materialism – Houghton STAR

Take a second to think about the things you or your family own. How many of them did you make? My assumption is very few. I’ve come to realize that I have made very few items by hand. Those I have made, I have taken incredibly good care of. In high school, I once made a secretary-style desk in wood-shop class and I cared for it as though it was worth a fortune. If anyone so much as touched it I would watch like a hawk. Why? Well, I understood first-hand how that desk was made, I knew the amount of work put into it.

Photo by: Nate Moore

My hope is that you have had a similar experience. Unfortunately this attachment to material items, like the one I had with my desk, embodies the very opposite of the consumer culture in which we live. We so often buy things as cheaply as possible, only to discard them and buy more. In fact, the things we buy are often conveniently made to be disposable in order to fuel our culture’s love for shopping. Author William T. Cavanaugh put it this way, “Our relationships with products tend to be short-lived; rather than hoarding treasured objects, consumers are characterized by a constant dissatisfaction with material goods.”

Our emphasis with regards to the material world, especially in the Christian tradition, is to try to disengage ourselves. This view comes from the way we interpret scripture. In Matthew, Jesus rebukes storing up treasures here on earth. In Colossians, Paul attacks greed. It’s obvious that the way we relate to the material world is a spiritual practice, but does this mean we need to become detached from the material world? From my observations, the problems we face in our culture do not come from excessively storing up treasures, or becoming too attached to the things we own, although this something we must still be on guard against. Instead, it is that we have no regard for the things we own, the things we buy, and especially where they came from or how they were produced. Because of this, we have no issue filling up dumpsters with our unwanted things. I know this all too well. I may have engaged in the act of dumpster-diving once or twice.

landonquote Perhaps the issue stems from the fact that we very seldom play a part in the making of our own goods. In pre-industrial society, homes were a place of production. Whether this involved farming the majority of their own food or making a portion of their own goods, there was pride and meaning in a person’s work. This is not to romanticize those times, it had its fair share of challenges. However, it would certainly be a lot harder to waste food that had come from your own garden, or throw away clothes you made with your own hands.

I’m not writing this to give you a guilty conscience, or to demand that you start hand-making all of the things you own. That would be a bit ridiculous. I’m writing this as a reminder. A reminder that the things we own, the things we buy, and the things we eat all have an impact on our lives and the lives of the people that make or produce them. They are our voice in the dark. As election season is in full tilt, we know that our vote can play a small yet significant role in our own lives and in the lives of others. We do not only vote on November 8, though. We vote everyday with our wallet. How can the decisions we make as consumers help to bring God’s kingdom to earth?

Landon is a senior environmental biology major with a minor in international development.

With the close of another Thanksgiving season, I am excited to begin celebrating all things Christmas. I want to sing cheesy Christmas songs, eat lots of Christmas cookies, and wear wonderfully ugly Christmas sweaters, every-single-day. While this may actually be rather child-like, I have also come to appreciate the Christmas season’s emphasis upon giving unto others with the intent of selfless appreciation. Unfortunately, living in a consumer-oriented context, the bargain-hunting aggression of ‘Black Friday’ has come to more readily define ‘Christmas-like’ giving. The influx of consumerism during this season has simultaneously translated into innumerable opportunities for material charity amongst citizens of the Global North. It is initially daunting to challenge consumer-based charity, specifically with its popularity among respectable citizens. However, there persists a need to re-conceptualize consumer-based charities popular during this

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holiday season. A needed shift in perspective specifically highlights the lack of depth, cultural relevance, and disregard for recipient perspectives. At the core of its shortcomings, however, consumer-based charity needs greater understanding for the complexity of human-related issues.

At the forefront of consumer-focused charity during the Christmas season is an initiative facilitated by the Samaritan’s Purse named Operation Christmas Child (OCC). Since 1993, OCC has collected shoeboxes from its participants in North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Each participant is to fill a shoebox with hygienic items and toys that Western children typically see as essential or enjoyable to play with (i.e. toothpaste, socks, crayons, coloring books, kazoos, etc.). Through OCC, participants are encouraged to label their toy-stuffed shoebox with a sticker indicating a preferred age and sex of the child who will receive the box. According to the Samaritans Purse website, these boxes are intended for children of the Global South who are ‘living in difficult situations’. Through participant’s shoebox donation, OCC mobilizes ‘privileged’ families of the Global North to ‘share the good news of Jesus Christ’ with ‘underprivileged’ children of the Global South. Unfortunately, introducing Jesus Christ through toys and knick-knacks promotes a simplistic view of Christianity in association with Western consumer culture. As a result, the nature of Jesus Christ adopts attributes of our capitalist society rather than the magnitude of his humanity, divinity, and relevance.

In addition to its non-contextualized approach to evangelism, OCC promotes a one-way relationship between the ‘giver’ and the ‘receiver’, lacking parameters for reciprocity or consistency from year-to-year. In narrowing its concept of charity to a linear flow of western materials, OCC has missed potential for deeper impact through long-term relationship building. Further opportunities involve the development of healthy relationships among consistently participating communities, while better engaging the voice of OCC recipients to define such relationships. Never accessing the capabilities of mutual relationships undermines the diverse expression of opinion amongst both donors and recipients, further hindering the determination of relevant outcomes. Just as one would wish to give a gift relevant to a family member’s indicated ‘wish list’, the voiced desires of OCC recipients need be better involved in determining the outcomes of donor strategies.

Operation Christmas Child currently represents a Westernized view of Christmas, evangelism, and the Global South. As members of the Houghton student body, it is critical that we better critique the premise of OCC and its campus-wide participation. From this perspective, we each are challenged to re-conceptualize the intents, means, and effects of how we choose to give. Moving forward into this holiday season, let us contemplate the wonderful attributes of Christmas, while also reflecting upon its increasing focus on consumerism. In doing so, may we continually contemplate our well-meaning intentions with the valuable humanity of our neighbor, both local and abroad.