sometimes it baffles me.
My idolatry is so much harder to spot. (For me anyway, maybe not for you) For instance, I need to replace the computer I'm typing on. Well, need is a subjective word because it technically is still working though it takes more and more to be able to see the results of its computations. Nevertheless, I feel like I need to replace it b/c the display is going out quickly and it is 3 years old, and it has begun to freeze up more often which happened with my last computer before the hard drive crashed.
Assuming I buy a computer sometime this month, what do I buy? I can not deny that my eye and my heart wander after a new Macbook. Yes, the commercials and all the other young professionals switching over have seduced me. All it takes is one friend who I respect to tell me how they would like a new Mac too and I can almost justify buying anything that I can afford. But the thing is that there are PC's that have the same specs and cost half the price.
While this battle rages (maybe not rages) within me some other things are happening too. For one, there are billions (billions) of people who are going to bed hungry tonight. I even wrote about it here. They don't have money for food and I am trying to decide whether a preference for Leopard over Vista justifies $500.
This is why we need reminders in our lives. Idolatry is so slippery. In Deuteronomy 6:1-8 the Lord basically says, "do whatever you have to do to remember the commands I am giving you today." Thankfully I read a blog post tonight that reminded me of who I am called to be and what's important to me. I wise mentor in my life has talked about the need to frequently (at least yearly for him) see real poverty in the world in order to be reminded. I need reminders too. I wonder what computer I'll end up buying?
6 comments:
thanks for the spam Jason. that was great.
I think it's a forever-battle, we will always be deciding between options a and b - where "a" saves us a lot of money and "b" gives us a product we can believe in, or something.
But does it really matter, unless we choose "a" and actually do something meaningful with the difference between "a" and "b"? That's where we get hung up.
We can actually get arrogant about making "the right choices," when all we have really done is enabled ourselves to buy more stuff. It would be interesting if we carried around a checkbook and scribbled out a check for our favorite non-profit for the difference on-the-spot and dropped it in the mail on our way home from BestBuy, with our cheaper PC in hand.
Amy, that's it. That's what we need to do. Take our checkbook with us if we're not disciplined enough to write the check at home. I know you made the statement somewhat in jest but that is what I really think we need to do in a culture of opulence like ours.
And I think it would be addictive for us. We all love to give to non-profits and organizations we believe in right? Imagine if we were writing weekly checks to them in addition to our monthly ones. I think it would make some of our "sacrificial" decisions easier over time because the same "high" that comes with buying something would come with "giving". I am going to try it, starting with meals that I'm tempted to eat out but could save money by eating something from home (or not eating). But including other purchases as well.
Maybe I/we could even start an online journal about our experiences with it. Okay, well I hope I'm not getting too excited now. Thanks for the great idea.
I kinda talked about this 6 mos ago...but i like this version better!
http://mattmwright.blogspot.com/2008/01/should-i-buy-that.html
Matt, I like that post of yours from 6 months ago. Wouldn't that be great?
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