Excessive Consumerism

We live in a generation that is affected by consumerism more than any other generations. With the influx of newer and better products, even the Christians are affected. There are more things to buy, more services to use, more food to eat and more new inventions for us to waste our time on. In Singapore, our favorite pastime is to shop, eat, watch movies and have fun. Some Singaporeans are known to eat five or six meals a day. The government is sounding the alarm that we have become a nation of obese people. Even our children are becoming terribly obese. Many of our young men who have to serve in our compulsory military service, have to undergo weight loss program.

Consumerism is overwhelming our lives. Just look at the latest mobile phones, better still, the latest computers - the manufacturers seem to produce more powerful and better computers every minute. The consumers just cannot keep up with the variety offered in the market. I have wanted to buy a desktop computer for some time. After six months of searching, I am giving up. There are just too many versions and every time I look, they have a better version with a lower price. Since I still have this two-year-old laptop, I have decided that the desktop computer can wait.

To me, I would rather not own anything until it becomes a necessity. I refused to own a mobile phone until early this year. It had become a necessity because church friends and relatives are finding hard to reach me. The strange thing about human need is that it has a way of growing in accordance with the new products in the market. For almost thirty years of my life, I never needed any computer or Internet but now I cannot work without them.

A Matter of Attitude

As society advances, our need also increases. Therefore it is important for us to know where to draw a line between appropriate consumption and excessive spending. It is not wrong if we consume slightly beyond our basic needs but when consumerism becomes excessive and a dominant concern, then we have a big problem. Where do we draw that line? When do we have this big problem? Some people say that they have more needs than others. It is true that needs can be relative and how much one spends is also relative. For example, the living standard that is considered average in Singapore might be considered excessive in China or Vietnam. Therefore in this article we are not talking about dollars and cents but about our attitude. Whether one is living in the poorest or richest nation, the right attitude is necessary for us to please God.

A poor farmer who ignores God and focuses his fullest attention on his crops and animals is committing the same sin as a rich tycoon who focuses on his multi-billion-business empire and forgets about God all together. Christians who give lip service to God and spend more time with their own kingdoms are no different from the self-centered farmer and tycoon. Instead of overcoming the world, they have been overcome by the world.

Another good indication of us being affected by the covetous attitude of the world is when we are spending more than what we can afford. When I was pastoring in America, I have met quite a few Christians who were regularly in debt. Even though their salaries were much more than mine, they were always running short before the month was over. I observed that no matter how much they earned, the amount was never enough.

Uncontrolled consumption coupled with an undisciplined life, is a dangerous habit and if left unchecked, it will take the place of God in our lives. It is like drug addiction. The more we spend, the more we work. The more we work, the more we spend. We work 10 to 12 hours a day, for five to six days a week, so as to earn money to feed this unrestrained habit. Our lives are crowded, our minds are crowded and our homes are cluttered with stuff. We have missed out on the joy of a simplified life by crowding it with too many things. We do not really have to do that. Elaine St. James wrote in her book, Simplify Your Life: “Living fully doesn’t mean having it all and going everywhere and doing everything and being all things to all people. Many of us are beginning to see that too much is too much; it gets in the way of being able to enjoy the things we do want in our lives and to simply be who we are.”

The Christian life is not complicated at all, if we know how to live it. We do not need the latest mobile phone, the biggest house or the fastest car to simply be who we are. In the last five years, I have found a new liberty in living simply. I remember someone says, “I live simply so that others might simply live.” Every time, when I see something intriguing on sales, I would be drawn to it. Like many others, I would immediately think how nice it would be for me to own it. Then the words of caution would come from the Holy Spirit and say, “Do you really need it?” No, I have no need for it and so that ends my struggle to possess another new thing.

An Overspent People

With easy access to credit cards, we are spending money that we have yet to earn. Someone says that we are buying things that we don’t need, to impress people that we don’t like, with money that we don’t have. Recently, the notorious fighter, Mike Tyson, discovered that he had more debts than his assets. This man used to have assets worth US$ 300 million (S$525 million). How many people in the world have ever seen US$ 1 million (S$1.75 million) lest US$ 300 million? Is it possible for a person to live comfortably with US$1 million per year? I believe so. That amount should be more than comfortable for me. I can build a few more orphanages and churches with that kind of money.

Imagine if Tyson were to control his spending to US$1 million a year, he would have to live for 300 years to use up all his wealth. The newspaper reported that it was because of his bad spending habit that brought him these financial woes. He was reported to have paid US$ 410,000 (S$ 717,500) for a birthday bash. His limousine service cost came up to something like US$ 65,000 (S$ 113,750). He spent US$ 8,100 (S$14,175) just to take care of his pet tigers. His legal fees alone from 1995 to 1997 were reported to be around US$ 9 million. It is of little wonder why recently Tyson filed for bankruptcy.

In a smaller scale, we have brought complications into our lives because somehow we cannot control the urge of overspending. God has never intended for Christians to be like that. He wants us to learn how to live simply and to be satisfied with what we have been blessed with. Our purpose in life is not just to consume relentlessly. We are to serve the Lord and be diligent in doing His ministries. Excessive consumption is “laying up treasures on earth”. When we become concerned with uninhibited consumerism, our lives will become unbalanced. Even if we could afford to shop and buy until we drop, we would be living in disobedience. Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15). He also warned us that “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

Walk The Talk

Even though we may verbalize that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, it is our lifestyle that counts. We have to walk the talk. Anything that dominates us will control our behavior and actions. The dominating factor can be Lord God or Lord Money. We have a choice to make. No one can make this choice for us. Our failure or success in our spiritual walk depends upon which God we bow our hearts to.

No Christian ever plan to serve Lord Money. It just happens when we have this uncontrolled desire to possess things. To feed demanding consumerism, we will need a second job just to “survive”. We have to service our loans, pay our credit cards companies and should still have some money to live on. Soon, we will be working on weekends and have no time to go to church or do anything for God. Who is the God of our life when this happens? We have begun by thinking that we have control over our lives but after years of overspending, we have lost control. Just as Jesus had predicted, money has become our master. Our limited time on earth is then spent on serving this master, wasted on temporal things and meaningless pursuits. The Chinese have a saying: “When you are riding on the tiger’s back, it is difficult to dismount.” Like the tiger, Lord Money will swallow us whole, if we try to dismount. The only way is to kill the tiger. Stab it on the head and let it bleed to death.

To avoid sitting on the tiger’s back, you must allow yourself to intelligently choose the things that are meaningful to your life. I am not asking you to pursue self-denial or be a pauper. I am asking you to use God’s wisdom to decide what are the important things in your life. Set the priorities, buy only what you need and your life will be simpler and happier.

The Single Eye

In between the two warnings in Matthew 6:19-24, not to lay treasures on earth and not to serve Lord Money, our Lord Jesus had included a strange instruction about having “good eye”. He said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Why did He say that? I believe our Lord wanted to convey a warning concerning the “power of internalization”. What we perceive, we internalize. What we internalize, we believe. What we believe, we act upon it. It is true that nothing can happen outside of us until it happens inside us. The gateway to this internalization is the eye.

One of the three temptations that Jesus overcame in the wilderness was the lust of the eye. (The other two were the pride of life and lust of the flesh – 1 John 2:16). In Matthew 4:8 ff, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. The devil wanted Jesus to use His eyes to see. Satan was successful in tempting the first Adam with the lust of the eye and so he felt he could use the same technique on the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). In order for Jesus to get all these earthly kingdoms and wealth, He would need to bow down and worship the devil. That would have been an easy way out because after all, the primary purpose of Christ’s coming was to take back the earthly kingdoms and put them under the authority of God. However Jesus did not justify it that way and choose the easy path to avoid the cross. He refused to be affected by what His eyes saw because His inner being saw the greater things of the kingdom of God.

In the Greek, “if the eye is good or healthy” literally means, “if the eye is single”. Jesus’ eye was single and He wanted ours to be too. He was focused on the purpose of God’s will in His life. He saw the reality and beauty of the kingdom of God and ignored the false rewards provided by the kingdoms of depraved man.

Laying Treasures

Very few people can lay treasures on earth and at the same time lay them in heaven. We have to choose. For where our treasures are, there our hearts would be. We have to train our eyes to see the kingdom of God as the real treasures. The single eye sees beyond the temporal rewards into eternal promises and looks beyond the fleeting present into the glorious future. The single eye is considered as good because it includes God in its vision. It is able to discern between God’s kingdom and the devil’s kingdom.

Our eyes become bad when we appreciate the counterfeit treasures of this world. Like the early American Indians who were tricked into accepting cheap trinkets, glass beads, cloth and alcohol in exchange for gold, furs and whale oil, we would be exchanging something more precious for something useless. If we are pursuing after gold on earth then we have to bear in mind that gold is used to pave roads in heaven (Revelation 21:21). If our eyes do not see what is true, we will end up pursuing after the lies created by the darkened world of the devil.

Watch out for the wiles of the devil. He makes us desire after the wrong things. He is willing to give us the kingdoms of this world but we have to pay a very heavy price. Do not think that our souls will not be affected when we indulge in carnality and disobedience. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

To do the will of the Father means that we have to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). We cannot seek to build our own kingdom and expect God to bless. If we try to steal His glory by thinking that we can trick Him to bless our kingdom, we have to think again. God is not stupid and He does not permit us to share His glory. If we persist then we will lose our souls. Once again, let us take heed to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Simple Steps To A Simpler Life

Here are some simple steps that you can take to live a simpler and God-fearing life:

Whenever you want to spend money, ask yourself whether it is necessary to do so.
Live simply in a smaller apartment or house. You may want to share the apartment with a tenant.
Try to find a home that is close to your place of work so that you can cut down on your traveling cost and time. Long traveling time can produce undue stress.
Cook and eat at home whenever possible. You save at least half your food bills if you do this.
Develop a habit of frugality and recycle things that are usable..
Remove the clutter in your home by donating, selling or throwing away things that you do not use any more.
Learn to put aside a monthly amount so as to build a sinking fund for rainy days. Saving is fun when it becomes a habit.
Be sure to be faithful in giving God’s tithes and your offerings. You don’t want to rob God (Malachi 3:8-12).
Develop spiritual habits like having daily quiet-time, meditating on God’s Word and praying.
Join a small group so that you can enjoy learning the Bible and fellowshipping with others.
Find opportunities to witness, minister and help people.
Create new friendships among your colleagues, neighbors and fellow church members.
Learn to say “no” to social functions that are questionable or downright unhealthy.
Develop your creativity by involving yourself in a hobby or artistic pursuit.
I pray that you will enjoy your simple life and give glory to God our Father. May the Lord lead and guide you so that you will become the person God wants you to be. God bless!

	Hearts And Treasures
	Rev Albert Kang Excessive Consumerism We live in a generation that is affected by consumerism more than any other generations. With the influx of newer and better products, even the Christians are affected. There are more things to buy, more services to use, more food to eat and more new inventions for us to waste our time on. In Singapore, our favorite pastime is to shop, eat, watch movies and have fun. Some Singaporeans are known to eat five or six meals a day. The government is sounding the alarm that we have become a nation of obese people. Even our children are becoming terribly obese. Many of our young men who have to serve in our compulsory military service, have to undergo weight loss program. Consumerism is overwhelming our lives. Just look at the latest mobile phones, better still, the latest computers - the manufacturers seem to produce more powerful and better computers every minute. The consumers just cannot keep up with the variety offered in the market. I have wanted to buy a desktop computer for some time. After six months of searching, I am giving up. There are just too many versions and every time I look, they have a better version with a lower price. Since I still have this two-year-old laptop, I have decided that the desktop computer can wait. To me, I would rather not own anything until it becomes a necessity. I refused to own a mobile phone until early this year. It had become a necessity because church friends and relatives are finding hard to reach me. The strange thing about human need is that it has a way of growing in accordance with the new products in the market. For almost thirty years of my life, I never needed any computer or Internet but now I cannot work without them. A Matter of Attitude As society advances, our need also increases. Therefore it is important for us to know where to draw a line between appropriate consumption and excessive spending. It is not wrong if we consume slightly beyond our basic needs but when consumerism becomes excessive and a dominant concern, then we have a big problem. Where do we draw that line? When do we have this big problem? Some people say that they have more needs than others. It is true that needs can be relative and how much one spends is also relative. For example, the living standard that is considered average in Singapore might be considered excessive in China or Vietnam. Therefore in this article we are not talking about dollars and cents but about our attitude. Whether one is living in the poorest or richest nation, the right attitude is necessary for us to please God. A poor farmer who ignores God and focuses his fullest attention on his crops and animals is committing the same sin as a rich tycoon who focuses on his multi-billion-business empire and forgets about God all together. Christians who give lip service to God and spend more time with their own kingdoms are no different from the self-centered farmer and tycoon. Instead of overcoming the world, they have been overcome by the world. Another good indication of us being affected by the covetous attitude of the world is when we are spending more than what we can afford. When I was pastoring in America, I have met quite a few Christians who were regularly in debt. Even though their salaries were much more than mine, they were always running short before the month was over. I observed that no matter how much they earned, the amount was never enough. Uncontrolled consumption coupled with an undisciplined life, is a dangerous habit and if left unchecked, it will take the place of God in our lives. It is like drug addiction. The more we spend, the more we work. The more we work, the more we spend. We work 10 to 12 hours a day, for five to six days a week, so as to earn money to feed this unrestrained habit. Our lives are crowded, our minds are crowded and our homes are cluttered with stuff. We have missed out on the joy of a simplified life by crowding it with too many things. We do not really have to do that. Elaine St. James wrote in her book, Simplify Your Life: “Living fully doesn’t mean having it all and going everywhere and doing everything and being all things to all people. Many of us are beginning to see that too much is too much; it gets in the way of being able to enjoy the things we do want in our lives and to simply be who we are.” The Christian life is not complicated at all, if we know how to live it. We do not need the latest mobile phone, the biggest house or the fastest car to simply be who we are. In the last five years, I have found a new liberty in living simply. I remember someone says, “I live simply so that others might simply live.” Every time, when I see something intriguing on sales, I would be drawn to it. Like many others, I would immediately think how nice it would be for me to own it. Then the words of caution would come from the Holy Spirit and say, “Do you really need it?” No, I have no need for it and so that ends my struggle to possess another new thing. An Overspent People With easy access to credit cards, we are spending money that we have yet to earn. Someone says that we are buying things that we don’t need, to impress people that we don’t like, with money that we don’t have. Recently, the notorious fighter, Mike Tyson, discovered that he had more debts than his assets. This man used to have assets worth US$ 300 million (S$525 million). How many people in the world have ever seen US$ 1 million (S$1.75 million) lest US$ 300 million? Is it possible for a person to live comfortably with US$1 million per year? I believe so. That amount should be more than comfortable for me. I can build a few more orphanages and churches with that kind of money. Imagine if Tyson were to control his spending to US$1 million a year, he would have to live for 300 years to use up all his wealth. The newspaper reported that it was because of his bad spending habit that brought him these financial woes. He was reported to have paid US$ 410,000 (S$ 717,500) for a birthday bash. His limousine service cost came up to something like US$ 65,000 (S$ 113,750). He spent US$ 8,100 (S$14,175) just to take care of his pet tigers. His legal fees alone from 1995 to 1997 were reported to be around US$ 9 million. It is of little wonder why recently Tyson filed for bankruptcy. In a smaller scale, we have brought complications into our lives because somehow we cannot control the urge of overspending. God has never intended for Christians to be like that. He wants us to learn how to live simply and to be satisfied with what we have been blessed with. Our purpose in life is not just to consume relentlessly. We are to serve the Lord and be diligent in doing His ministries. Excessive consumption is “laying up treasures on earth”. When we become concerned with uninhibited consumerism, our lives will become unbalanced. Even if we could afford to shop and buy until we drop, we would be living in disobedience. Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15). He also warned us that “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24). Walk The Talk Even though we may verbalize that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, it is our lifestyle that counts. We have to walk the talk. Anything that dominates us will control our behavior and actions. The dominating factor can be Lord God or Lord Money. We have a choice to make. No one can make this choice for us. Our failure or success in our spiritual walk depends upon which God we bow our hearts to. No Christian ever plan to serve Lord Money. It just happens when we have this uncontrolled desire to possess things. To feed demanding consumerism, we will need a second job just to “survive”. We have to service our loans, pay our credit cards companies and should still have some money to live on. Soon, we will be working on weekends and have no time to go to church or do anything for God. Who is the God of our life when this happens? We have begun by thinking that we have control over our lives but after years of overspending, we have lost control. Just as Jesus had predicted, money has become our master. Our limited time on earth is then spent on serving this master, wasted on temporal things and meaningless pursuits. The Chinese have a saying: “When you are riding on the tiger’s back, it is difficult to dismount.” Like the tiger, Lord Money will swallow us whole, if we try to dismount. The only way is to kill the tiger. Stab it on the head and let it bleed to death. To avoid sitting on the tiger’s back, you must allow yourself to intelligently choose the things that are meaningful to your life. I am not asking you to pursue self-denial or be a pauper. I am asking you to use God’s wisdom to decide what are the important things in your life. Set the priorities, buy only what you need and your life will be simpler and happier. The Single Eye In between the two warnings in Matthew 6:19-24, not to lay treasures on earth and not to serve Lord Money, our Lord Jesus had included a strange instruction about having “good eye”. He said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” Why did He say that? I believe our Lord wanted to convey a warning concerning the “power of internalization”. What we perceive, we internalize. What we internalize, we believe. What we believe, we act upon it. It is true that nothing can happen outside of us until it happens inside us. The gateway to this internalization is the eye. One of the three temptations that Jesus overcame in the wilderness was the lust of the eye. (The other two were the pride of life and lust of the flesh – 1 John 2:16). In Matthew 4:8 ff, the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. The devil wanted Jesus to use His eyes to see. Satan was successful in tempting the first Adam with the lust of the eye and so he felt he could use the same technique on the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45). In order for Jesus to get all these earthly kingdoms and wealth, He would need to bow down and worship the devil. That would have been an easy way out because after all, the primary purpose of Christ’s coming was to take back the earthly kingdoms and put them under the authority of God. However Jesus did not justify it that way and choose the easy path to avoid the cross. He refused to be affected by what His eyes saw because His inner being saw the greater things of the kingdom of God. In the Greek, “if the eye is good or healthy” literally means, “if the eye is single”. Jesus’ eye was single and He wanted ours to be too. He was focused on the purpose of God’s will in His life. He saw the reality and beauty of the kingdom of God and ignored the false rewards provided by the kingdoms of depraved man. Laying Treasures Very few people can lay treasures on earth and at the same time lay them in heaven. We have to choose. For where our treasures are, there our hearts would be. We have to train our eyes to see the kingdom of God as the real treasures. The single eye sees beyond the temporal rewards into eternal promises and looks beyond the fleeting present into the glorious future. The single eye is considered as good because it includes God in its vision. It is able to discern between God’s kingdom and the devil’s kingdom. Our eyes become bad when we appreciate the counterfeit treasures of this world. Like the early American Indians who were tricked into accepting cheap trinkets, glass beads, cloth and alcohol in exchange for gold, furs and whale oil, we would be exchanging something more precious for something useless. If we are pursuing after gold on earth then we have to bear in mind that gold is used to pave roads in heaven (Revelation 21:21). If our eyes do not see what is true, we will end up pursuing after the lies created by the darkened world of the devil. Watch out for the wiles of the devil. He makes us desire after the wrong things. He is willing to give us the kingdoms of this world but we have to pay a very heavy price. Do not think that our souls will not be affected when we indulge in carnality and disobedience. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). To do the will of the Father means that we have to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). We cannot seek to build our own kingdom and expect God to bless. If we try to steal His glory by thinking that we can trick Him to bless our kingdom, we have to think again. God is not stupid and He does not permit us to share His glory. If we persist then we will lose our souls. Once again, let us take heed to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Simple Steps To A Simpler Life Here are some simple steps that you can take to live a simpler and God-fearing life: Whenever you want to spend money, ask yourself whether it is necessary to do so. Live simply in a smaller apartment or house. You may want to share the apartment with a tenant. Try to find a home that is close to your place of work so that you can cut down on your traveling cost and time. Long traveling time can produce undue stress. Cook and eat at home whenever possible. You save at least half your food bills if you do this. Develop a habit of frugality and recycle things that are usable.. Remove the clutter in your home by donating, selling or throwing away things that you do not use any more. Learn to put aside a monthly amount so as to build a sinking fund for rainy days. Saving is fun when it becomes a habit. Be sure to be faithful in giving God’s tithes and your offerings. You don’t want to rob God (Malachi 3:8-12). Develop spiritual habits like having daily quiet-time, meditating on God’s Word and praying. Join a small group so that you can enjoy learning the Bible and fellowshipping with others. Find opportunities to witness, minister and help people. Create new friendships among your colleagues, neighbors and fellow church members. Learn to say “no” to social functions that are questionable or downright unhealthy. Develop your creativity by involving yourself in a hobby or artistic pursuit. I pray that you will enjoy your simple life and give glory to God our Father. May the Lord lead and guide you so that you will become the person God wants you to be. God bless! Reprint Permission Although this material is subject to copyright, please feel free to reprint this article, in whole or in part, in your church publication, use them in training, presentations, or wherever you feel they would be of benefit to the kingdom of God. This also holds true for members of the media. All we ask is that you use the following credit line: Reprinted with permission from Pastor Albert Kang’s E-Bulletin – Weekly Thought. http://www.praize.com/ministries/pastorkang/