Over at my personal blog (TheGeoffRe(y)port), I’ve taken on a bit of a theme around the misplaced feeling of entitlement that is so engrained as an enabler for our consumeristic mindset in the west (”The Ongoing Redefinition of Wealth“, “India to US - Shut up Fatty” and “Lobbyist, Possibly The Funniest Profession In The World” - if you’re interested). And the more I write about these ideas, the more obvious it becomes to me that if we are genuinely serious about this kingdom of God thing and finding out what that means in our culture, then it’s time we addressed this issue very, very seriously.
We have to recognise that we have this deeply misplaced feeling of entitlement to our lifestyle; and at times we in the church are perpetuating the dangerous myth that this is OK. When we expect that we have a right to drive as much as we like, in whatever car we like - we’re giving our devotion to that stuff. My problem is not so much that people have these things (necessarily), but that we feel “entitled” to that. We feel as though we “deserve” that.
When Jesus sent his disciples out two by two, they weren’t to have anything.
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.
Matthew 10:5-10 (NIV)
A Christianity that follows the man who said this, needs to be able to imagine this methodology as a possibility. I’m not suggesting that Jesus is telling you to get rid of all your possessions: but I am suggesting that the horror such a prospect invokes in you is part of the problem here. Because deep down, through the gradual indoctrination of our culture, we believe that we deserve to have the things we own.
I firmly believe that we are called to take the call of Jesus seriously, and to act counter-culturally in this area. What if our pre-requisites for working missionally in an area was to go with nothing in the bank, and nowhere to live? Now I’m going extreme, but the fact that I don’t know a culturally equivalent example to the passage quoted above seems to me to say something about the way we’re operating.
Now, I realise that I’m doing the thing that infuriates my good friend Paulie: asking questions but not really offering a solution. But I think we need to be getting this stuff out there, because I firmly believe that these feelings of entitlement and getting what you deserve are harmful to the gospel in Christians.
And I am the chief of these sinners.
One Comment
Whilst I agree that the 21st.Century is a time of a great sense of entitlement by people who have grown up with this premise, there may be another way here. As in all things moderation is the key to a reasonably contented life. Happiness is a mythical concept as a ‘forever’ kind of thing- and one which when it is experienced has a fleeting qualty which should be savoured at the moment of it’s occasion-as we do not know when it will re-occur. When we add to the picture gross-consumerism ,it would be good to be able to see ‘things’ per se, as being gifts from God in some way, and concluding that they are here to make life more enjoyable, and not to make it mandatory that we possess them as an adjunct to happiness.The biggest concern I have about cosumerism for the young in particular-is that as we know- children grow up and become adults, and are then in the position of having to supply the same material goods from a much more limited income source than say, the double-income of their parents for example.This can lead to disappointment, which seems a trivial expression of feeling,but one which I feel needs to be addressed when giving these advantages to children at a young age. Expectations need to be ‘capped’ on consumerism and parents’ indulgence especially in the technological area-and a better explanation offered to children as to why these products are not always in their best interests.
What do others think about that?
Judy.