How to Fight Materialism at Christmas and All Year Long
“By taking our focus off the human receiver and putting it on the divine giver, Christmas can become a symbol of God’s giving heart rather than people’s grabbing hands.” - Randy Alcorn
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God owns it all, yes, and that's a great principle that we ought to apply.
That noted, one of the things I think is most missing in the discussion over materialism is principles of contentment. How much is enough, what is the cost of having more than one needs, and how should we respond when we get things that are more and/or better quality than we need, are all questions that we ought to be asking more.
And my take regarding how Christmas is usually observed in our country is that it is all too often an orgy of consumption that ignores all of these questions. Dave Ramsey comments on this reality here.
I can say a lot more--how my truck has rarely helped people move who had less stuff than I do, how a huge portion of the stuff I see (and sometimes receive for Christmas) is really not worth shelf or closet space, and how my total wardrobe only exceeds the amount of clothes Americans throw away by a few pounds (we throw away ~80 lbs of clothing per person annually, apparently), and a whole bunch more.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
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