Created to Rebel Against Materialism

 
You Know How Focused We Are on Our Stuff!
Is there really any doubt that our culture is fixated on the collection of material possessions? It's really easy for us Christians to read the scriptures and come to the conclusion that material happiness is an oxymoron, but think for a minute about last Christmas. How much of your holiday was spent on a celebration of Jesus, and how much of it was spent on a celebration of gift giving? Be honest! What kind of message do we send to the world when we are among the most materialistic? God is calling us to represent Him in the world around us and He knows that we are NOT going to be Godly rebels if we are simply going to conform to the world's materialism:

 
Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 
Rather that preach the ills of materialism here, let's simply read a great article written by Carla Barnhill and posted on www.campuslife.net. She called it 'Why Can't I Have It All?'

 
It's one of those days when I'm dissatisfied. I don't like what I look like. I don't like the stuff in my room. I don't like my boring life. I need more stuff to feel better. To feel new. I go to the mall because it promises to help me. The Gap, Express, Gadzooks, Rave, American Eagle. I can't miss.
 
At Abercrombie and Fitch, the posters on the walls show clean-cut guys playing touch football with shiny-haired girls. They're having a blast in plaid shirts and khaki pants. One girl has a big sweatshirt tied casually around her thin waist—a cute tomboy. They're laughing in that picture, the clean-cut boys and the shiny-haired girls. They're having more fun in their Abercrombie and Fitch clothes than I've had in months. At The Athlete's Foot, a picture of Michael Johnson hangs over a wall of running shoes. He's won his second Olympic gold medal while wearing his gleaming gold shoes. The message behind the image is clear: There's nothing greater in life than winning. With some hi-tech shoes of my own, maybe I'd feel like less of a loser. At Contempo Casuals, the brown-and-green sweater on the skinny mannequin promises to make me look thin and trendy. The sales girls are so cool in their platform shoes and short skirts. If I looked like them, wearing that close-fitting brown-and-green sweater, I might have more dates. At Rave, I see a girl with bleached hair and black lipstick. She's eyeing a green mini-skirt covered with sequins. I wonder what great party she'll wear it to. I wonder what's it's like to be that cool. But she hangs up the skirt and walks out of the store. And I notice something I hadn't seen when she was standing behind the rack of clothes.
 
I notice the bulky stroller she's pushing, the fussy baby who's sick of being confined. I notice the tired look in the mother's eyes, the way she walks toward a bench where she can rest for a minute and calm her baby. And I realize she's probably not going to any great party. She can buy all the green mini-skirts in the mall, but she's still going home to her life as a teenage mother. Nothing in the mall can change that. And I realize the mall can't change my life either. I don't think of myself as a materialistic person. In fact, I buy lots of my clothes at thrift stores. I drive an ugly old car. My friends even tease me about being cheap. 
 
Still, I find myself wanting things. Not because I need them, but because they seem like they'll make me more interesting, more exciting. Like somehow, the stuff I own can change the life I have. When I look at the ads in magazines or on TV, that's what stuff promises me: A better life, a better me. Yeah, I know it's just hype, but a part of me can't help but believe those promises are true—at least a little bit. But I'd like to think I'm a lot more than my stuff. I'd like to think my friends like me because I'm funny, nice, and easy to talk to, not because I have cool clothes. I'd like to think I can like myself even though I don't have the latest music or the hippest shoes. I'd like to think I have value because I'm me, not because I have the 'right' stuff. 
 
When it comes down to it, I know that the promises of the mall are false, because I've been given another set of promises: God's promises. The mall tells me new clothes can make me more attractive, more acceptable to others. But God promises that I'm his wonderful creation:

 
Psalm 139:14
I will praise You, because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know [this] very well.

 
Nothing I buy can improve on what he's created. The mall tells me the stuff I buy can lift my spirits, make me feel better. And it can, for a little while. But God promises to comfort and restore me when I feel broken:

 
Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore we will not be afraid, though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah. [There is] a river- its streams delight the city of God, the holy dwelling place of the Most High. God is within her; she will not be toppled. God will help her when the morning dawns. Nations rage, kingdoms topple; the earth melts when He lifts His voice. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah 8 Come, see the works of the Lord, who brings devastation on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces; He burns up the chariots. 'Stop [your fighting] - and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.'; The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah.

 
He promises to be there when I'm confused about the future, when my friends let me down, when I don't know where to turn for help. The stuff I buy promises me a better life. But God promises me an abundant life:

 
John 10:10
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it in abundance.

 
…the best life possible. Eternal life. So where will I put my trust? Where will I find my value? Where will my heart be? With God, who keeps his promises.

 
Some Good Points
Carla seems to capture the truth of our desperate pursuit of materialism. It is a hopeless effort to find satisfaction in something other than God. It reflects the truth that we all pour our hearts out toward something, even though God clearly desinged us to pur our hearts toward him. It's called worship, and while the culture worships the icons and idols of this age, we are called to be rebellious and return our worship to the God who created us!