I don't remember what show I was watching or even the night, but I do remember the commercial. Martha Stewart, the first lady of consumption, appeared before me in an elegant bathtub. It wasn't the horror of seeing her half-naked that struck me but what she said, "everyday you bathe." As the commercial extolled the virtues of consumerism, I wanted to cry. Have we become so immune to the groaning of the world that we allow ourselves to be nothing more than mindless beings that are programmed not by the shows we watch but by the commercials that support those shows. The "everyday" spot for Kmart is an indication of how far we have fallen. Our desire to HAVE has overwhelmed our desire to BE. This commercial is a slap to the face of a world that already has an easy time hating USAmerica. With four short statements, Martha Stewart sets us apart from the rest of the world, not because of our virtue or compassion but because of our consumption. We devour more stuff than any other society in history and we are oblivious to the destruction we are causing ourselves and the world.

EVERYDAY YOU BATHE

For most of the world this is not true. It should be everyday you thirst. Water Partners International's website states, "The world's number one killer is unsafe water. This killer takes the lives of more than 25,000 people each day and is responsible for 80% of all sickness in the world. Today, in developing countries, more than 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water." In USAmerica we consume approximately 176 gallons of water per day per person, Kenya 13 gallons, and Honduras 9 gallons. We take abundant safe water for granted. I spend 24 dollars a month just to filter my supply of already safe drinking water. When was the last time you even thought about water? Is our need to bathe everyday killing people all over the world?

EVERYDAY YOU EAT

The world food crisis is not news to any of us. People starve to death each day as we ponder which fast food outlet to choose. In the developing world, hunger is one of the greatest hindrances to the improvement of living standards. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states, "The absolute number of chronically undernourished people rose between 1990-92 and 1994-96 in three out of five developing regions of the world. This was mainly because there has been little progress in reducing poverty. The largest number of undernourished people are in Asia." When was the last time you went to sleep hungry?

EVERYDAY YOU MAKE THE BED

The National Alliance to End Homelessness states, "750,000 US Americans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, as many as 2 million people experience homelessness for some period of time." We had a women show up at our church looking for something to eat and a place to stay for the night. We were in the middle of our fall festival with a barbecue feeding over 300 people. No one offered to have this woman join us. As I left with my kids in tow someone was on the phone looking for a place for her to stay for the night. Why didn't I take her home and give her a meal and bed? Why did we have to call the Salvation Army? Isn't it my job to care for her?

EVERYDAY YOU SHOP

More, more, more, that is the cry of our culture. Tax rebates, 0% interest rates on new cars its all designed to get us to spend more. After the past decade of prosperity we are up to our necks in debt. We have heard the cry of capitalism and it has become our religion. When was the last time you went a day without buying something you didn't need to survive? Yah, I know it's just a café mocha (at $3.50 a pop). I support a little girl in India through an international ministry, or at least I did until my debt overwhelmed my ability to keep up on the payments of $24.00 dollars a month (that's 7 or so lattes in coffee currency.) We are a country that owes more than ever before. Interest payments to creditors, not to mention the late fees are making them rich. Most the world looks on in horror as we spend ourselves into orgasm.

AND JESUS WEPT

I can't help but think Jesus is again weeping as he watches his people succumb to the patterns of this world. Is there any difference between Christians' consumer habits and the rest of the world? I think the answer is obvious. Marketing of Christian stuff is overwhelming. Bibles published by a myriad of companies each with its little twist to hook the buyer. Our churches have become shopping centers for faith experiences and we have sat there and celebrated because a few new converts have been won. But won at what costs? We hear much about tithing 10% but is that the standard we should attain? How many of us even do that, I know I don't, I have too much debt. Ron Sider calls the church to a higher standard.

In his classic book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, Mr. Sider suggests a progressive scale of tithing. "The graduated tithe: calculate a base of current U.S. poverty level, Christian education expenses, taxes, and genuine emergencies. Give 10% of that dollar amount. For every $1000 over that, give an additional 5%: 15% of the 1st additional $1000, 20% of the 2nd $1000, 25% of the 3rd, etc. After you make more than $17,000 over the base, you give 100% of every additional $1000." You may not agree with Sider's arguments but you can not hide from the fact that Christians have lost their uniqueness in our culture. We spend and act like the world. This is a generalization I know yet; the truth is impossible to hide. As Christians we need to change how we live and breath and have our being in our consumerist culture. Something needs to set us apart from the world. People like Ron Sider, controversial as he is, have suggested a standard. What will our answer be to this challenge?

Rodney Clapp suggest three possible choices in his edited work, The Consuming Passion's last essay, "The Theology of Consumption & the Consumption of Theology: Toward a Christian Response to Consumerism." Intentional Vulnerability shows a wealthy man who has committed a substantial part of his money and time to serving God. Through mission trips and other service acts this man is trying to act against the consumerist culture. The second is called Hearing the Water Speak, and is the story of a couple who has deliberately taken a simpler life style in their answer to consumerism. The third story VCR's and Song tells the story of the Bruderhof, a communal setting with the entire community sharing resources. Each of the instances mentioned by Clapp are answers individuals and groups have responded with to the increasing power of our consumerist culture. The thread that ties them together with ideas like Sider's graduated tithe is a sense of contentment.

CONTENTMENT

Is this simple word a key to destroying the grip consumption has on us? To be content, it even sounds foreign to our ears. Content is defined as, "to appease the desires of." What is it like to have your desires appeased? Isn't that one of the basic tenets of the Christian faith? Why then are we so unaware of that state? Contentment not in the sense that we are apathetic, but at peace with where we are and what we have. We need to find a new attitude about consumption. The next gizmo or gadget or car or house will not bring us this peace. We need a renewing of our souls, minds and spirits. Paul knew this attitude of contentment and it empowered his life. When he was in chains he was still able to praise God and thank him for the opportunity he had been given to tell others about Christ. In Philippians 4:11, Paul gives us a standard for our new understanding, "Not that I complain of want; for I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content." To be content whatever state we are in is a difficult thing in a culture that defines us by what we have. Yet, as Christians we are called to aspire to a different model. If the church were to embrace a theology of contentment it would revolutionize our lives, if not our culture. As the world thirst and hungers they look at us as criminals. We have succumbed to the patterns of this world and in that fall have lost the power of God in our lives. If we can create a pattern of contentment that Paul speaks about we will begin to live out the lives that embody the transforming power of a risen Lord. Let the revolution begin.