Reforming Church: consumption

If you are just joining in, you can see previous posts to this series here. This is part six, Reforming Church: consumption.

I am calling us all to take a serious look at ourselves, and I am going to start with me.

The other day I bought my kids character beach towels just because all the other kids have the character beach towels. This is the type of thing I try not to do because of my convictions but often find myself doing. My kids weren’t even with me when I did it. Amber Haines has written a series on “How to Start a Revolution,” and she called us to look at the way we want things. If you were to make a list of all the things you wanted, you might find, at least here in America, that it is long. Desire drives us to consume. More and more and more and more. We are never satisfied.

I live in North America. We are the richest people in the world. We love stuff. I am a member of a fancy gym. I make myself a little queen, and give myself the finest riches. I want more stuff. I want a bigger house. I spend and when I am done, I will spend some more. We are driven by consumption. Has anyone noticed the National Debt?

If you look at my photo on my about page or almost any of my photos, you are going to find a photoshopped photo with all my flaws removed. When I am making a blog graphic sometimes I use picmonkey, which you can use for free or pay for an upgrade. (I use the free.) In upgraded picmonkey, you can fix blemishes, add or remove shine, add blush, eyeshadow, mascara, spray tan, whiten your teeth, and on and on. We are a culture who can be photoshopped to look like models, and we think this is perfectly okay. Seeing my self photoshopped often bothers me, because I am not the beauty I appear to be online.

I am a blogger. I didn’t start my blog to create a platform. I started a blog because I was a lonely housewife in desperate need of a hobby. But when I looked around and saw other people blogging and getting noticed and read, I got unsatisfied, and I craved more. More than just my words on a screen. Eventually I went to a conference – a Christian conference for women. At the conference they taught women to brand themselves. What I am about to say will not be popular to my blogger friends, but I’ve been around the scenes enough to know that messages that are written and those that are spoken are tailored around what the audience wants. Sometimes it is why bloggers burn out and quit. Not to mention that they feel too small to compete in the arena with bloggers with bigger names and platforms. Grow bigger, grow better, grow fatter. If you aren’t a faith blogger, maybe this is fine, but if your main message is Jesus, like I am hoping mine is, then I am not sure this is okay. Because ultimately, it becomes about building a name for yourself and not about magnifying the High name of Jesus.

Because of our desire, we decide to sell ourselves. I sell me. I choose to look like the world.

Ultimately, we are all hungry and thirsty and only one thing can satisfy.

Jesus.

Living water. Living bread.

photo credit: Nick in exsilio via photopin cc