Coney Hill Baptist Church
Demonstrating God’s Love Together
Challenges to Discipleship - Consumerism
Philippians 4:10-20
10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
14Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. 15Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; 16for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. 17Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account. 18I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. 19And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
20To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Intro:
The last time we considered discipleship together we looked at the barriers to it that we will all, almost certainly, encounter. We spoke about individualism, the subtle and not so subtle tendency not only to promote blatant selfishness but to measure everything according to its impact on us.
That’s true in our spiritual lives to, we’re misleading ourselves if we think, even in the expression of our faith, we are exempt from culture’s pressures. When we pose ourselves the question; What did I get out of the service, did I enjoy the worship, how does God want to bless me, fill me with His Spirit, give me all his good gifts and purpose? We’re in danger of making it all about us, and bowing to the spirit of the age.
Remember that rich young ruler who came to Jesus with a thoroughly modern, and seemingly decent, question, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ No doubting with whom his concern chiefly lay – and Jesus’ answers, ‘Go and give everything you have to the poor’ exposed it brutally, and he went away sad.
Even more invidious than the cult of the individual though is society’s answer to what we are for, our purpose if you like. The answer given, louder and more persistent than ever before, is that we are here to consume. To acquire, buy, shop, take, choose what is either rightfully ours, or that which will make us more than we currently are. It’s sold to us as the means of fulfilment.
Some common quotes:
‘There’s no disputing taste’
‘The customer is always right.’
Phrases like that are so common we can miss their significance. They are absolute statements that say who, or what, is in charge.
An economist has written this:
“The gap in our economy is between what we have and what we think we ought to have - and that is a moral problem, not an economic one.” ~Paul Heyne
It’s more than a moral problem, it’s a spiritual one. So let’s return to more familiar language for a Sunday morning:
Where Does your Contentment Lie?
The secret of contentment was Paul’s great secret.
The basic aim of our age is to make us discontented so that we might feel a need and so be open to something to meet it. A new car, or washing powder, or relationship, or experience that will make us feel contented again…for a while.
It’s a lie. Paul knew contentment didn’t come from anything we acquired. It didn’t matter whether he was in plenty or in want, in a relationship with God contentment was a given.
Where Does your Strength come from?
We’re told that our strength comes from our ability to take control, to make decisions, to choose. You see it’s more fundamental than materialism, its not things that hold power over us, it’s our choosing things. The right to choose is a powerful political slogan that’s become almost impossible to argue against… it’s our principal freedom. (directory enquiries)
‘I can do everything from Him, who gives my strength.’
The assurance of strength, of being able to overcome, was, for Paul, only ever located in ‘Him’
Where is the Source of your Generosity?
A prompting of guilt, an embarrassment of riches, the presentation before you of a real and shocking need.? (Secret Millionaire – comfortable lives exposed, perhaps for the first time, to real need.)
‘An offering, a sacrifice’ A response first and foremost, not to the need we’re confronted with, but to God. An act of gratitude to His grace.
Where is Your Hope Placed?
Consumerism deals in counterfeits, and chief among them all is a counterfeit hope – stretching out across all the future things I might possess.
Have you ever felt the seduction of advertisers? The way in which a promise for the future is held out; you’re going to look great, you’ll be a size smaller, attractive to the opposite sex, debt free, more healthy, spiritually fulfilled. Consumer desire is not focused on particular things – it’s constantly enticed to go beyond what’s been acquired to consider something new. Even more consumption is spurred ,desire is prolonged and its inevitable disappointments, it wasn’t as good as I thought, are channelled into an even greater search for something else.
Similarly, consumerism associates commodities with needs, desires and values that are not directly related to the given products. You’ve seen some of the car adverts recently. You have no idea what it’s about but life looks really good and suddenly a car pops out at the end. It works by selling us not a product but a hope – as if we haven’t got one already.
‘To our God and Father be glory, for ever and ever.’
Paul’s hope was clearly secured in God alone, it was consistent, even eternal, and not dependent on any given set of circumstances, nor influenced by any sort of seductive promise as to what might just be around the corner, if only…
Conc:
Alan Hirsch:
“There’s something about middle-class culture which seems to be contrary to authentic gospel values…a preoccupation with safety and security, devoted mostly in pursuit of what seems best for our children… when these impulses … fuse with consumerism, we can add an obsession with comfort and convenience to the list. (We live) a life insulated from risk and the pain of others, except when seen on the telly and we send some money, we are a long way from the discipleship that Jesus Christ calls us to.”
Office Address:
Coney Hill Road
West Wickham
Kent
BR4 9BU