materialism Archives - Marissa Henley

The Cost of Non-Discipleship (“Radical,” Ch. 1)

September 3, 2010 by Marissa 3 Comments

In my last post on the book Radical, I shared David Platt’s convicting thoughts about how many Christians ignore what Jesus said about what it really means to follow Him. Instead, we choose to mold Jesus into a “nice, middle-class, American Jesus . . . who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have” (p. 13). As convicted as I was by these words, I was even more convicted by Platt’s discussion of the result this misunderstanding of true discipleship.

Platt writes: “While Christians choose to spend their lives fulfilling the American dream instead of giving their lives to proclaiming the kingdom of God, literally billions in need of the gospel remain in the dark” (p. 14).

While we are busy accumulating stuff and ensuring our comfort, BILLIONS are perishing apart from Christ. Do we care? Do I care? Do I care about the eternal implications for my family member who doesn’t know Christ? Do I care about the people of Bhutan, a small country between China and India that I read about this morning with my kids, where the government (a Buddhist kingdom) lets very few foreigners inside the country and any Christians who make it in are forbidden to talk about Christ?

If I say I care, do I back it up with actions? With my checkbook? With my prayers?

Another large group of people paying the price for our failure to follow Christ properly are the poor. Platt writes: “Consider the cost when these Christians gather in churches and choose to spend millions of dollars on nice buildings to drive up to, cushioned chairs to sit in, and endless programs to enjoy for themselves. Consider the cost for the starving multitudes who sit outside the gate of contemporary Christian affluence” (p. 15).

Platt writes about two headlines he saw in a Christian publication in 2004. On the cover, the left headline read: “First Baptist Church Celebrates New $23 Million Building.” On the right, the headline read: “Baptist Relief Helps Sudanese Refugees” and the article explained that $5,000 had been raised to help refugees in western Sudan. Platt concludes: “Where have we gone wrong? How did we get to the place where this is actually tolerable?” (emphasis mine, p. 16)

This example makes me crazy. What are these people thinking? But then I look at myself. I don’t have $23 million to spend on myself, but if I did, I’m sure I would. If I published the amount of money I spend on myself on one side of the front page and the leftovers I give to the poor on the other side, what would my headlines read? Do my public and private lives honor the Lord Jesus Christ and my commitment to follow Him on His terms? What is the cost of my non-discipleship in the lives of those around me, both near and far?

These are tough questions, and I encourage you to wrestle through them with me by buying this book and reading it. In fact, my bloggy friend Marla is hosting a Radical read-a-long, if you’re interested. I know I can’t wait to hear what others have to say about how God is using this book in their lives.

“A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism” (Radical, chapter 1)

August 24, 2010 by Marissa 3 Comments

“Have you ever come to Jesus on His terms?”

That is the question asked by David Platt in his sermon series, Radical. (After listening to several of these sermons, I decided to get the book by the same name.) The first step to coming to Jesus on His own terms is to know what His terms are.

What does Jesus say about following Him?

Mark 10:21: “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Luke 9:23-24: And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

Later in Luke 9, those who express interest in following Jesus are told to expect to be homeless like Christ, not to take the time to bury their father, and not to say good-bye to their families or finish up work at home.

Luke 14:26-27, 33: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple . . . So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

I think in our Christian culture, we are desensitized to the shocking nature of Jesus talking about taking up our cross. Put yourself in the shoes of those who heard Christ say these words before His death. The cross was an instrument of torture and death. Christ was telling those who wanted to follow Him that they should be prepared to be tortured and killed. Not exactly seeker-sensitive.

Platt writes: “Give up everything you have, carry a cross, and hate your family. This sounds a lot different than ‘Admit, believe, confess, and pray a prayer after me.’ . . . Ultimately, Jesus was calling them to abandon themselves . . . In a world that prizes promoting oneself, they were following a teacher who told them to crucify themselves. And history tells us the result. Almost all of them would lose their lives because they responded to this invitation.” (p. 11-12)

I agree with Platt’s assertion that modern-day American Christianity has watered down the true cost of following Christ. These passages from Mark and Luke make us squirm, and we would rather think that Jesus didn’t really mean what He said. But this rationalization is dangerous, as Platt writes:

“Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn’t mind materialism and who would never call us to give away everything we have.” (p. 13, emphasis mine)

Let’s be honest. My struggle with materialism is well-documented on this blog. And I’m guessing I’m not the only one who would like Jesus to be okay with just a little bit of materialism. This is America, after all. But as we, as the wealthiest people on this planet, mold Jesus to fit our desires, we are falling very short of the calling the real Jesus gave His followers. Billions are dying apart from Christ. Thousands of children die every day from starvation and preventable disease.

Do we love Jesus enough to follow Him on His terms? Do we care enough about the lost and the poor to obey Christ’s commands to forsake earthly treasure for eternal reward? Are we willing to give our lives in radical faith to Jesus who gave everything for us?

Adventures in Couponing

July 11, 2009 by Marissa 2 Comments

Several months ago, my husband started expressing his desire for us to start spending less and saving more. (This may or may not have coincided with a certain Democrat being elected president and vowing to “reform” health care. But that is another story for another blog.) He has repeated this preposterous suggestion many, many times. And every time, my flesh (sinful nature) has done a good job of ignoring it. After all, his job is pretty secure, he’s not making less money than he did a year ago–why should we cut back? Shouldn’t I be doing my part to stimulate the economy and support my local retailers? (I really want Gymboree to survive this economic turmoil.) It seemed crazy for my husband to ask me to make sacrifices, and not even so I could use the saved money for something fabulous, like an iPhone or a cleaning lady. Just for the sake of spending less and saving more. He must be nuts, right?

After some conversations with my wonderful friends (if you don’t have godly, truth-speaking friends in your life, may I suggest you get some immediately?), I realized that this was a huge area of disobedience in my life. My husband is asking me to do something. He is not asking me to sin. In fact, the thing he is asking me to do is perfectly reasonable, probably a good idea, and (gulp) would be glorifying God by thinking less about my own selfish desires. I knew it was time for the S-word: submission. I couldn’t bring myself to submit right away, so I started by praying that God would convict me and enable to submit and obey. And then I turned to my local expert on honoring your husband by spending less money: my friend Lynette.

I’ve been giving Lynette my coupons out of the Sunday paper for months. I had no idea what she was doing with them, but I knew I needed to find out. I broke the sad news to her that she would no longer be getting my coupons and asked her to share her secrets with me. Thankfully, she is very supportive of my saving money AND my submitting to my husband! She taught me a few key strategies:

1. Stop being married to specific brands. I was shocked when I compared the shampoo I usually buy with some much cheaper alternatives. I’ve been having shampoo tunnel vision for months, and my hair doesn’t even look that great.

2. Track the cost of items that you buy on a regular basis. When they go on sale, stock up.

3. Keep your coupons from the Sunday paper, and then use blogs such as Common Sense With Money, Money Saving Mom and Passion for Savings to find out how to maximize your savings by combining coupons with low sale prices.

4. Don’t be afraid to shop at Aldi. (I haven’t conquered this one yet. Maybe when the kids go back to school in the fall, and I don’t have to take three kids with me everywhere I go.)

This concept of combining sales and coupons is amazing! It is definitely worth spending some time on. In my first week, check out what I got . . . serious bargain-hunting bloggers always take a photo:

Pringles for 49 cents, family-size boxes of Special K for $2.50 each, Edy’s ice cream for $1.33 each, and deodorant for 38 cents! I also got a pint of Starbucks ice cream for 50 cents, but I gave that to my sister-in-law, because seriously, how much ice cream does a girl need when she has baby weight to lose?!?

Back when I was just dipping my toe into the pool of obedience but not ready to jump in, I read on a stay-at-home mom’s blog that she thinks that her job is to save her family as much money as possible. I thought, “Poor thing. My job is much more enjoyable–spending our family’s money and having fun doing it. Oh, wait . . . hmm, maybe that isn’t supposed to be my job . . . oh bummer, this woman is right!” Now I have a new view on my job description, though sometimes I miss my old job. I can’t wait to see what my new strategies will accomplish when it comes to lowering our spending, and (more importantly) pleasing my husband and letting him know that what’s important to him is important to me. I want to honor my husband with my spending, following the example given to us as women in Proverbs 31:

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.

Proverbs 31:10-11

Unthankfulness

July 1, 2009 by Marissa 5 Comments

Do you know how many times my children have opened their dresser drawers and exclaimed, “Clean clothes! Washed, dried, folded and put in my drawer! Way to go, Mom! Thank you!”

Zero. Usually, all I hear is, “When are you going to wash my Transformer pj’s?” Sound familiar?

When I read Jerry Bridge’s chapter on Unthankfulness (see previous post on his book Respectable Sins), I realized that I must look the same way to God as my kids do to me. God has done so much for me and continues to sustain me every day, and I seldom stop to thank Him. God has rescued me from guilt, sin and death by delivering me from the domain of darkness and transferring me to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom I have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:13-14). He has blessed me in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). In addition to spiritual blessings, He has given me every ability or skill I have, a loving husband, three healthy children, friends, a home, possessions, food . . . everything I have comes from Him.

How often do I thank God for my mini-van? For the ability to go to the store when we run low on food? For the privelege of gathering with other Christians openly every Sunday to hear the Word of God preached? It is not often that I exhibit a sincere attitude of thankfulness.

I read an article on happiness recently in Good Housekeeping magazine. It said that when we buy something we want, we have a high level of satisfaction, but only for a very short time. We quickly become used to having that item around and take it for granted, and our sights turn to the next item we want. This is so true in my life. I remember last year, when I desperately wanted to replace the ceiling fan over our dining room table with a beautiful chandelier. Finally, I got my chandelier, and I loved it. For about a week, I looked at it all the time and felt happy and thankful. Now, how often do you think I still notice my beautiful chandelier? Pretty much never. Rather than being thankful for what I have, I turn my attention to that sofa I’d like to replace.

Jerry Bridges reminded me in this chapter that my unthankfulness is a sin. Sound harsh? It’s true. In Ephesians 5:20, we see the command to give “thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Bridges writes, “Failure to give Him the thanks due to Him is sin. It might seem like a benign sin to us because it doesn’t harm anyone else. But it is an affront and insult to the One who created us and sustains us every second of our lives.”

Bridges also writes about giving thanks in ALL circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This is a personal challenge for me right now, as someone I love very much is facing a battle with cancer. I found comfort in Bridges’ discussion of this topic, encouraging us that giving thanks in difficult circumstances can only be done by faith in the promises of God. We can only obey I Thessalonians 5:18 because we know Romans 8:28 is true: For we know for those who love God all things work together for good. In the midst of heartache, we can thank God for the good we know He can accomplish through any circumstance.