blessing or a curse?
"Contemporary culture is plagued by the passion to possess. The unreasoned boast abounds that the good life is found in accumulation, that 'more is better.' Indeed, we often accept this notion without question, with the result that the lust for affluence in contemporary society has become psychotic: it has completely lost touch with reality."
- Richard J. Foster, Freedom of Simplicity
In the sermon I heard this morning, the statement was made that God has blessed us in this country, and that we are blessed to have many things. Ironically, this statement was made while in the midst of talking about greed, which made me wonder: is the fact that we have so much a proof that God is blessing us...or is it a proof that we, in our greed, have surrounded ourselves with so much stuff? If being blessed largely entails being the conduit through which others are blessed, then how blessed can someone consider themselves if they, and all they've been 'blessed' with, are frequently the last link in the chain? And none of this is to say that things are completely binary (e.g. we're either completely greedy and not blessed...or that being provided for isn't at all part of God's design. Although, I think our understanding of 'provision' could use a LOT of work...)
Sometimes I wonder how dangerously entwined our identities as Christian and Consumer have become...
- Richard J. Foster, Freedom of Simplicity
In the sermon I heard this morning, the statement was made that God has blessed us in this country, and that we are blessed to have many things. Ironically, this statement was made while in the midst of talking about greed, which made me wonder: is the fact that we have so much a proof that God is blessing us...or is it a proof that we, in our greed, have surrounded ourselves with so much stuff? If being blessed largely entails being the conduit through which others are blessed, then how blessed can someone consider themselves if they, and all they've been 'blessed' with, are frequently the last link in the chain? And none of this is to say that things are completely binary (e.g. we're either completely greedy and not blessed...or that being provided for isn't at all part of God's design. Although, I think our understanding of 'provision' could use a LOT of work...)
Sometimes I wonder how dangerously entwined our identities as Christian and Consumer have become...