This morning in our staff meeting one of our Pastors had just returned from speaking at a Youth Camp in Botswana. He noticed that there was little free time and no planned recreation during the week and was told that they were so hungry for Biblical teaching that they had no need/desire for recreation at camp.
The Church in America has become increasingly consumer-oriented while the Third World Church finds contentment in the Gospel alone. Yes. Chesterton is a wise man. However, the accumulation of more rarely satisfies; and in truth, the desiring of less comes, I believe, with true contentment. Contentment is the result of trusting God and knowing that He knows best what I need; and only then is what I have enough for me.
This quote probably deserved a little context. Chesterton was talking about how out of wack priorites are in the West (in 1908 no less...he is probably turning over in his grave now). His point was that there never is enough!
I agree with your thoughts completley. Tommy and I have been having an ongoing conversation about the rampant consumerism in the U.S. and how it has infilitrated so heavily into the church. Once again our values look no different from the worlds.
As you said, the only way that we will desire less is by being transformed by Kingdom values and the Word tells us that we will find that by having "less" we will truly have so much "more".
Tim Keller addresses objections to the gospel with typical skill and insight, one such address is to poverty. The assertion is that Christianity, and religion, seem to perpetuate class systems and to further institutionalized poverty.
One illustration used to debunk this - or highlight an overall paradox that speaks to the faith's supernatural-ness - is in Latin America. In the 1960s, as the clergy became increasingly disenchanted with the church and how the church around the world was failing them, they began leaving their profession in droves.
But the strange thing that happened: the masses began to embrace Christianity like never before! The economy failed them, the clergy was giving up, yet the gospel thrives. This is what is meant by "Blessed are the poor" for the rich are often blinded by their relative well-being, and they can't easily see a need in their own lives for God. The poor are stripped of this self-sufficient pretense, and often have nowhere to turn BUT to God. (One might also draw conclusions about Rome here, but this isn't the point.)
America and the American church need to realize that a system where Christianity is central and works well with rank consumerism, is an illusion. The twain are NOT compatible, and the path is destructive, not to one's economics, but to one's faith, individually and collectively. Go ahead and put myself in that boat because I can fall right there in with the rest.
3 comments:
This morning in our staff meeting one of our Pastors had just returned from speaking at a Youth Camp in Botswana. He noticed that there was little free time and no planned recreation during the week and was told that they were so hungry for Biblical teaching that they had no need/desire for recreation at camp.
The Church in America has become increasingly consumer-oriented while the Third World Church finds contentment in the Gospel alone. Yes. Chesterton is a wise man. However, the accumulation of more rarely satisfies; and in truth, the desiring of less comes, I believe, with true contentment. Contentment is the result of trusting God and knowing that He knows best what I need; and only then is what I have enough for me.
This quote probably deserved a little context. Chesterton was talking about how out of wack priorites are in the West (in 1908 no less...he is probably turning over in his grave now). His point was that there never is enough!
I agree with your thoughts completley. Tommy and I have been having an ongoing conversation about the rampant consumerism in the U.S. and how it has infilitrated so heavily into the church. Once again our values look no different from the worlds.
As you said, the only way that we will desire less is by being transformed by Kingdom values and the Word tells us that we will find that by having "less" we will truly have so much "more".
Tim Keller addresses objections to the gospel with typical skill and insight, one such address is to poverty. The assertion is that Christianity, and religion, seem to perpetuate class systems and to further institutionalized poverty.
One illustration used to debunk this - or highlight an overall paradox that speaks to the faith's supernatural-ness - is in Latin America. In the 1960s, as the clergy became increasingly disenchanted with the church and how the church around the world was failing them, they began leaving their profession in droves.
But the strange thing that happened: the masses began to embrace Christianity like never before! The economy failed them, the clergy was giving up, yet the gospel thrives. This is what is meant by "Blessed are the poor" for the rich are often blinded by their relative well-being, and they can't easily see a need in their own lives for God. The poor are stripped of this self-sufficient pretense, and often have nowhere to turn BUT to God. (One might also draw conclusions about Rome here, but this isn't the point.)
America and the American church need to realize that a system where Christianity is central and works well with rank consumerism, is an illusion. The twain are NOT compatible, and the path is destructive, not to one's economics, but to one's faith, individually and collectively. Go ahead and put myself in that boat because I can fall right there in with the rest.
Post a Comment