Remember Who You Are
Monday, November 13, 2006
Of the many obsessions that are rampant in our culture, one of the most widespread is the "hunger for the new." We live in a consumer culture, where the messages that we are bombarded with everyday all try to convince us that newer is better. After all, Ford and GM aren't going to sell a lot of 2007 models if they can't convince us that they are better than the 2006 versions. And Burger King's profit margin is dependent on their ability to convince us that their new, high-fat, calorie-laden 'value meal' is better than the equivalent at McDonald's and Wendy's.
So what kind of 'value' does this kind of message really get us? A number of things in my life lately have convinced me that I have been completely manipulated by our culture's hunger for the new. And I want to make a change in my life, so that I am listening to God more and to the culture less. We all chase after false idols at times, but I think I have finally figured out that the most dangerous ones are the ones you don't realize are idols. God has given me a number of 'aha' moments lately that have helped me start to locate some of those hidden idols in my own life. And I think the consumerist fetish with newness, novelty, and innovation is behind most of them.
I write about this in my column in the Reporter this week. I know that this is only the beginning of my wrestling with this issue. But the first step I am taking is to look behind in order to look ahead. This world will keep us distracted for our entire lives if we let it. To keep that from happening, we need to dive into the wisdom that the church is offering us - a wisdom built up over the course of 20 centuries. I think it's a heck of a better 'value' than anything the world has to offer.
So what kind of 'value' does this kind of message really get us? A number of things in my life lately have convinced me that I have been completely manipulated by our culture's hunger for the new. And I want to make a change in my life, so that I am listening to God more and to the culture less. We all chase after false idols at times, but I think I have finally figured out that the most dangerous ones are the ones you don't realize are idols. God has given me a number of 'aha' moments lately that have helped me start to locate some of those hidden idols in my own life. And I think the consumerist fetish with newness, novelty, and innovation is behind most of them.
I write about this in my column in the Reporter this week. I know that this is only the beginning of my wrestling with this issue. But the first step I am taking is to look behind in order to look ahead. This world will keep us distracted for our entire lives if we let it. To keep that from happening, we need to dive into the wisdom that the church is offering us - a wisdom built up over the course of 20 centuries. I think it's a heck of a better 'value' than anything the world has to offer.
Labels: Christian faith, Consumerism, Market Mentality
posted by Andrew C. Thompson at 12:37 AM
3 Comments:
I heard that Lewis once said that this move toward "newer is better" began with the industrial revolution. After we began using machines in our work, newer and more efficient machines were devoloped over time giving people a newer-is-better mentality about their work that eventially became ingrained in our social consciousness. Eventually it came to characterize things like our philosophy (as in Marxism), and our scientific theories (as in Darwinianism) and pretty much our total world-outlook. The remarkable thing is that this would mean that human beings (at least in the West) for the last 250 years or so think in ways that are totally unlike the way all our ancestors (and all folks in non-affected cultures today) think. Of course, our outlook is more recent, so we assume it is better!
I think this is an interesting theory. The Paleo-orthodox movement (following Tom Oden and others) in theology is a reaction against this sort of outlook.
This is a good word to read today, brother...and almost a prophetic one. We as a seminary are going through a dialogue right now about idols. Currently there is a controversial art display this month in our main lobby, involving an artist's renditions of various pagan gods, goddesses and shrines. The exhibit is called "Faces of the Divine" and was meant to be a cultural addition to the school's lobby, but for the past several days many students have raised theological questions about the display, and we're not really sure if the display will be around much longer. It is a very complicated issue, and I can already sense some divisiveness and tension. But yes, I think we too easily forget about our idols, and that it too often takes certain circumstances to make us question who we are serving.
I remember when Texas Instruments came out with the first pocket calculator. I was in elementary grade school and would use one with my arithmatic homework. In no time flat I was finished and outside to play. The trouble was I became so dependant on it when test time came in class, where only a scratch sheet of paper was allowed, I was unable to solve the more difficult equations.
Now days we have so many devices and gadgets that we rely on to not have to think. Why learn how to read a map when you can buy a GPS? Better to learn things the old-fashioned way first and be self-reliant...and keep a fresh set of batteries handy just in case.
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