As Christians, perhaps especially at the spending spree of Christmas time, we need to know where the world is coming from if we are to live and witness well for Christ.
The secular gospel
Consumerism can be seen as the contemporary secular good news. It holds out the promise of happiness through material goods and services and focuses particularly on the pleasure we get from acquisition and exercising personal choice.
Money and the ability to acquire things makes us feel secure, comfortable and, to an extent, powerful. But it is the choice/option aspect of consumerism which distinguishes it from mere materialism. For example, the Revlon company makes 177 different shades of lipstick. To be able to choose whatever we want puts us in the almost godlike category, and in a self-centred and increasingly anonymous society, people get a buzz from personal choice because it is an avenue of self-expression.
Given the wealth of the Western world, this emphasis on personal choice fits hand-in-glove with the post-modern mindset of subjectivism where the only truth is what is 'true for you'.
We are not to think that the material world is inherently evil (1 Timothy 4.3), for God made the material world and became incarnate in Jesus Christ, and the final state of redemption includes the resurrection of the body and a renewed universe (Romans 8.22-25). However, we can only use the material world properly as we see ourselves as stewards of God's gifts. The abundance of creation ought to lead us to be thankful to God and to live in loving worship of him (1 Timothy 4.4).
TV - the prophet of consumerism
Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian communications theorist (1911-1980) and guru of the technology revolution, said that 'the medium is the message'. In other words, the very method by which a message is brought to us is a message in itself. Above and beyond an actual programme's content, there is a message in the TV itself.
* TV is Visual: the message is that what you see is what is true, material reality is all there is.
* TV is Instant: it captures attention, now is the only time that matters. It shuts down inner reflection.
* TV is Distant: though we see, the things we see cannot hurt us, blunts our moral sensitivity.
* TV is Entertaining: it delights our eyes, pleasing the viewer is the most important thing.
* TV is Optional: it provides a channel-changer and a multitude of options and says: 'You choose.'
Putting all this together, we see that the TV in and of itself brings the message of consumerism - what you see and what is now is all that matters, feeling good is what life is about, and you can choose your own world of virtual reality to live in. Every day, even apart from the adverts, the TV preaches the basic tenets of consumerism to people.
Individuals
So how does consumer culture affect us as individuals?
Our values: Many of the open values of consumerism cut directly across Christian virtues, such as self-denial or patience.
Our time: Christians now do not fulfil their potential not through falling into big sins, but simply by being diverted from concentrating on Christ, by all the trivial options which are open to them.
Our goals: In his book Losing our virtue, David Wells says that whereas in previous centuries there was a concern to develop human character, now we are concerned with developing personality. Character is an inner disposition to love what is good (moral absolute). Now moral absolutes are gone and people are far more attracted to the idea of pursuing feeling good about themselves and being 'interesting', 'stylish' or 'fun' personalities. A good image will make friends and influence people! Consumer products can help in this pursuit.
Our identity: This is closely connected to the last point and operates at a very deep level. Whereas in the past our identity (gender, religion, social class, etc.) determined many of our choices, now we can choose our identity. All we have to do is buy the appropriate status symbols. But this means that personal identity is devalued - it's just an image. Hence, people don't know who they are, and any links between who we are and expected moral behaviour are loosened. This vitiates Christian discipleship.
Churches
How are our churches influenced by the ethos of consumer society?
Our message: The Biblical gospel is fundamentally good news concerning the forgiveness of sins before a holy God (1 Timothy 1.15). It assumes a God-centred moral framework to the world and defines 'good' in moral terms. The culture of consumerism has grown up out of an atheistic/secular society which has abandoned moral absolutes. It has redefined 'good' as a therapeutic category - what heals and makes people feel good. There is, therefore, immense pressure on churches and preachers to change the church's message, recasting the message in man-centred terms - seeing salvation as self-fulfilment rather than salvation from wrath. Ultimately, God himself is viewed as a consumer item to be brought out of the box when we are feeling hurt or in need, and put away again when we no longer need him.
Our community: Consumerism is extremely individualistic - it is about your needs, your personal choices. By contrast, God is calling us away from isolated individualism to participate in loving involvement with other people in the church, the family of God's people (John 13.34).
Our commitment: Consumerism majors on personal choice and in a consumer world 'keeping your options open' becomes a virtue. However, when keeping options open becomes a continual state of mind, commitment and perseverance dies. Keeping options open is the same as continually sitting on the fence. Indeed, churches can be used as kind of spiritual supermarkets, where we shop around to get what we want, but soon withdraw if the going gets hard. Obviously, we have to choose a church, but having done so, we need to do our best to stick with it and get lovingly involved to the good of others as well as ourselves.
Our worship: The ethos of our consumer society is set by TV and the post-modern concern with image rather than content. Together, these are powerful influences which push us towards being forever concerned with how things look and feel rather than how they actually are. In particular, it is easy for Christians to slip into viewing church worship as a piece of stage-managed theatre rather than a true engagement with God. We could find ourselves becoming 21st-century Pharisees, focused on outward appearance rather than inner spiritual life (Matthew 23.25-28; Mark 7.6).
Little children, be careful of consumer culture.
JEB
This is an edited extract from Christianity in a Consumer Culture, to be published by Christian Focus early next year.
Dr John Benton
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