One thing that is vital when it comes to tackling to spiritual or cultural consumerism trends in the western church, is to understand the underlying need or lack of fulfillment that consumerism fills. I wrote a blogpost that shortly tackle these things (mostly hyperreality), maybe not right on into this discussion, but still it resonates to it.

http://lighthouses.blogspirit.com/archive/2006/04/13/hyperreality.html

It basically all boils down to indentity and the consumerist products and signs that people cling on to if they feel an inner lack of fulfillment or an uncertainty as to what their true identity is.

Nice blog.
Greetings from Finland! =)

I guess living in SA where third and first world clash everyday and very violently, we need to take a look at how we consume and what we consume. I know Tony Campolo has very good views on this. Taking a look at our needs, rather than our wants.

Then in SA “CHEAP” labor is easy to come by and we should not abuse people because they are desperate. This happens all the time and as a couple of friends we are really trying to respect the poor and see them as humans and not just cheap labor.

These are two other aspects relevant to SA.

Hermann (very cool name), that helps me understand a great deal more, yes. I agree that more ministry minded folks need to think “small” in the sense that they focus more on relationships and less on costly things. That’s something I’ve made a conscious effort to pursue in the community of faith I spend time with. There will be needs for larger events (carnivals the help poor children understand Jesus’ love for them) and I think there will be needs for paid staff. (My father is one, as are a few of my good friends. Personally, I do supported-publicity work for a missions org.) But each of these things needs to be done very carefully in regard to how we spend the resources and what resources we seek out in the first place.

So we’ve identified one way of teaching people to step out of consumerism - serving without waste and sometimes without pay. What other ways can we model these values for others in our communities?

I understand your dilemma, and have constantly struggled with how I reconcile my consumer-driven life with the faith I hold and the ministry I am involved in. To me, it seems that my focus is the issue, not the “stuff.” God is not concerned with what “stuff” I have, at least to a point, but with the attitude of my heart and the way I interact with other people “in the world.”

But, hey, I haven’t figured it all out yet.

For now, one issue!

This issue is why I left full time ministry, started a business and now do ministry free of charge. I am now where most other Christ followers are, in the world.

The issue is that I found that the church where I was involved, became very big and we were really punting the seeker-style of minstry which brought a lot of traditional Christians to our congregation. We didn’t see any new believers just the nomadic consumer, coming towards the better service.

When the church grew big, the salaries of the pastors really shot through the roof and soon the two top dogs were living in the most expensive property estates in Johannesburg and they were driving expensive sportscars. They felt like they deserved it. I was on the executive so I confronted the issue and that lead to me moving out of fulltime ministry.

What message are we who live in the Kingdom giving to those we need to witness to?

If we mix capatalism with Christianity, do we get the modern church?

This happens across the board in SA. White and black!

My answer to this dilemma was to quit getting money for ministry and rather earn an income from outside of the church and still minister as strong as always. Many people were disillusioned by this specific church and now I hope to build a movement with lay-minsters, where there is no financial gain. Is this the right move? I don’t konw, but minstry is not there to feed our culture of consumerism.

Does this resonate Parke?