Catalyst: Chris Seay on Consumerism
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Thu, October 04, 2007
- Viewed 84
- (18) comments so far
Chris Seay also did a breakout session on consumerism. He labeled this as one of the biggest threats to Christianity in the US. It was very thought provoking. As part of the presentation, he showed a video called "The Eight Dollar Hot Dog". If you haven't seen it yet, it's well worth taking a look at:
Comments
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Camey on Thu, October 04, 2007
Oh man…. Spot on and convicting… Thanks Chris…. Thanks Todd.
Leonard on Thu, October 04, 2007
Indeed, Todd thanks for screwing up myday. It is the single most detrimental issue I have found in planting 2 different churches.
fishon on Thu, October 04, 2007
Ok, he told us what’s wrong, so I ask, what are the answers? The United Nations? Yea, they show themselves to work real well.
How will you take care of Darfur with war? Tell me, how will you save the dying of North Korea without war? Tell me how you willl stop the war Lords of some tribal nations from stealing the food donated by Christian organizations?
Oh, don’t get me wrong, I agree about the need. But I don’t need to hear beautiful self-depreciation—answers, that is what we need. Real answers. Real answers that have answers to Darfur, North Korea, and corrupt politians, war lords, and Satan’s evil ways.
fishon
Leonard on Thu, October 04, 2007
Fishon, were all ears…
Peter Hamm on Thu, October 04, 2007
Sign the One petition.
rescue a child at keepachildalive.org.
Sponsor a child through compassion or world vision.
Sponsor two if you can.
Buy a cow or a goat or some chickens for a village through Heifer international.
BUDGET to do this.
Today.
fishon on Thu, October 04, 2007
Good start, Peter.
fishon
Leonard,
I don’t have the answers. That is why I said, ‘He told us what is wrong, so now give us answers.’
There are too many folks running around tell us what is wrong in the world and wrong with us, but they have no real, workable, solutions.
A temporary answer is: Give um bread. The real fix is, “Give um bread and then give um the means to make their own bread. I know how to do it; I just don’t know how to make it work in a world so corrupted by Satan.
Fishon
Randy Ehle on Thu, October 04, 2007
I understand Fishon’s desire for answers. I recognize how easy it is for some people to point out problems without providing any answers, or even a hint of an answer. Sometimes…just sometimes…that needs to be okay. I think this is one of those times. It’s so easy to sit back comfortably in my desk chair waiting for someone else to give me answers; it’s not so easy to hear about a problem then go figure out what I ought to be doing about it. Peter offered some great suggestions, but not all problems have the same answers for different people.
fishon on Thu, October 04, 2007
Randy,
Here’s my problem. Chris states that is was a FEW years ago that the problems he talks about started to dawn on him. He goes on to make much of the problem the BILLIONS that are spend on luxuries at the expense of the poor.
If he was jusn NOW becoming aware of the problem I would not be critical. However, his own words tell us this is an ongoing thing with him.
Instead of making a cute video, spending more than a few buck at a pro baseball game talking about the opulence of the haves at the expense of the have-not tell me how you change the atmosphere of luxury spending.
Pete had good suggestions, but they are but a drop in the bucket. They are not going to do a thing for the mass of poor in Rio or Mexico City.
In the end, the plight of the poor of the world is not about we who live in luxury not giving enough—it is about the oppressors of those poor nations that hold the key to a decent way of living. And yes, even some of the policies of our own govenment contribute to the poor lifestyle of people in other counties.
I am a cynic when I hear beautiful talk and no answers. We hear enough of it from our politicians—and I won’t even go there.
We can continue to send youth groups down to Mexico and have them fix up a hut and share use Sunday School material. And maybe even fix a town water system, and that is good, and God will bless, but to take care of the mass of poor in Mexico—well, I am afraid Peter’s good ideas won’t solve the big picture.
O well, I have ranted enough.
fishon
Randy Ehle on Thu, October 04, 2007
You know, when someone suggests that I shouldn’t throw away an apple core because there’s a child in India starving…well, I’d have to say that my apple core isn’t going to make a difference. But if I could do without a latte a day, that works out to about $60 a month…which could play a significant part in feeding, clothing, and educating two or three kids through World Vision or Compassion International. Or it could support two indigenous pastors in India for a month.
We’re probably not going to get all the women in America to give up makeup, and then spend the $18 billion we’d save on water for the world. We’re not going to empty the baseball and football stadiums this fall…even knowing that there isn’t a hot dog on the planet worth $8! But what if we could get one church to give up Starbucks, bottled water, the latest CD, or any of our other $3 habits…just for a month. Or even a week. How much do the 1500 people in my church spend on those kinds of things that we like but really could live without? We could easily come up with five or ten grand…plenty to drill a couple wells in Malawi. And maybe, just maybe, we could keep a few more people alive.
So what if it took Chris a few years to move from “hmm…there are a lot of people dying from bad water” to “man, that $8 hot dog wasn’t worth”?! Transformation is a process, not an event. Sometimes we’re a little slow to “get it.” But let’s not let cynicism keep us from thinking about…and doing…what we can.
Leonard on Thu, October 04, 2007
Fishon this is just a small portion of the presentation by Chris. I fully support you right to rant, I am just wondering what hit your hot button.
Somewhere the cup of water in the name of Jesus has got to mean something. We all get the corrupt government stuff but that is not my out for over spending. I thought the point of Chris’ video was simply to strike a nerve in hearts. It sounds like it worked.
By the way, there are organizations that do direct work in countries to fix wells, feed people, relieve disaster… The problem we face is that we buy a 4 dollar mocha and convince ourselves we cannot afford to help rather than to alter our lifestyle, live on less and figure out a way to give away money to ministries that have bypassed governmental structures in order to help.
I have suggested people give up each week, 2 coffee’s, 2 lunches out, 2 sodas and one movie rental and in doing so they would save approximately 20-25 a week. Add that up and multiply it by 52. Get 100 people to join you and you have a lot of money. I had 2 responses at my suggestion.
Anger. How dare you mess with my lifestyle, my coffee, my food, my entertainment…
Denial. Many people simply refused to believe they spend that much and would not consider cutting back.
For those anti-tithing folks out there this is not about tithing, it is about the fact that the average believer in Christ gives less than 3%. Forget the 10th we still give less than 3%. It is not about big buildings churches have, it is not about overpaid pastors, we as a whole are just stingy. Oops that my rant.
fishon on Thu, October 04, 2007
Thanks for the input, guys. We will just keep on helping those we can.
Make it a great tomorrow.
fishon
Camey on Fri, October 05, 2007
“we as a whole are just stingy.”
I totally agree Leonard. Recently, I’ve been hit square in the face that while we (our family) have given up things like movie rentals, almost 2 years ago now…. there are still many other things that we hold onto… like the cup of coffee I had in my hand yesterday when I said, “convicting”..... The mug cost around $8.00 when I bought it at Starbucks. My thinking when I bought it… “Oh, I like how this mug fits in my hand. I don’t have but three or four coffee mugs that are my own.” OUCH! How many mugs of coffee can I drink at one time again? This morning, I am drinking out of one that only cost a buck. That’s a $7.00 difference and hmmm… funny enough? The coffee tastes just the same.
I think those of us in positions of leadership… whether it be in the home or wherever…. need to take real inventory of what we are modeling. We say we care about this or that and yet our actions do speak otherwise…. I personally cannot end world hunger… But I can make changes and help those that are in need in whatever ways possible.
I do think, however, we need to remember that sometimes the needs are right in our own communities. For example like the Healthy Kids Program our church was a part of this summer. 6,800 students registered in public school. Over 3,000 qualify for free or reduced rate meals during the school year. We took a bite out of that by providing free meals. I was told over and over again…. “This is the only meal I will have today.” The first couple of times the boys and I took lunches to various spots…. we went out to eat afterwards. OUCH! Smack. We stopped doing that… Oh, but the summer has come and gone….
It’s easy play the blame game. I would encourage each of us to not go there…. But to make changes in our own lives and in that of others…. What good does it do to blame if nothing positive comes from it?
Oh… funny thing about makeup… When I first started wearing makeup (years ago) - it was a really expensive brand. The Lord spoke to me about that…. We must teach the women and girls that real beauty comes from the inside out. as only possible thru Christ… and therefore, the need for expensive makeup does not exist.
Okay…. That’s my .02
Dan Moore on Sat, October 06, 2007
Well, Jesus did tell Judas that we will always have the poor. This is a challenge. I manage our church’s benevolence ministry and I see the local issues. I wil say this, the poor in the U.S. are generally more well off than the middle class in Mexico [I’ve been there]. Personally, I have never bought a Starbucks coffe. I don’t go to the stadiums for games which cost way too much [I can always watch the sports on TV]. It is a process to change our selfish buying habit - we get addicted to things. But I notice that a lot of things we buy now adays come from some of those impoverished nations.
I believe we just have to take the example of the boy who was tossing starfish back into the ocean. When asked what he was doing, he replied, “I’m saving the starfish.” The questioner looked at the millions on the beach and asked, “How can you save all of them?” The boy picked up another and tossed it back saying, “I saved that one” and kept going.
Jan on Sat, October 06, 2007
As a kid who grew up with a dad who made the World Vision Movies of the 60’s, I more personally saw starvation and heard about it from an early age.
As he toured churches, showing the films and then Dr. Larry Ward spoke, I was the little kid in the front row, or backstage playing with the Korean Orphan Choir kids.
So, I heard the same message over and over again. Dr. Ward would always wear black to speak and he would start off explaining why… because he was grieving for the poor in this world and he would say “this poor man cried”. etc.
He would always end with “How do we REALLY have an impact that will make a difference? One person at a time.”
We can get bogged down with how can I really do something when there are so many?
But I think we should be asking “How can I do nothing, when I have the means to help even just one?”
Jan
Derek on Mon, October 15, 2007
liked the video.
interesting comment on malaria at the end. malaria can be handled by DDT. however, politics make its use untenable even though judicious use says otherwise.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6083944
and http://www.junkscience.com/ddtfaq.html
what can be done? we can do what this video has done—challenge current perceptions of reality. reality about others in the world, malaria, the people we overlook in the U.S., etc…
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