The Gospel According to Consumerism
Hello everyone! Welcome back! Jared & I have been slacking QUITE a bit when it comes to Submergent Church so we’ve decided to get back on track & start blogging about things that matter.
One thing that has really been on my mind & heart lately is how Americans view the Gospel according to their own capitalistic or consumeristic lifestyle. Nowadays you can turn on the TV and see people like the Khardasians, athletes, or just everyday people like you & I and we all seem to have one problem in common. We like getting things.
Things are not always bad though! Honestly, i enjoy playing video games, watching movies & TV shows. Those are some of my favorite things to do because they’re fun. But when we start applying our “things” and our consumerism to the Gospel, we start straying from the path and from the focal point of Christ’s message.
Over the past year I’ve read some of the most ridiculous statements I’ve ever seen. Statements like “Please pray that this car is in God’s will for me” or “Pray that this dinner turns out great”…I’ll be completely honest, God doesn’t care whether you’re driving a Porche or a Pinto as long as you’re serving Him, nor does He care whether or not you burn dinner or it’s a job well done. I think we confuse the true Gospel with a “Gospel according to consumerism.” I believe that it’s based off our own false doctrine that Christ came to earth to die for our sins & that was His ultimate goal. I’m sure many of you will debate this point, and I look forward to it, but I believe that Christ came to earth to ultimately serve His Father and fulfill Scripture first and foremost.
There are probably many of you thinking that I’m contradicting myself because Christ fulfilled Scripture by sacrificing Himself and dying for our sins. I’m in agreement with that but Jesus was sent to earth for His Father’s sake and in doing so we were saved because our Father saw us in our sin and suffering. Jesus was not sent to earth so that we can feel good or get the things we want or think we need. Too many people, especially Americans, have this notion and belief that God is at our disposal and when we need something we ask for it. Rather than just simply asking for things, imagine if we could just seek God and His mission so that we aren’t confused with our own personal interests. When we view God as someone who is at our disposal then we use Him rather than let Him use us.
The one thing I hope to get out of this post isn’t a fight with anyone but a look inward. Looking at the ridiculous things we say and do because we have a thinking that Jesus cares about the things we have. We live in a time and a country that is obsessed with getting more but our God doesn’t care what we have as long as we have Him and He has us.
