He shared that we as a culture spend approx. 18 bil. on makeup a year and 10 or 15 bil. on perfume a year. He also shared that approx. 10 and 15 bil. could potentially eliminate the H20 problems our World has and illiteracy. So, my question on the way home from church was: Will our world ever have enough change to have this effect on such problems? Sure, I can decide to spend less on gifts and give more towards Africa, but that's just me. That's just a few hundred dollars. AND, if enough people did actually decide to exercise spending in this fashion, how long will the effect last? Would that 18 billion simply help the water for a year or a few years? It came down to how we are cursed by our own consumerism. Hmm. These are difficult and challenging things to think about as I am about to begin a career and actually for once have some money.
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its the nature and curse of sin. humans are selfish and prideful. thats why we care more about how we look and smell than we do if people are dying of thirst in africa. but you are right on some level that we are just one person with our few hundred dollars. and even if we eliminate the brash consumerism in the makeup and perfume industry, others would arise in its place. that is not to say that we should not strive to change the course of american consumerism. however, the only course of change is the gospel.
Bubby,
What was the point of the sermon? Was it to shed light on "consumerism" or the plight of Africa. I ask because the two have nothing to do with one another. The fact that the U.S. spends 18 billion on cosmetics every year doesn't take water out of anyone's mouth. Every culture values beauty. It just so happens that the U.S. (and other countries) have the luxury of putting a dollar amount to that value. What Africa needs much more urgently than money is ethical leadership. Until governments are in place that care more about their citizens than their own bank accounts, there is no amount of money that can fix their problems.
That's the final word :)
D.J.- I believe the point of the sermon was to point out how consumer-driven we are, especially in the light of the upcoming season. Even in Christian homes, it is so natural to think about what we want and what we are going to get. And, to back up how consumer driven we are, he exposed the problems that Africans are enduring to further expose how much we actually have. I don't believe his motive was to drive us to change so much that our economic shift was towards the plight of Africa. But, I'm sure that some of it may help to some extent. Also, I'm not sure that even our government puts me as a citizen before it's own bank account.
Bub,
I would agree that our govt. has priorities other than its citizens. However at least to some extent they will stay out of our way. The same is not true in many other parts of the world.
P.S. Stop worrying so much and buy Jen some nice perfume.
I am not sure I know all of you on this blog but I go to school with eric, oh and Jen too :)
The sermon Sunday was a very challenging topic, in that it hits us in us being a rich country with tons of money, and what we are called do with it.
As Christians we are called to help others, and spread the Good News. Did the sermon say we need to stop spending money on makeup and perfume? no.. I feel it suggests that we need to invest ourselves, not just money into something other than how we look, but into helping others.
Does this mean we need to help in Africa? Maybe.. All I know is that it makes me think about how much I spend on me, not helping others. The real question is how do we respond? Wait for the world to change? or join as a community like Mars Hill and do something about it. I feel that Mars is a church that will actually help people like us make a difference in Africa.
i agree. it's really the only community that I know of and have been a part of that has actually taken steps towards change. I hear a lot of talk, but at Mars I see people that have experienced change and really take steps towards helping others experience it also. I haven't joined any specific groups, built any houses, or traveled to Africa myself, but I do know that being a part of it's community has helped transform myself into someone better, someone that actually desires truth again and enjoys feeling a certain amount of conviction.
Consumerism is a modern form of idolatry and the shopping mall is the new temple and place of worship. That isn't to say that consuming is bad. It's a necessity, but as someone pointed out, humanity crosses a line somewhere and people who know abundance begin to appreciate the rush of getting more stuff more than actually using the stuff they have. It becomes a classic case of their stuff owning them and not them owning their stuff.
Look back at an agrarian based society around the 1st Century (The Parables as Subversive Speech for example) and you'll find that innovation in technology led to more food and wealth but it didn't change the socio-economic picture at all. The system wasn't driven by whether or not there was enough to go around, the system was driven by greed.
Corrupt governments in Africa, yes it's a problem. Does the cancellation of billions of dollars of debt make sense to corrupt governments? Probably not. Creating systems of wealth rather than relying on redistribution makes more sense. But creating systems of wealth will mean partnership and trust building with those in Africa, SE Asia, etc. The poor are sometimes referred to as the voiceless. I don't think that's true. There are a lot of folks in Africa who've got really good things to say.
For an interesting take on this, see http://www.american.com/archive/2007/july-0707/africans-to-bono-for-gods-sake-please-stop
Bubby,
It's time for a new topic.
Fire away
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