Does anybody even believe these words of Jesus?!?

I’m sure you know that not every word Jesus spoke was recorded in the Gospels. In fact, it’s something the Apostle Paul claims Jesus said as recorded by Luke in the Book of Acts that is wildly significant and should mean a LOT to us. Check out Acts 20:35 as follows:

“And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”

Does anybody even believe these words of Jesus?!?

That’s a fair question to ask because not a lot of professing Christians — and certainly not many Americans — live like they believe those specific words of Jesus.

The truth is, we have become voracious consumers.

As Americans, that’s a simple fact! In his book, “Twelve Lies That Hold America Captive,” Jonathan Walton uncovers some of the hard truths about American culture. In this excerpt, he describes the consumption associated with the American way of life:

At the turn of World War II, with much of the world in disarray, the United States accounted for 50 percent of the world economic output, cementing its monetary dominance. Decades later, the United States still holds 25 percent of global output and the largest economy. Closer to home, the U.S. median household income per year is about $60,000, while it’s $27,000 in the United Kingdom, and $8,000 in Brazil. Scientific American puts it most clearly:

“With less than five percent of world population, the U.S. uses one-third of the world’s paper, a quarter of the world’s oil, 23 percent of the coal, 27 percent of the aluminum, and 19 percent of the copper … Our per capita use of energy, metals, minerals, forest products, fish, grains, meat, and even fresh water dwarfs that of people living in the developing world. These numbers are striking because if life, liberty, and comfort are America’s goals, then we have little competition. If prosperity is our ability to buy and dispose of 140 million cell phones and 300 million pairs of shoes annually, and eat $14.3 billion dollars’ worth of chocolate per year, then we are winning the race.”

Even regarding selecting a church to join and “all things Christian,” we exhibit an unrestrained consumerism. Do we like the worship service? is the preacher entertaining enough? Does the church have a coffee shop? Bookstore? A bazillion programs for children and youth? A dizzying number of “daily devotions” books to purchase? And what about “Christian merch” – gotta have a coffee cup with a Bible verse on it!

And even churches get caught up in “consumerism” by ridiculous efforts to be “relevant,” a sad reality Jay Y. Kim writes about in “Analog Church”:

I’ve served on staff at a few different churches throughout Silicon Valley for the last decade and a half, including a medium-sized church, a young church plant, and a multisite megachurch. At each, we felt the strong temptation of the digital age — the temptation to pursue relevance at any cost.

We found ourselves spending inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to create spaces that looked, sounded, and felt like whatever we thought was most relatable to popular culture at large. Ultimately, though, we discovered that any sort of sustained emphasis on relevance invariably led to satisfied Christian consumers who’d found a product they enjoyed, but rarely led to anything deeper.

The most transformative experiences people were having in our communities, we slowly realized, had nothing to do with the lights, sound, and spectacle. Transformation was happening in much more tactile ways — through personal relationships and the profound simplicity of studying Scripture, praying, and sharing meals together.

From the moment we awake, we begin to consume —- food, time, resources, relationships, materials, and on and on — we devour to feed ourselves, to meet our needs, and then push far beyond that to comfort ourselves, to entertain ourselves, to feel good, and to be “happy”.

Among all of that … we give little.

Even though in all of that are numerous opportunities to give in a broad assortment of ways.

But for most of us, our consumption vastly exceeds our giving.

Wait.

Didn’t Jesus say, “It is more blessed to give than to receive”?

What is your “consumption to giving” quotient?

Scripture has much more to say about giving and being an authentically generous person whose life is marked more by what they give than by being a voracious consumer; I think all of us could benefit marinating long and soberly in those passages. To wrap up here, let me share with you from Richard Foster’s classic book, “Celebration of Discipline,” 10 principles Foster says can help us cultivate an attitude of simplicity over consumerism:

1. Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.
2. Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.
3. Develop a habit of giving things away. De-accumulate.
4. Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry.
5. Learn to enjoy things without owning them. Enjoy public parks and libraries.
6. Develop a deeper appreciation for creation.
7. Look with a healthy skepticism at all “buy now, pay later” schemes.
8. Obey Jesus’ instructions about plain, honest speech.
9. Reject anything that breeds the oppression of others.
10. Shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the kingdom of God.

So, do YOU believe that it is more blessed to give than to receive? How does your life demonstrate you believe those words of Jesus?

Scotty