The Consumerism of Calvin (yes, that Calvin!)

Raise Me

As we approach Easter, our church is reading slowly through the Gospel of John. Today’s reading was from John chapter 8 which contains the story of the woman caught in adultery (read it here). This reading reminded me of a song Mike Charko and I wrote a few years ago and so I share it with you here. It tells the story from the perspective of the woman.

Raise Me
(Words and Music by Mike Charko and Keith Shields; copyright 2011 SOCAN)
(Click here to listen while you read.)

My life is now in the hands of those who know my crime
They stare at me with their hungry eyes
Pious words from their lips hide a bitter rage
We share a crime that’s now all mine

Please let me live 
This just isn't fair
You are guilty like me
My life has been laid bare

Who is this one they take me to, a judge, or just a man
He looks at me with sorrow in his eyes
At my feet he kneels to write words I cannot read
He sees right through all of their lies

Please let me live 
This just isn't fair
You are guilty like me
My life has been laid bare

I can't escape, a lifetime of mistakes  
I want to run; I'm so alone 

Please let me live 
This just isn't fair
You are guilty like me
My life has been laid bare

Suddenly, we are alone; are they really gone?
Only one can tell me now my fate
He looks at me with purest love I truly understand
And says to me go, sin no more

Where are my accusers
I have been released
The one who stooped down with me
Has raised me up again

Fruit and the Community of God

Last Sunday, I preached a sermon that presented my current understanding of John 15:18 through 16:4. This passage follows closely on Jesus' words that he is the vine and we are the branches. The last part of John 15 points out that the vine does not exist to make a wonderful life for the branches. In fact, branches that get in the way of the production of fruit are pruned away. The goal is that the vine and the branches work in concert to produce fruit. Fruit can be defined as love, joy, peace, patience, understanding, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (as in Galatians 5:22, 23). It must also be defined as justice for others (as in Isaiah 5:7) and as the growth of more fruit-producing branches (Matthew 28:19, 20). In the church, this latter definition of fruit means more disciples of Jesus.

The obstacles to the way of life that produces fruit of the Community of God are many; but the primary one is our western addiction to consumption and caring for our own wants. In Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, Ross Douthat speaks of the pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, the largest congregation in the United States, and says that he preaches "an upbeat gospel where 'God gives without demanding, forgives without threatening to judge, and hands out His rewards in this life rather than the next'."

But before we are too hard on this charismatic pastor, shouldn't we also admit that we love to hear an upbeat gospel where God gives without demanding, forgives without threatening to judge (or prune), and hands out his rewards (to the branches) in this life rather than the next? Have we not been given the message for which we clamour? Is this not the message we would prefer to hear? Do we not secretly think that this is the message of God to us? We tend to think that the gospel is much like the American or Canadian way and that we just need a little help to steer us toward God. Randy Stonehill says it well in a portion of one of his songs:

We say we need a little help
We need some new direction
Avoid the blessing like a curse
We're only lying to ourselves
What we need is resurrection
What we need is second birth

God, please give us resurrection. Give us second-birth. Bear with us long enough that we might grow fruit before you prune us away from the vine.

That's Why We Don't Love God - Randy Stonehill

That's why, that's why we don't love God
Although our lips feign praise
Still our hearts are far away
That's why, that's why we don't love God
We're so consumed with self
We can't love anybody else

We mask the nakedness
Of our mortality
Cloaked in this poison pride
And the illusion of control
We need the gift of grace
More than the air we breath
But as it draws us near
Still it repels our stubborn souls

That's why, that's why we don't love God
Oh yes our lips feign praise
But our hearts are far away
That's why, that's why we don't love God
I don't want my prayers to be
Some meaningless litany

Why are we so afraid, guarded and counterfeit
Is it because we know all the shadows we conceal
And we are so alone
Wolves in the winter snow
Never imagining
That this mercy could be real

That's why, that's why we don't love God
Oh yes our lips feign praise
But our hearts are far away
That's why, that's why we don't love God
I don't want my prayers to be
Some meaningless litany
We say we need a little help
We need some new direction
Avoid the blessing like a curse
We're only lying to ourselves
What we need is resurrection
What we need is second birth

That's why, that's why we don't love
That's why, that's why we don't love
That's why, that's why we don't love
That's why, that's why we don't love God

Stonehillian Music/ASCAP

The Lacuna

Barbara Kingsolver's latest book, The Lacuna, contains a number of insights into world politics in 1930 through the early 1950s. At one point, Kingsolver gives a powerful analysis of the events that led to extreme investigations into the disloyalty and subversive activities of American citizens suspected of having communist ties. In the 1940s through 1950s, many who had even a passing association with persons with a connection to communism were fired from government jobs or blacklisted from working in education or the entertainment industry. In her novel, one of her characters describes the cause this way.

"Do you want to know my theory? . . . I think it's the bomb. . . . When that bomb went off over Japan, when we saw that an entire city could be turned to fire and gas, it changed the psychology of this country. And when I say 'psychology,' I mean that very literally. It's the radio, you see. The radio makes everyone feel the same thing at the same time. Instead of millions of various thoughts, one big psychological fixation. The radio commands our gut response. . . . That bomb scared the holy Moses out of us. We became horrified in our hearts that we had used it. Okay, it ended the war, it saved American life and so on and so forth. But everyone feels guilty, deep inside. Little Japanese children turned into flaming gas, we know this. How could we not feel bad. . . . Okay. We used the bomb. We convinced ourselves we are very special people, to get to use this weapon. Ideal scenario, we would like to think it came to us from God, meant for our own use and no one else's. . . . Suddenly we are God's chosen, we have this bomb, and we better be pretty damn certain no one else is going to get this bomb. We must clean our house thoroughly. Can you imagine what would happen if England also had the bomb, France, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union all had this bomb? How could a person go to sleep at night? . . . You see, this is what I am saying. The radio. It creates for us a psychology. . . . Winston Churchill says 'iron curtain.' Did you see how they all went crazy over that? . . . J. Edgar Hoover says this curtain is what separates us from Satan and perhaps also the disease of leprosy. . . . 'Communism is not a political party but an evil and a malignant way of life' - these are his words. A disease condition. A quarantine is necessary to keep it from infecting the nation."

As I read these words I found myself drawing connections to the events of September 11, 2001 when 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets and attacked America. In the 1940s, the radio had a powerful ability to shape the culture of the American people. Everyone was scared by what was broadcast on the radio. In 2001, it was television and the internet which allowed for the rapid dispersal of information and a galvanizing of public opinion. An instant fear struck America. If this can happen, what else might be possible? The internet discussions made "everyone feel the same thing at the same time. Instead of millions of various thoughts, one big psychological fixation." America was instantly in a state of fear. It was not communism but terrorism that brought fear. It was not an "iron curtain" that galvanized the thoughts into one psychological fixation but the "war on terrorism." That state of fear and security alert brought on by these events still affects our psychology today.

It would be interesting to interview Barbara Kingsolver and see how much comparison she was seeking to draw between this dark period of history in 1940s America and the dark mood of 2001 in America and the world. Was this consciously in her mind or was she merely seeking to remind us of the dangers of extreme thinking? Reading literary reviews suggests that other readers have made similar connections between then and now. You may want to pick up a copy of The Lacuna for yourself and consider what connections and emotions are created for you as you read this well-written story.

Kingsolver, Barbara. The Lacuna. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2009.

Land of Dreams

Rosanne Cash, daughter of Johnny, had this to say in an interview with CBC Radio's Jian Ghomeshi:

My sense is that in my father’s generation, you wanted success and material wealth. You wanted a comfortable life, but that the way to achieve that was through commitment and a strong work ethic and personal integrity.

But these days, Cash goes on to say:

Sometimes some people want all of those things, but they want to get there no matter what.

She then quotes Buckminster Fuller who said,

It is the integrity of each individual human that is in final examination. On personal integrity hangs humanity's fate.

Work

A friend of mine asked me to watch a video and make some comments. The video is by Nigel Marsh and can be seen here. Nigel Marsh is an author and lecturer who speaks about balance in life.

I agree that "finding the balance between work and life is an ongoing battle." Regarding my own balance in life, I have changed careers twice to try to find a better balance and have made some progress. I think I am winning the battle but the battle is not yet complete.

When we look more generally at society, I would say that "finding the balance" at a cultural level is and will continue to be a battle as well. Moving from Calgary to Vancouver has allowed me to see the differences of subtle changes in attitude. Calgary has traditionally been more of an entrepreneurial city while Vancouver has a larger history of labour unions. Thus, Calgary is a little more economically right (capitalistic) and Vancouver a little more economically left (socialistic). Both cities and our country as a whole are seeking to find the balance between (or more accurately, living in tension between) an emphasis on hard work with little time for self-actualization versus an emphasis on self-actualization with little time for productive work. There are quite a few Calgarians who work excessively to the detriment of relationships, community, and self-fulfillment. There are quite a few Vancouverites that have chosen to retreat from excessive work and seek personal fulfillment without contributing to a productive city. They become consumers and not contributors to the things that sustain a city and a society. Of course each city has its share of each of these types of persons but there is an overall skew one direction or the other. (I realize that I am making gross exaggerations for the sake of discussion.) Living in appropriate tension between "work and life" will always be a battle.

Another issue in this discussion is the way it is framed. Marsh sets up an artificial dichotomy between "work" and "life." He makes it seem like we must choose one or the other; and who would logically choose work over life? Perhaps the battle is about balance between - work and life in community - or work and life without community.

Nigel Marsh suggests a perfect day and then quickly points out that he has not had any, or very many, such days in his life. His perfect day would only be attainable occasionally, with a lot of cooperation from other people (not the least of which would be his wife). This is another indication that we are really talking about a distinction between work and life in community or work and life without community.

What do you think? Are we seeking to live in tension between productive work that is lived out in community versus productive work that is attained without much community? For a good article on work/life balance, see Rebecca Moses' article, "Work-Life Balance: A Guide to Surviving the Stress," at GroomandStyle.com.

Consumers

"Consumerism, is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods or services in ever greater amounts."# Most of us know what consumerism has done to our western world; and by now we are probably familiar with what the North American culture of consumerism has done to the church. It has created churches which try to out-do each other in providing services, programs, and goods. It has led to pastors who feel they must provide a congregation with a multitude of things that meet the felt needs of those who attend. It causes pastors to worry that if they don't meet all these needs someone else will come along who will meet these needs and the people will trade them in for a better church experience.

I recently spoke with a pastor who told me that he really wanted the people in his church to get into small groups to serve their neighbours and their neighbourhoods. He dreamed of the day when people would come to see this as the priority and be less focussed on the kind of music in the Sunday morning worship service. With just a bit of irony in my voice, I told him that our church had developed a simple system for solving the perpetual problem of people attending the Sunday morning gathering and not attending small groups - we got rid of the the Sunday morning gathering.

Hugh Halter says,

There's only one way to overcome the problem of consumerism. Not two or three ways, not a program, not a sermon for you to preach or a class for you to teach. Just one way to break the pattern:
You have to remove what they are consuming.
. . . if what we give to people isn't appreciated, doesn't inspire them toward the life of Christ, or doesn't lead them to real growth, your only option is to provide less . . . .*

We think Halter has it right. LifeHouse Christian Church is seeking to be a place where we limit our consumerism and seek to care for and lead each other toward Christ. May God guide us and give us wisdom as we stumble toward this goal.

#http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism
*Halter, H., & Smay, M. (2010). And: The Gathered and Scattered Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Love someone who does not deserve it

"Manifesto: The Mad FarmerLiberation Front" by Wendell Berry

So, friends, every day do something
that won't compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Because this is a vision of life that embraces humility and patience,

Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are to be harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.*

* Wendell Berry, "Manifesto: The Mad FarmerLiberation Front," in The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry (Washington, D.C.: Counterpoint, 1998), pp. 87-88. As quoted in Walsh, Brian J. and Keesmaat, Sylvia C., Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2004), p. 178. See the entire Wendell Berry Poem here.

Dreams and Empire

Lasn likens life in what he calls America™ to life in a cult in which "we have been recruited into roles and behavior patterns we did not consciously choose.” Does the child who sits in front of a television set for three to four hours a day, shops at the mall with her parents, goes to school and recites the Pledge of Allegiance, plays computer games, listens to her president encouraging everyone to go out shopping in order to defeat terrorism, wears clothes from the Gap, and plays with the toys created out of the imagination of Disney and Hollywood, ever actually choose the American way of life? Did she go through a ritual of initiation beyond getting her first Barbie? Was there a moment of conversion in her life when the American dream became her dream? No. She imbibed this mono culture consumerist dream in the fast food she ate, the polluted air she breathed and the visual culture she inhabited. And so she was converted, made into a cult member, before she ever knew what was happening. Lasn points out that "dreams, by definition, are supposed to be unique and imaginative. Yet the bulk of the population is dreaming the same dream. It's a dream of wealth, power, fame, plenty of sex and exciting recreational opportunities." When a whole population dreams the same dream, empire is triumphant.*

*Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmaat, Colossians Remixed: Subverting the Empire. (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press, 2004), 171.