Thoughts on Life

In Australia this Christmas, we spent $1 billion on unwanted presents. This further illustrates our society’s addiction to buying presents just for the heck of it at Christmas. As usual, the Murdoch press encourages people to have a whinge by prompting readers to tell them all about any shocker Christmas gifts they received. Thankfully only a couple of people have responded at the time of writing this post, and one of those was thankful for what they received.

It’s interesting that while we have returned so many presents, Boxing Day sales have been booming. One of the presents I received was Mark Sayers‘ brilliant book, The Trouble with Paris. In this book, Sayers talks about ‘hyper-reality’ and the fact that, living in a consumerist society, we now believe the marketers who say that that next item is going to solve all our problems, and that retail therapy is all the panacea we need when we’re having a bad day.

This financial crisis is probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the church to make a very loud statement about the failures and the lies of the promises of consumerism. In a society that values ‘having’ Jesus says that life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions. In a society that values image and individualism, Jesus asks what will it profit you if you gain the whole world but lose your self in the process? It also goes back further than that, to the prophet Samuel when God reminds him that people look at the externals but God looks at the heart. Nothing has changed except that which we worship. The void in the human heart needs to be filled. Where our treasure is there will our heart be also.

Will the church take up the challenge to proclaim the good news of Jesus in these times of turmoil for so many? Many people will be disillusioned by these times, not least many in the church who have bought the message of health, wealth and prosperity. Now is the time for the church to be the prophetic, counter-cultural community that so distinguished itself in the 1st century. Jesus’ message is good news indeed for He comes to free us from our slavery to stuff so we are no longer conformed to the pattern of this world but are transformed by the renewing of our minds.

I’ve found that the best remedy for regaining that inner quiet and peace is by choosing to do the right thing. We’re such impulsive people. Whatever we have, we always want something better. I long for the day when, like St Paul, I can consistently say that I have learnt to be content whatever the circumstances. John the Baptist said the same thing when he told the crowds to “be content with your pay.”

No matter what we have we always want something else. If we find this attitude within ourselves, then the advertisers have succeeded and we have become a victim of the prevailing culture. We are no longer in control of our impulses. They now control us. The goal of advertising is to create the impression of a vacuum that doesn’t really exist in order to make a dollar.

The Gospel is counter-cultural and transformational. Romans 12:1 says “no longer be conformed to the pattern of this world”. Jesus said “What will it profit you if you gain the whole world but lose yourself?” How I need to take that to heart and be transformed by the One spoke these words of life so many years ago.

Our hearts are restless. We consistently feel wired and discontent. As Douglas Adams, in The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, put it so brilliantly, “This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper.”

In these times of financial hardship for so many, the words of Jesus are more relevant than ever.

With the inherent weaknesses of unfettered market capitalism being exposed in recent months by the global economic situation, socialists have been trumpeting the apparent downfall of this economic system. And well they might. I have already explained my views on unregulated capitalism. However, on the cover of one left-leaning publication was the proud headline Capitalism is bankrupt; socialism is the only answer. I think the first part of that headline is correct and the second part is not.

Socialism is no more the answer to humanity’s problems than capitalism. While capitalism survives no the backs of the poor, the history of socialism survives the same way. Any look at the atrocities committed in Eastern Europe since the Second World War have shown that. While socialism as an idea is fine - public ownership of the means of production, in practice it has limited freedom for its own citizens.

At the centre of socialism lies the idea of the utopian society being achieved through the work of humanity, unaided by any higher power. The classless society is a great idea, outlined in Acts, but it can never be achieved as long as humanity works on its own.

Human hearts need changing and no human economic system can ever do that. Martin Luther King, talking about communism, said that it thrives on the grand illusion that man, unaided by any divine power, can save himself and usher in a new society.

Socialism does not take into account the fact of humanity’s tendency toward selfishness. Bono has said that the 20th century is not a good advertisement for atheism. What does atheism have to do with it? Well, socialism is based on a secular vision of the new society, a kingdom without a king. The 20th century proves once and for all that a kingdom without a king will eventually fall in on itself.

For more on Dr. King’s views of a Christian response to communism, see his Strength to Love, pp 97-106.