Consumerism is meaningless ...

Nice one Dave Holden for your sermon this morning!  Another bout of consumerism from yet another angle.  I sat eagerly with my bible in hand waiting for a quote - and waited and waited and waited and then was steam rolled with over 10 quotes!  Very cheeky!!  The whole essence of the message I assumed was common knowledge and basic for any Christian - I got that one wrong.  The "enlightening" we receive when you become a Christian is that there is an eternity.   And the fact that we will be on this earth for a reasonably short period compared with eternity, should make everything we do or are be a response to this gift of eternal life.  We entered this life with nothing and we are taking nothing with us!


I liked Dave's thoughts on the human body being temporary but the spirit inside us being eternal.  The body is destined to die but the spirit is desitined to exist eternally (unless you are not a Christian in which case you will face a second death - death of your spirit).

 
So how should we live if we are leaving with nothing?  The book of Ecclesiastes makes a whole load of sense once you grasp this mentality!  "Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher, "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless".  And then consider what the Apostle Paul had to say in Philipians 1:21-26 where he argues with himself weather it is better to stay on this earth or go onto the next life!  What really matters in life?  leaving a legacy?  servitude?  humility?

 
I see two things - giving of time to serve others, living a simplistic life style.  We should evaluate this balance - do we actually serve others enough?  can we live a simpler life?  Do we spend more time watching junk on TV which leads to nothing, compared with being "out-there" helping to improve the quality of life of others.  Have we over complicated our life to the point of having no time to even read this blog!!!  Can we look outwards more then looking inwards?  Are we investing in "me" rather then investing in something that is eternal?


Dave's talk did get the grey matter thinking about something random but nothing he said directly.  I did consider the act of consumerism and why I take a mug to church to have a coffee!  Its because I dont want to contribute to a hand-fill by using a plastic cup.  Plastic disposable cups are a product of a consumer society!  Disposable society - use once and throw it away is not what God wants us to do.  God's commission to Adam was to take care of the earth - and I believe we have inherited this command - food-for-thought!  How we dispose of our rubbish effects the planet.  Are we wise or stupid?!  This is not a great issue if you live a simplistic life.   What are those useless toys "made in Chine" you get with a McDonalds "happy meal" - LFTs - Land Fill Toys! What are we sending to the landfill? can it be recyled or reused? Should we take any interest in "eco" as Christians?


By not being such a consumer this problem should get reduced. But to over focus on this issue will make it a "god" in our life and we can quite easily be overwhelmed by recycling! This to is meaningless!!!


So to sum up I would say - consume less - Dispose of thoughtfully - Serve others more - watch less TV - and invest everything in what is eternal.