Consumption

On Thanksgiving Day we consume food as if we haven’t eaten in a week. For the rest of the weekend we buy stuff with the same ravenous approach we brought to the table on Thursday. Why do we value consumption so much? Maybe I should change the pronouns because I have little or no influence concerning ‘our’ behavior. I do, however, have control over my attitudes and behaviors. You see ‘we’ value consumption because ‘I’ value consumption. I can deride the conspicuous consumption of our culture while I stuff myself at buffets, (or Thanksgiving) and own more stuff than my house and garage can really contain. I can make derogatory comments about the size of a house I see but at the same time if I had the means I might build a house just as big. I can complain about the conspicuous extravagance of church buildings around the country yet I know that I would probably attend the more extravagant church over a warehouse church all other things being equal. There is a fine line between having and using stuff, and worshipping stuff. The bible calls stuff, mammon. It says that it is impossible to worship God and stuff at the same time. It also says that there is no benefit in gaining all the stuff in the world now if we end up spending eternity in hell. I hear my friends in business use the phrase cost/ benefit analysis. I might butcher the concept but it seems to me that if I want to surrender my life to the pursuit of stuff the benefit is the stuff. The cost, however, is eternity in hell separated from God. The alternative is to surrender my life to God as the cost and receive peace in this life and eternity in heaven with Jesus as the benefit. When I see it put this way the choice is so obvious, why then is it so hard?