Perhaps you have seen clips like these before. Yesterday was “Black Friday” and they tell us that “Cyber Monday” is coming. I declare today to be “Consumer to Steward Saturday.”
Jesus Christ is calling us out of our consumeristic culture toward a vibrant and liberating stewardship. “Once you learn that even possessions you work for are given to you, you are free from their tyranny. You don’t have to protect them, serve them, measure them, or feel deprived for not having them. Now you can use them instead of consume them.” (SoulShift, Page 78) Today is Consumer to Steward Saturday. I hope you’ll take the time to reflect on whether you own your things, or whether they own you. You’re not in any of these videos (I hope), but it’s possible that some of the consumerism of our culture has begun to rule your life. Today is a good day to reflect on that.
One of the dear saints in my church, Dr. Marjorie Elder, wrote this prayer about the shift from Consumer to Steward to accompany some devotionals I wrote on the subject. Let’s pray this prayer today, as so many of us are recovering from our Black Friday consumerism:
[quote_box author=”” profession=””]”Our Father, when we realize that all we have has been a gift from You, from life to heritage to possessions, stewardship becomes a very demanding practice. Of ourselves, nothing; from You, all.“We seek a SoulShift that begins with asking You to take our capabilities and show us how to use any gifts we have for Your glory. And take our possessions – all Yours – and give us wisdom in handling them. We thank You for directing the first tenth in a way that helps us know it is wisely used. Thank You for our church. What great planning can be accomplished by a body of believers far beyond what an individual could manage. Then give us wisdom in choosing the places for our offerings. Bless us with a generous spirit and increase our joy as we delight in giving You more of what is Yours. Amen” -Marjorie Elder[/quote_box]
So, what will you do to steward this Saturday well?
For more on Consumer to Steward online, see Paul Tillman’s post by clicking here.
Consumer to Steward sidenote: You should know that I do not make any money off of the book SoulShift. All the royalties go to College Church. Yes, it’s a product you have to buy to read–intellectual copyright and all that jazz. But it’s great success is something we are stewarding according to convictions Christ have given us.
God sent some venison into my path, but I couldn’t find it in the dark last night. Going back this AM to harvest some of Creation’s bounty (though honestly it’s a “Hail Mary” attempt, or for Protestants, “Hail Jesus”).
We have to consume to survive (and certainly to blog), so we can’t completely escape it. Your post reminds me of the prayer we say from the Book of Common Prayer each week. It’s a re-orientation from the GDP-growth, net-worth-increasing obsession to a measured and bountiful rhythm of feasting and fasting. I think its a beautiful summation of a Christian environmental (Creational?) ethic:
“Give us all a reverence for the earth as your own creation,
that we may use its resources rightly in the service of others
and to your honor and glory.” (Prayers of the people, form IV)
The prayer also makes a good checklist to ask “should we be doing this to Creation?”
1) Does it show reverence to Creation as a living work of art?
2) Will this action be of service to others (esp. those in need)?
3) Does it help reveal God’s honor and glory?
Well said.
Amen
And you’re right about consuming being inescapable. I’m reading a book called “A Theology of Eating” right now that is instructive on that note.
I always feel weird about trying to speak prophetically to people about consumerism. In order to do so you have to use the internet, or microphones, or a book that is bought and sold.
In the book we try to strike a balance that shows that stewarding is the key — that we have things, we must, and we use things, we must. But when our things use us, the balance has shifted. Thus we must consume, but not be consumed by that which we consume.
Perhaps it’s better to ditch the word “consume” altogether… ? “Consume” has connotations of destruction. But only God can create or destroy matter. In natural systems, there is complexity and beauty and diversity with endless recycling – no such thing as waste (even the deer I shot and couldn’t find). Perhaps “upcycling” – like how sunlight and and invisible gases are transformed into redwoods and flying squirrels (what?!). It’s a beautiful goal to strive for, even if we can’t quite get there.
Here’s a gem from Wendell Berry (The Art of the Commonplace), esp. the 2nd half:
“I don’t think it is enough appreciated how much
an outdoor book the Bible is. It is a “hypaethral book,” such as Thoreau talked about – a book open to the sky. It is best read and understood outdoors, and the farther outdoors the better. Or that has been my experience of it. Passages that within walls seem improbable or incredible, outdoors seem merely natural. This is because outdoors we are confronted everywhere with wonders; we see that the miraculous is not extraordinary but the common mode of existence. It is our daily bread. Whoever really has considered the lilies of the field or the birds of the air and pondered the improbability of their existence in this warm world within the cold and empty stellar distances will hardly balk at the turning of water into wine – which was, after all, a very small miracle. We forget the greater and still continuing miracle by which water (with soil and sunlight) is turned into grapes.”