Materialism: A Paper God, Running Out of Gas!

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender" (Prov. 22:7)

Over the past half century, we have developed a lifestyle where we buy things we can't afford, with money we don't have with deferred payments and establish a family budget that is largely based on servicing debt. It is the rule rather than the exception to have a house payment and car payment as a minimum. The price and size of the house are usually determined by the payment that the salary will cover without exceeding a certain percentage of the monthly salary, which dictates that the set salary must be maintained over the term of the loan. In a continually expanding economy, such a rationale is workable; however, over a period of years there can be "crunch times" (such as are upon us!) where contractions may occur which can apply stress to the borrower. In years gone by families lived on a cash basis, only buying that for which they could pay out of current income; the life style was determined by the money available--not that for which their credit would qualify them.

After the former mentality was firmly established, the credit card industry was launched which capitalized more on greeds than needs. The idea of instant gratification became the rule of thumb in many arenas. Paying cash for purchases is unusual, and the ease of running up exorbitant credit card debt has forced many into bankruptcy.

Those who build considerable equity in a home mortgage are regularly taunted with the idea of taking an equity loan with no closing costs to consolidate high interest credit card debt which they have amassed, financing current expenses over the term of the loan. Thus, the cycle continues unabated. With many, the idea of paying off the mortgage is not even considered, except to refinance or to sell the home and progress to one with larger principal. Thus, a person 50 or 60 years of age will sometimes get a 30 year loan!

The borrower becomes servant to the lender(s) with life decisions being made (or forced) which are based on debt which must be serviced (feeding the monster). (Prov. 22:7) This being the case, such a person has done involuntary obeisance to the false god of materialism--a paper god that can never be satisfied.

With an entire society built on being servants to lenders, most are forced to play by the golden rule--he who has the gold makes the rules! Almost all businesses are run on a line of credit of some sort with precious few being run without borrowing money for operating expenses as well as for capital improvements.

An executive making a large salary will generally adjust his/her lifestyle to match the salary. A sudden downturn in the economy or losing the position because of the ubiquitous mergers and shifting of management personnel can wreak havoc with the family budget, if not force bankruptcy. Those in the family, not just the executive, will usually develop an identity made possible by such a salary. A major downward adjustment can be a decided blow to the identity; an identity based on money and things must fluctuate with the economy. In the oil crunch of the 80' s in Denver, there were cases where such families went to the back door of churches and picked up food baskets in a Mercedes.

When materialism is providing the needs and many of the greeds such as we find common in the West, it very subtly becomes a substitute god--one that is insatiable, unpredictable and capricious, though it be but a paper god. Obviously, such a pervasive societal trend, can not be reversed overnight. Indeed, such an ingrained identity which is based on the paper god of materialism can only be conquered by shifting to the one true God and finding identity and meaning in Him.

Before there will be the willingness to make such a change, it will probably require a major disruption in the life and economy (such as greatly inflated oil prices) that the paper god can not overcome. Having been slaves to the system and covertly serving a paper god, it will take divine intervention to effect such a transition. Barring that, the stage will be set for a dictatorship to bring order out of chaos, if there is a broad failure of the paper god to continue to service the system.

The extra demands that are presently being placed on the financial system combine to place pressure on lives and families that may already be near the breaking point due to having been built on the shifting sands of the flesh. These pressures include the cost of war preparations, financing a war and rebuilding all that we have destroyed, damage inflicted by terrorism to installations, the downturn of the economy caused by war jitters, oil prices, unemployment, natural disasters and rolling back of salaries. With a preponderance of our population stretched to the limit with debt, such assaults on the economy could make bankruptcy and foreclosures a common occurrence. In such a scenario, it is inevitable that there will be a drastic increase in suicides, as well.

With the identities of the individual, the church and the nation having been based, with few exceptions, on the profferings of the world system, the only answer is for these to come under the influence of the Cross of Christ such that a resurrection life identity may be manifested. (Luke 9:23, Gal. 2:20) When that quality of devotion becomes a significant percentage of believers, there will be repentance on the part of the church which can have a major impact on the nation. Radical Christian Living must become the rule rather than the exception if societal trends, not just financial, are to be reversed and the God of the Universe is to take precedence over the paper god of materialism. Only as we find our identity in the Lord Jesus Christ by having revealed to us, one by one, our death and resurrection with Him, will we be able to transcend the world system and have victory over false gods to which our flesh has become accustomed. (Rom. 6:6-14; 2 Cor. 2:14) Only so will revival begin to spread across our country such that the enemies of the Cross will begin to be pushed back to the glory of our Lord.(Phil. 3:18)When the flesh has been satiated with materialism, the identity and lifestyle are dictated by its demands. The expanding economy to which we have become accustomed in the last half century has accommodated its continuation, with the last two generations knowing nothing else, other than minor recessions. The present oil crisis, itself, can have just such effect as was mentioned above.

Since long distance commutes have been feasible, the property values at a distance from cities and the workplace have greatly escalated, with only those able to work locally or by computer avoiding commuting. Not only in travel to work, but also in leisure time activities, driving great distances has been commonplace, as has attendance at many megachurches.

Since the almost unlimited consumption of oil (our life blood as a nation) has been greatly curtailed, it will have the effect of shrinking the economy. Since a great percentage of our population has become accustomed to using almost all of their income each month, the major increase in fuel prices means that many will have month left at the end of their money!

Many will not be able to reduce spending or obtain additional income to cover the deficit. If a way is found to do so, it can be at the expense of family time, which will negatively impact relationships. If the family already tends toward being dysfunctional, the additional financial down pressure can bring many families to the breaking point.

As has been the case in recent years, the trend of adult children returning to live with their parents can accelerate, with the added feature of bringing their families with them! The cost of distance commuting and the inability to find work closer home may mean that the younger families will be unable to support a separate dwelling.

When that is the case, two or more families forced to share the same home will generate tension in relationships, which can reach the breaking point. As this becomes commonplace, the need for spiritual counseling will multiply exponentially! Since most churches are not even equipped to do it presently, the additional demand can also overstress churches.

On another dimension, distance commutes to megachurches will become increasingly burdensome, which will negatively impact such churches as well as to tax community churches. The former will have surplus staff, and the latter will have insufficient staff to cope with an influx of those making life-style adjustments, with house churches becoming more common.

With the likely demographic shift described above, a significant percentage of our population could be adjusting to a lifestyle which is not friendly to self-centered expectations! Those individuals/families currently living on the edge could easily be pushed over the brink.

With such a scenario, it is obvious that some of those becoming have-nots could be tempted to take from those who have, thus drastically increasing such things as burglary, stealing gasoline, etc. Unsettled people can easily precipitate further unsettled conditions in society.

A forced return to community living, as opposed to bedroom communities in proximity to cities, can cause unrest in society as a whole. Since this would undoubtedly be characterized by lowering the income of many, the financial pressures will be exacerbated.

Since the prognosticators do not see a return to comfortable living in the predictable future, with ample supplies of reasonably priced oil a distant prospect, the Church must gear up for a major role in such a paradigm shift. Business as usual will not suffice when the remainder of society is forced to abandon business as usual!

While the Church has the answer, few indeed are those which are prepared for such an influx of human need--financial short fall resulting in massive interpersonal conflicts within and between families and affecting church budgets.

Self-centered living has never been scriptural, but it has become the norm in today's society with Christian families not escaping it. Only the Church can minister to this malady, but the 'physician' must first heal itself since it has fallen victim to the same trend.

The Cross is the only answer; but its teaching is in short supply, even among sound evangelical churches. While the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the Crosscross of Jesus is commonly taught with its emphasis on justification, the cross for the believer (Rom. 6, Gal. 2:20), or deeper life sanctification, is very uncommon since it runs counter to the self-life.

I have found that believers are not open to ther crucified life (Col. 3:1-9) so long as the self life can cope; when the self life is curtailed, the Cross for the believer may become appealing! The same is true of the Church which has fallen prey to marketing church growth and other fads which run counter to a Christ-centered and cross-centered approach to life and ministry.

The negative impact of the fuel crunch can be used of God to prepare both the believer and church leadership for the return of the role of the Cross in living and ministry. (Gal. 6:12-15) However, it does not promise to be an easy transition from the flesh to the Spirit.

The message, proven materials, and methods are readily available, awaiting the receptivity of church leadership to utilize them. Widespread desperation, which could be upon us, can force the church's hand to return to First Century ministry twenty centuries later! (Acts 2:42-47) This would entail more widespread use of lay ministry and less dependence upon paid professional staff to accord with reduced income. It could easily be increasingly difficult to get blood from the turnip"! Churches can prepare for such societal change by seeing what is coming down the pike or can have it forced upon them as the ripple effects spread out and choice is no longer an option.