Decadent Consumer vs. The Christian

You should read this article first: http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/career-money/blog/27112-the-myth-of-financial-freedom

I have some concern over the line that reads, "This practice undoubtedly adds frustration and a good deal more self-analysis into day-to-day activities. Honestly, we chafe at being so constantly under the microscope – until we remember who looks through that microscope and why." I believe that the author had very good intentions writing this article, and that he probably has experienced a change in his life regarding how much he spends on superfluous items (which it sounds like he needed), but I have some thoughts:

1) "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV)

Don't get me wrong, there's LOTS of scriptures about avoiding greed and the worthlessness of materialism (Ecclesiastes 2:1-10 is a great example of what the evil that happens when materialism reigns, and 5:13 talks about how hoarding money hurts the hoarder), so there is no doubt that, as Christians, we are not to be materialistic or greedy.

However, if you find yourself "chafing" or anxious because you have to scrutinize every purchase to see if it's doing good for God's Kingdom, 2 Corinthians says God's not pleased with that, either. There is a lesson to be learned in giving, and it's this: Joyful surrender of the things the world tells us we need to be secure, so we can fall in the arms of the One who we trust to truly bring us security.

2) Consumerism, handled with wisdom and guidance, isn't always a dirty word. Sometimes earthly possessions really can bring us great joy and happiness, and I see nothing wrong with this. When I was a little girl, I saw a stuffed animal Simba (from The Lion King) toy that I REALLY wanted. I begged my parents, and did chores to "earn" him. I still remember the excitement and happiness I felt when my parents finally bought him for me, and I cherished that toy for years.

As a young adult who is about to graduate and start earning money for herself, I'm trying to decide now how I'm going to use my financial resources, and how I'm going to earn money. Am I going to allow myself to be rich? Do I need to devote my time and skills to full-time ministry? If I become rich, do I need to give more than 10% for my tithes? Should I be giving more than 10% even when I'm not rich? Am I allowed to spend money on something that's just fun?

It'll probably take much trial and error to get this right (hopefully I won't go too far off the deep end before I correct myself), but I think I've decided I am going to allow myself the purchases of things that I've been wanting for a long time, even if they don't do the Kingdom any good, per se. Another example: I've wanted a '59 Dodge pickup since I was a little girl, and I still want one. If I see one that's reasonably priced and I have the financial means for it, I'll probably allow myself to buy it, because it wouldn't be an impulsive buy--I've wanted one for over a decade.

Will I actually do that? Probably not. But I'm giving myself permission to do so, provided the time is right, I have the money, and God isn't calling me to give it elsewhere. His purposes are always going to be foremost, but I just don't think He minds if we have a little fun here and there (as long as we're careful :).

If I ever start to believe that "things" will buy me happiness, then I've for sure gone off the deep end. But sometimes "things" really can make you happy, although there's a common thread between every "thing" I own that I really enjoy: They were not impulsive buys. I thought long and hard before the money was plunked down for them, and decided they were worth having for whatever reason.

My current "happy thing" is my iPad. I'm falling more and more in love with it the more I use it :). Is it the source of all my happiness? Oh heck no. But is it fun to be able to watch Netflix in bed while I'm battling a cold, and have a handy note card maker for classes with Evernote? Absolutely!

Anxious giving and rampant consumerism breed the same thing: Misery. In both cases, you're not trusting God, so you're miserable. When you give, you should push yourself to give however much the Holy Spirit has asked of you. This helps you grow your faith as you see how the whole world didn't fall apart when you trusted God and gave, and your joy and peace increase. When you buy, you should ask yourself if you really want what you're buying, or is it just an impulsive buy. Submit your expenses to God's authority, but beware if you start anguishing over whether God would approve of your buying a $1.50 drink because it "doesn't further His Kingdom" (unless He has called you to that, obviously).

It's tricky to write something like this, because there are so many different ways this could be taken and applied, but just remember: In all things, ask God, and follow His direction. Seek the counsel of Godly friends who will pray with you if you're not sure what that direction is. And in general, remember that moderation is key to darn near everything :).

This blew me away

Maybe some people would be put off by this type of evangelism, and normally I am too, but from what I can tell this man did it with all sincerity and loving concern, and God definitely blessed his witness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uheP2gXy8g8 (Sorry that it's not a link. When I tried to make it a link, it just disappeared. Weird.)

Also, listen to what he says at the end. Now that is faithfulness!

Conscience: Where Bob Dylan Got It Right and Jiminy Cricket Got It Wrong

"The Preacher was a'talkin',
There's a sermon he gave,
He said every man's conscience
Is vile and depraved.
You cannot depend on it
To be your guide,
When it's you who must
Keep it satisfied." - Bob Dylan, "The Man in the Long Black Coat"

"And always let your conscience be your guide,
Guide, guide!
And always let your conscience be your guide!" - Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio

Are the Holy Spirit and your conscience the same thing?

Think about that for a minute. I don't know about you, but until very recently I thought that my conscience and the Holy Spirit were one and the same. Unfortunately, I have been run ragged due to this misinformation, my conscience acting like a little imp scurrying around and gleefully dropping a restless question here, a twang of guilt there, and an general sense of unease all over my spiritual life. I have mentioned before that I struggle with legalism, and now I know that it has been my conscience, not God's Holy Spirit, that has been making me feel like I wasn't doing enough or simply wasn't enough spiritually.

So what's the difference? Frankly, I'm still learning this myself, but to put it in simplest terms, the conscience is something everyone is born with, while the Holy Spirit only becomes a part of you after you have received Christ in your life and accept to be under His authority.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all the things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you." - John 14:26 (ESV)

We also know that it's possible to have people who have "depart[ed] from the faith...whose consciences are seared." (1 Tim. 4:1-2) In other words, these people Paul mentions are no longer believers in God, yet they still have a conscience. So whether you're a believer in God or not, you've got a conscience.

So what do we do with this naughty imp that can either help us or harangue us? Again, I'm just beginning to understand all this, but I think that we make ourselves obedient to the Holy Spirit first, then make our consciences obedient to Him, too. But what does it mean to be obedient to the Holy Spirit? It means we look to the Scriptures for the ultimate authority on our lives, and train our consciences to guide us according to that ultimate authority.

"...let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water." - Heb. 10:22 (ESV)

"But wait!" Jiminy Cricket protests. "Are you saying that my conscience isn't good enough as it is? That I can't always let my conscience be my guide, guide, guide?" Unfortunately, Jiminy, you cannot :(. We are all fallen creatures and harbor our own dark, secret desires. Even people who have given their lives over to God still battle these desires, although these people now have the Holy Spirit to help them fight back. "Every man's conscience is vile and depraved, Jiminy," says Bob Dylan. "You cannot depend on it to be your guide, when it's you who must keep it satisfied."

As Christians, we need to study the Scriptures to learn how to train our conscience (which can be persuaded by the world or our own dark interests) to match what God asks of us. However, we must also be careful to not ignore our consciences completely, as sometimes they even contradict Scripture, but it's not entirely wrong that they do:

"Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that an idol has no real existence, and that there is no God but one...However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?" - 1 Cor. 8:4, 7-10 (ESV)

So in this case, it would be OK for that "weak" brother to listen to his conscience rather than the truth that there is no other God but One, because as a former idol-worshiper he still has lingering thoughts that the old idols are real. Therefore, out of respect and love for God and a tender conscience, he abstains from eating the meat, even though it would be perfectly OK for him to eat it.

Listen when your conscience is tender about something that either isn't in the Scriptures or seems a little contradictory to the Scriptures (within reason!), but don't attempt to make your conscience tender about something. That leads to legalism. Train your conscience to follow God's Scriptures, but train yourself to listen and respond to the things your conscience feels sensitive toward. You need a dash of Bob Dylan's cynicism and Jiminy Cricket's optimism, mixed with a healthy and thorough understanding of Scripture, to have a realistic and helpful view and use of your conscience.

Taylor

I barely even know how to begin. Like so many people, I lost someone very special and important to me today, and it’s difficult to even comprehend the impact the loss is going to have on myself and literally hundreds of other people.

Taylor Gillespie was one of my best friends. He was charismatic, full of energy (it wasn’t possible to have a bad time or for a party to be dull when he was around), creative, loyal to a fault, encouraging, and of course absolutely hilarious. He could take any situation and make it fun, but he knew when it was important to get serious and listen.

There’s so much I could write, but right now I’m still reeling and haven’t fully grasped the magnitude of the loss. I loved him so much, and he was such a part of my life that it will take a while to understand.

But I didn’t want this to be about me, either. No, the main reasons I wanted to write this were—

1) To acknowledge and mourn the loss of one of the best friends I’ve ever had, and­—

2) To acknowledge the deep sense of peace that has been so blessedly bestowed on me, in hopes that by sharing this sense of peace, others who knew and loved Taylor might feel it, too.

As a believer in Jesus, I have blessed assurance that Taylor is in heaven, probably touring it right now (knocking over ancient relics as he goes :), those big blue eyes wide with childlike wonder and giddy excitement, cracking jokes and making such hilariously unintentional irreverent comments that the angels are following him around all the old places they know so well, just to hear and laugh at Taylor Gillespie’s quick-witted commentary on everything, making the oldest or most seemingly uninteresting thing suddenly come alive and somehow be funny.

I find deep peace and even joy knowing he’s there, and that one day we will be reunited with him. It’s normal at this time to ask ourselves “how” or “why” this happened, and not only is it normal to grieve over the loss, it’s expected and good.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…” Ecclesiastes 3:4 (ESV)

“When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.” Esther 4:1 (ESV) [See also Isaiah 61:1-3]

We should, therefore, allow ourselves to mourn and cry and plumb the depths of our loss for as long as we need, figuratively covering ourselves in sackcloth and ashes. But we need to mourn for a purpose. As Christians, why should we lose ourselves in our sorrow? Not only do we have a mighty Savior who came to rescue us from our personal, self-induced hell on earth, but also came to give us eternal life after our time here is done.

“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?” 1 Cor. 15:55 (ESV)

Jesus took away death’s victory and sting through His death, offered us the free gift of grace so we could be led out of our darkness and death, for no other reason than He loves us and saw that we had no hope otherwise. Without Him and without extending this grace to us, life literally has no meaning or purpose.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Cor. 15:58

Taylor believed this, and because of his belief and grateful acceptance of the grace that Jesus extends to us, I know he’s with his Savior now. And because I believe it, something wonderful has stolen over my heart, and over the hearts of several friends of mine and Taylor’s who I’ve talked to and who also believe and accept the wonderful grace of Jesus—“the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding…” (Philippians 4:7 [ESV])

Yes, I loved Taylor like a brother. Yes, he was one of my closest friends. Yes, there are thousands of wonderful memories of times spent with him. Yes, he was so wound up in my heart and in my life that I don’t know what my last semester of my senior year will look like without him. But I can look anyone in the eye and tell them this with confidence: I have such great peace and joy because of my faith in God, and because I know that Taylor shared this faith, I have blessed assurance and rest knowing that I will see him again, and that his passing was not some random, unfortunate accident—it has a purpose, and we are assured that the number of our days are written in God’s Book of Life.

“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalms 139:16 (ESV)

There are no accidents or purposeless lives or moments. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 [ESV])

When a person’s life seems to be cut too short, some people will say that that person’s life was like a flare. I tend to agree, but in Taylor’s case I’d say his life was like a firework; inspiring, full of show, color, and almost blinding in its unique, brilliant display (and of course immensely entertaining). It would be severely wrong to not allow ourselves to mourn this great loss, but it would be more of a mistake to lose ourselves in our grief when we know Jesus has conquered death, and that this is not the end.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longer for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected in, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:18-25 (ESV)

I apologize if this seems to be a long ramble—while I feel an underlying peace in all of this, of course I’m still grieving, so my mind isn’t completely clear.

I will never forget Taylor and his friendship, and my greatest condolences and my warmest and most heartfelt prayers go up for Mr. and Mrs. Gillespie, and everyone who knew Taylor. I pray for a peace that surpasses all understanding to comfort your grieving heart, a sense of reason and trust in knowing God knew the number of days Taylor was to be here to embed itself in your mind, and a deeply healing outpouring of tears to flow from your eyes. God bless, keep and comfort us all. Amen.

I love you, Taylor, and always will.



“Then his wife said to him, ‘Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.’ But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?’ In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:9-10

“I can count a million times

People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through.
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You?
Maybe since my life was changed,
Long before these rainy days,
It's never really ever crossed my mind.
To turn my back on you, oh Lord,
My only shelter from the storm,
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray—

Bring me joy, bring me peace,
Bring the chance to be free,
Bring me anything that brings You glory.
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain,
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain.

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain.
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain.
So I pray—

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty.” – MercyMe, “Bring the Rain”