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February 03, 2005
on property (for the weathervane)
Ah, yes. We live in a nasty, yet comfy consumer society. No one really hesitates to join in to complain of our materialistic society of instant gratification. And on a college campus where discovery of our world’s grim realities is routine, it’s easy to join in the critique.
However, when it comes to doing something about our society’s problems and recognizing the sacrifices that would be necessary to make changes, we are not nearly so eager to jump on board with ideas. But there are reasons that our world today needs more than just critique on what we have and use.
On the political level, we have the dilemma of our nation’s dual meaning of “freedom.” The inaugural speech was understood around the world as hypocrisy in terms of social justice freedom. On the other hand, many U.S. Americans heard an inspirational defense of another, privatized kind of freedom dealing with personal property. It seems our nation is more concerned with the promotion of capitalism than of democracy. We’ve been convinced that freedom is something to “own.”
What is most disappointing is that the church eats this up. We should be the first to understand freedom in a different and greater way. Freedom is not property, but participation in abundant living and right relationship between God and humans.
On the economic level, we live in a society that consumes resources at an unsustainable rate. It isn’t necessary to look far to see the negative influence of the our materialism. We fool ourselves and other nations into thinking this sort of lifestyle is possible for everyone. Again, the majority of the church has not been on the cutting edge as a model for what a sustainable economy, or a sort of shalom could look like.
Personally, I know I haven’t always done my best at working towards something better; I was one of those students who still went out for sundaes at McDonald’s after seeing “Supersize Me.” What does it take to move beyond stale pessimism and into hopeful application and action? What are we willing to give up so that we can all live in a world of enough? How can the church be a better example of the spiritual, economic, and social harmony of the kingdom of God?
I’m not sure we’ve given enough thought to changes we could make.
How much more difficult would it be to have only one vehicle for a college apartment, or for a family? Since oil is a critical issue in our world and it is still dangerously inexpensive for us in the U.S., we ought to be much more intentional in carpooling or riding bike, even looking into trains, buses, and mass transportation options.
There are various everyday decisions we might reconsider. With food, we should question how much and what we are eating. Using seasonal fruits and vegetables and more grains than meats are good choices for our health and for economic reasons. And do we wear out clothes until they are really ready to be our rags? How can we limit washer and dryer use to conserve energy?
In many cases, cutting back comes with a price. It may be more expensive, time-consuming, and take more creativity and discipline. But in times like ours, it is our responsibility to our world and to God. I would love to hear your ideas.
Posted by Derrick at February 3, 2005 06:22 PM