Consumption and the Church

Josh Brown writes a pretty provocative series of posts asking why the church is no different than the rest of the world in its consumption and “stuff” orientation.

The Religious Industrial Complex and Opium and 3 Legged Chairs are two in a series. Read the rest if you like.

He makes his argument in extremity. He’s pretty aggressive. He makes some big hyperbole.

In short, he argues just like I do, begging for someone to prove him wrong.

It’s pretty challenging reading, and I might be able to quibble with a few things, but I can’t argue with his main point:

The Christians and the church have the same spending habits as the larger culture. They have the same amount of debt and the subsequent stuff. They have pastors that look and act like CEOs. They have buildings that look like Wal-Mart warehouses. They dispense goods and services on Sunday mornings. And they market these goods and services by preying on the felt needs of their demographics.

…

if I’m honest. I prefer my franchise shopping, my processed food, my expensive electronics, my comfortable car, my mind-numbing crappy tv, my warm suburban home with 3 times the rooms that I need.

The line that really grabbed me, because it resonates exactly how we’ve been feeling of late:

It makes me sick to know that my spending habits might be creating injustice somewhere. It makes me sad to know that how I live is only possible because I’m standing on someone else’s back who produces stuff for me that they themselves can’t afford.

Give them a read, and let me know what you think.