Materialism is un-Christian

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15-17)

Hello my fellow Christians.

I don't know about you but I have a real thing for materialist Christians. Sure its nice to have nice things, but the world is a smaller place now and there is no going back. I don't mean to gore anyone's particular ox -- Christians on this board should not be infighting at all, we get enough flack as it is, no? -- but I have a problem with so-called "Prosperity Gospel" and the idea of praying for this-worldy benefits in any way, however you "lawyer it up" with scripture. And then there is the other type of materialist Christian I see, which might be even more insiduious: people who feel they are somehow above Christ's commandments because they have been born again or feel their faith is sufficient. Listen: there is real faith and there is fake faith! Real faith follows the Lord's commandments because it truly fears the Lord!

Consider:


He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (1 Jonn 5:2-3)

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1John 2:4)


Bottom line: If you love God and have faith in Him you will do as he says! And does he say, "pray for a new marble countertop and support policies that drive other people out of work just so you can have a little more?"

I think we all know the answer to that...

Yours in Christ,

Partygirl

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As a materialistic athiest...ill take all your crap

Originally posted by Stovokor
As a materialistic athiest...ill take all your crap

Well I don't have all that much to offer you lol...

I don't think materialism is only un-Christian, I believe it is "un-human", or atleast it is for me [agnostic]. Living for materialism to me seems like a waste of the life you were given, and lessens the appreciations for what really matters. Some will argue and say material things are the ONLY thing to live for, but that's because it's usually those same people with non-spiritual ideologies that believe the body and mind are nothing more than blood and tissue. Materialism is a plague to humanity and the reason most of the worlds population is starving and living in complete poverty/war-stricken environments, while only a handful manipulate everything/everyone via pieces of paper we've decided control the fate for humanity. And the majority buys into it, thinking if to not strive for material things, what is there to strive for? We all have to strive to "make it"....

reply to post by Partygirl


HAHAHA!! This is a joke right? No institution is more materialistic than the Catholic Church!! Have you ever been to Vatican? Gold inlaid marble walls, Priceless works of art. Wealth of money and knowledge beyond your wildest imagination. Oh yeah, don't forget your monthly tithing to the church. Jesus needs your money.

Oh wait, that’s right, I forgot the catholic motto; "Do as I say, not as I do. . . . Oh, and make the check payable to His Holy Father"

reply to post by Raelsatu


Yes yes yes, that's an excellent secular argument toward the same end and I don't see anything to disagree with there.

It is connected to status, I think. The most compulsive aspects of materialism. So the question becomes, why do people have this hunger for status? And the answer I keep coming back to is that community and family are broken. Because when community and family are healthy, you get respect from them, and you feel secure and valued in your family and community for all sorts of reasons -- what you do and who you are, not only what you have. But when these bonds are broken, people are scattered and thrown into big cities or distant places where they know nobody. Or simply isolated and on the Internet all the time, playing videogames, etc...all this scatters and confuses people, and they have no way to validate themselves and feel secure in their status. So they turn to materialism because it is presented by advertising as a kind of universal status marker. But actually its all smoke and mirrors. Sick stuff.

reply to post by amaster


Well I don't agree with any of those things either and I don't support the Vatican.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:19-24).

reply to post by Soldier of God


That's it!

Well I have mixed feelings on this. First of all, I think the Bible is clear that we can own things and that is not a sin, but if those things become idols of worship then it becomes a sin. So one Christian may have a collection of 20 rare cars and they are just a hobby to him, he may tithe and place the Lord first in all that he does and therefore owning those cars is not a sin whereas another Christian may have a single car that he worships, spending all his time polishing and shining it up while at the same time giving nothing of his wealth or his time in God's name. For him I would say he's crossed over into sin. So the bottom line is "materialism" is not about what one owns, it's about what is in one's heart. Look at Kings David and Solomon, they are at the top of the list of the richest people the world has ever seen, but they were still favored in God's eyes.

And also I want to say that there's a movement in our culture that is trying to make us feel guilty about ourselves and our country. If you work your butt off your whole life and manage to accumulate some things and set some money aside, then you're "rich" and should feel guilty for having so much material wealth while others have nothing. I'm getting a little tired of it. Our country was built on the concept of being able to reap rewards for your own hard work. No one should feel guilty for having things that they worked hard for.

Regarding the prosperity gospel on the other hand, it's absolutely deplorable. I think it's clear that those who preach the prosperity gospel are preying on those people who need help the most and are convincing them that if they send in what little they have that somehow it'll return to them tenfold, and if it doesn't well then they aren't praying enough, or they aren't sending enough in, or they're not a good enough Christian. It's tragic. I imagine it's turning many people away from God.

Originally posted by SavedOne
Well I have mixed feelings on this. First of all, I think the Bible is clear that we can own things and that is not a sin, but if those things become idols of worship then it becomes a sin. So one Christian may have a collection of 20 rare cars and they are just a hobby to him, he may tithe and place the Lord first in all that he does and therefore owning those cars is not a sin whereas another Christian may have a single car that he worships, spending all his time polishing and shining it up while at the same time giving nothing of his wealth or his time in God's name. For him I would say he's crossed over into sin. So the bottom line is "materialism" is not about what one owns, it's about what is in one's heart.

I think I agree with what you have written there, but I would go further and say that excessive wealth can contravene the Lord's commandments when it expressly caused harm to others. Now, that may be a hard thing for us to judge properly, but I think its a debate that needs to be had.]

So I would say the harm is not only internal to the person who has placed materialism before the things of the Lord, but there is harm that comes through abusing one's position in society.

I also think there can be righteous but wealthy people -- as you have mentoned, Kings David and Solomon are prime examples.

Originally posted by SavedOne
And also I want to say that there's a movement in our culture that is trying to make us feel guilty about ourselves and our country. If you work your butt off your whole life and manage to accumulate some things and set some money aside, then you're "rich" and should feel guilty for having so much material wealth while others have nothing. I'm getting a little tired of it. Our country was built on the concept of being able to reap rewards for your own hard work. No one should feel guilty for having things that they worked hard for.

I think America has turned away from the Lord and is being thusly punished. Materialism isn't her only or her worst sin, but it is one of them. I believe America was once favored by the Lord but she turned her back on Christ and the coming days will not be good for America. Don't get me wrong I love my country but I think it is corrupt and we should feel bad about what is happening. Like I said I don't think America's worst sin is her materialims (perpahs America's specific sins is a topic for another thread...) but I don't find appeals to the American way, but it is something many people or maybe most people have placed before God in their hearts. Also I believe excessive greed is destroying the US for other reasons but that's another thread too perhaps.

Originally posted by Partygirl
I think America has turned away from the Lord and is being thusly punished. Materialism isn't her only or her worst sin, but it is one of them. I believe America was once favored by the Lord but she turned her back on Christ and the coming days will not be good for America. Don't get me wrong I love my country but I think it is corrupt and we should feel bad about what is happening. Like I said I don't think America's worst sin is her materialims (perpahs America's specific sins is a topic for another thread...) but I don't find appeals to the American way, but it is something many people or maybe most people have placed before God in their hearts. Also I believe excessive greed is destroying the US for other reasons but that's another thread too perhaps.

I mostly agree although I would argue that it's not just greed (excessive materialism) that got us here. Even though many will argue that we are not under judgment (because we're not in the Tribulation yet, when God's full judgment will be unleashed) I would argue that He has indeed turned His back on us because collectively our society has turned our back on Him. He has given us over to our own behavior basically and is allowing us to suffer the consequences. I think for much of our history we kept the proper perspective- despite being well-off we were always quick to give of our money and time to those in need regardless of whether they were here or abroad and whether they shared our beliefs or not, and we gave honor to God in all that we did. We prayed to offer thanks and ask for His assistance in schools, at work, in our homes and in the government. But no more, we've become corrupt, we've pushed Him out of our schools, government, courts and homes. I would argue we've even pushed Him out of most churches (the prosperity gospel is an example). I mean just read this passage, it is EXACTLY what we've become:

2 Timothy 3:1-5
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

If I was given a checklist of these and asked which describes our society, I'd be looking for the box that says "all of the above", LOL! But we shouldn't be surprised, it was foretold, and it is happening exactly as foretold. It's sad to see, but we can also be hopeful in knowing that redemption is near.