consumption as spirituality
In the video in the last post, Annie Leonard quotes Victor Lebeau, a leading post war economist, in what must surely be a defining comment on the nature of society we live it.
Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption … we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever accelerating rate.
Talk about the spiritual nature of consumption! Talk about manipulation! I am ashamed to say that I trained as a marketer/advertiser and I have to say that as far as I can tell, we have sadly followed his advice to the tee. We have created a monster and now we have to feed it. anyone who denies that this is a missional problem is utterly blind to the realities in which we live.
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She has a great way of pointing to the systemic nature of the problem as well. I know the whole sound bite of the church being in a consumeristic mode has been broadcasted to death, but I have to say that it is so ingrained in our culture that it takes a strong critique of this consumeristic culture for us to have our eyes opened up.
What a great prophetic voice in this video.
And what an irenic one at that. She’s very charming.
Oh, I total agree and was floored by the brevity and boldness of the statement myself. How could we have accepted such a statement as ethically motivating!?
That said, I recognize the need of repentance being both personal and communal which causes me to ask: “How can we/I keep the ‘Missional Movement’ from becoming consumeristic or ideological itself?”
Sounds like a battle of the flesh to me. The Spirit enters in there somehwere….
I don’t know how you do it Alan, these past two posts exactly reflect some of my thinking before logging on tonight. I’ve been stuck on the Jesus story of the bumper crop farmer in Luke 12:15-21
for almost a week now and have just been meditating on it and wrestling with it.
My current thought was leading me somewhere down the line of; a. we are made in God’s image. b. God is a creator. c. we must be meant to be creators, not CONSUMERS!
The guy in the parable was so happy because now, thanks to the full barns, all he had to do was consume! He didn’t have to work, to create, he just had to sit back and sip margaritas and eat tacos (and probably play a round of golf every now and then). He wasn’t focused on anyone but himself, he didn’t even consider sharing with his neighbors. Jesus concluded, all material no spiritual makes you a dead man, right now.
I was really challenged by the end of the video, people caused the problem, but people (creative thinkers) are the ones who can solve it as well. It looks like an impossible task, but do we have the image of God or not? Is He in it?
Hi Alan,
maybe you should connect with Jason Clark (http://jasonclark.ws/), Leader of Emergent UK, if you don’t know him already. Next to being a charming man he is completing his Ph.D. Thesis on the impact of consumerism on church or something similar. He set me up on ‘consuming religion’ by Miller which I am reading at the moment. Many good insights from a catholic Theologian.
Greetings from germany! And thanks for linking the stuff - I already postet it, too…
Björn
I believe we need to keep some balance though. Tim mentioned the battle with the flesh and Jesus does overcome it. But how does He over come it?
A rude awakening should humble us to take a stand, interpret the times, and create a desire of urgency.
A friend just shared she has decided to stop treatment of dialysis. We just talked about this very topic today. For 4 years the tremondous amount of loss, suffering, and abuse in her life has been consuming many resources, including my own.
My first thought was one of failure. I have not taught her to fight to live. It instinctively became about me and my agenda, my personal mission. She told me I could not change her mind it was her choice! With a sense of humility I knew I had to listen.
The student suddenly became my teacher when she asked, “Isn’t this what we are pressing towards?” Her flesh and this world can no longer sustain her spirit. Sitting on this edge gives me a sense of urgency but a realization that while God is restoring and the kingdom is being ushered in the flesh and the world will eventually consume itself. Dosen’t death also bring hope?
Are we not called to have faith like Abraham, to live as aliens in a strange land? Lot and his family were consumers, at Sodom & Gomorah mercy extends grace, gives a sense of urgency, but ultimately does not change the plan. The flesh and this world will die and we can’t change God’s mind. Do we want too?
This does not mean I think we give up. But one of the things I pray for daily is to keep that sense of urgency and to be a good steward of time. The things of this world are simply a smoke screen to consume our time. Time spent learning how to use the best weapon of all, The weapon of love.
Wow Penney, great insights. i have always been fascinated by the role of death in qualifying things. Have you read Ernest Becker’s The Denial of Death? He believes that culture itself is built on the denial of our limitations and our mortality. I have Helmut Thielicke’s Death and Life next to my bed at the moment.
Never heard of him. Of course I’m very new to this! Never heard of you, or George Barna, or the missional movement before.
It’s funny but up until 5years ago I thought David & Goliath was that little boy and his dog. It was a cartoon!
I have a request though?! Can you post a picture of you and your bride?! I’m reading your book which is driving me nuts? This is a mental illness of the good kind. Yet, I can’t help thinkng you wouldn’t be who you are if it wasn’t for her?!
Addendum:
You post the picture, I’ll read Enest Becker’s , The Denial of Death. Straight hand no bluff!
Sorry I love manipulating and using big words. Had to look that last one up. Addendum: Something added or to be added to,esp.a supplement to a book. Isn’t learning just Grand!
Penney, you don’t know what you are asking me for. I am useless when it comes to mucking with html (the code for the blogsite). Utterly useless. At least recognizing it is a recognition of my impending death.
Ask and you shall receive Penney, thanks to the power of Google:
http://unoh.typepad.com/wild/2005/09/profile_deb_hir.html
But it’s an awful photo of her I think…. way too solemn.
Great post Alan. Really enjoyed the video short that does a great job of highlighting the system of our present milieu. I was really excited to see that Annie had posted an annotated script of the video on her site too which is great for researching the facts. I was putting together a post on my own blog to let others know about it and was researching the Victor Lebow (or is it Lebeau?) quote online. I thought I should point out, that according to the research of this guy and this article it would seem Lebow’s quote was more descriptive than prescriptive which of course doesn’t change the fact that this is how our economic system is working but does mean we can’t demonize this guy or the 1950’s Administration based on this quote. Thanks again for the link.
Thanks Janet for the link. It gives a nice bio too!
Not sure why my links didn’t post above but here they are again:
http://www.whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/2007/12/victor-lebows-complete-original-1955.html
and
http://www.scribd.com/doc/965920/LebowArticle
Sorry about that.
Penny, I have wanted to respond to you for a couple days now after reading about you and your friend. I was very moved by your story and yet personally conflicted internally. I must explain.
I am in a wheelchair and have been since a car crash in April of 1994. My wife also has been in a wheelchair since 1992. As a result we have seen much of death and the impacts of suffering. As I write this right now I am confined to a bed as I cannot sit in my chair due to physical stress. I hope you (and Alan for that matter) do not mind me sharing this testimony!
The story in which you tell connects closely to me because in my belief and what I have seen here in N.A., there is a strong movement towards discussing the practices of euthanasia as a “productive” measure. This is a sham in attempting to quantify the measure of human life.
In saying that, I do not mean to dismiss the huge perplexities and paradoxes shrouding the issues of death. I do not understand the “whole” issues myself! But neither do I think does anybody else (government, church, ect.) with the exception of Jesus himself.
What is the measure of a human life? What is death that we should deny its inevitability? Is death a quantifiable element which can be packaged, marketed, consumed, and disposed of under the label of “productivity”? I hope not!
At the same time, did not Jesus choose the cross? As his follower I cannot deny that paradox. Two stories which keep returning to my mind are those of the paralytic (Luke 5:17-26
) and of Lazarus (John 11:1-44
). Jesus witnessed the suffering to which they were in. He wept in Lazarus’ death. Yet why did he take so long in responding?
In context it seems neither death nor suffering was the inspiration/motivation behind his actions. Rather, his actions in love were in response to the faith of the individual and those found surrounding in the moment! Rather then consumer productivity being the factor, it was the mustard seed of life left within each moment which brought glory to God!
Interesting connection… Bonnie and I last night in defiance ourselves of needed bed rest (I am not perfect myself!), went and watched ‘The Bucket List’ (I need to write one myself). There was an illustration of the two questions asked in order to achieve the Egyptian state of heaven. “Have you experienced joy in your life?” And, “Do you bring joy to others?”
I am not a highly educated man Penny. Nor am I a person of importance. So if this offends, I do not mean it to do so and throw it away. You are right! Neither I, you, nor anyone else can affect your friend’s or anyone else’s choice in life or death. But, what if the question in life is not “What do I choose to do?” But “What should I do?”
For me personally, I choose life… and not just life but life to the fullest (John 10:10
) including “the twigs of the thorn bush as well as the presence of God.” (John Taylor) I pray this meets you in good time and I will keep you and your friend in my prayers!
Erik, you are not only remarkable, intelligent, and caring…you are very brave. Its good to know people like you.
Amen to that.
M Scott Peck has written a wonderful book around the issues of euthanasia called “Denial of the Soul”… it explores the issues sensitively but argues strongly against deliberate termination of human life (although he does not promote heroic measures to prolong the life of the terminally ill, instead encouraging excellence in palliative care and pain management)
Good (and very readable) book for anyone wanting to dig into the ethical issues involved.
I got through the whole video, despite lots of annoying breaks for buffering. Although she seems to overstate some points in Michael Moore fashion, there are many areas where major changes are needed.
One next step is for continued education in what counts the most at looking after the world. Many of us don’t know what save dollars and what saves cents, in environment terms. Of course the governments could save us all the trouble by taxing everything bad and letting the market take it from there.
There were a lot of people leading us into the consumption culture we have today. The Century of the Self talked a lot about some of the fathers of consumerism.
It isn’t always hard to swim against the tide; there’s a rebel in all of us. But it’s hard to swim against the tide in many ways at once.
Erik,
I’m not at all offended with your post and was honored you shared your story. Infact, your testimony goes to the heart of what I believe. I can not imagine what you and your wife have and are going through.
It sounds like in your desire for life, you’ve struggled and surrendered, put to death if you will, your rights and own idea’s about what it means to truley live.
Nobody wishes suffering on another, including our Lord. It is our first natural instinct to protect those we love and battle for justice. Our own idea’s and agenda’s of fairness and justice drive us to pick up a cause. As well it should because not only are we made in God’s image, it is the image we get of Jesus. To battle and release more of heaven upon the earth.
Life is precious and I do not support the wasting of it. Maybe a better example would be the institutional church. They support pro-life movements. Consuming resources to change laws that in many ways have just made abortion more acceptable to society, ie. parental notification, ect. In the name of God and our interpretation of His law, many times we have simply suceeded in pitting the mother against her own child. Even this analogy mother against child, could be used in how the institutional church feels regarding the birth of the so called,”New Missional Movement. In the name of God we find ourselves actually fighting against Him.
At least it is my belief that we consume things of this world, be it material’s, ideas, agendas, positions, even relationships, in an attempt to avoid Truth/Christ. Death to me is the purging of anything other than the sufficiency of Jesus.
When I see Jesus, I see Yahweeh, a God of justice. Something that is precise, accurate, hitting the mark vs. missing it. When Yahweeh’s people follow Him, it strikes fear into their hearts and those of other nations, we put to death our own self-sufficiency and allow this to purge our hearts so that we are fully dependent and joined in with Him and His mission.
So you see, at least to me, even man’s original fall, his death, serves a purpose of purging and ushering in this new creation. A fear or reverence that nothing in this world can sustain us other than the life of Christ. We walk forward carrying the covenant, as did the high priests when crossing the Jordan, Jesus than judges each case based upon it’s own merits vs. one all encompassing law that tends to hurt and hinder those it was meant to serve.
May God’s love continue to be established and seen in you, as it is now.