MaterialismUnderstanding your other religion

What is materialism?• Who wants this iPhone?

• Who wants this Bible?

• Materialism is the prioritization of material items over intellectual or spiritual concepts

• He who dies with the most toys...

Loss of Focus• When the going gets tough,

the tough go shopping

• Believing the lie that things equal happiness

• Trivializes all things into “just matter”

• Removes intellect and thespiritual from our culture

• It affects our core belief system

• God and people become objects

Do you think America has a problem with

Materialism?

Temple in every town

• Every American lives just minutes from a major mall or shopping district

• Since the 1990’s, shopping mall constuction has skyrocketed.

• Look around. New construction includes warehouses, shopping centers and banks.

• Think these aren’t temples to material worship? Let’s take a look...

Roman Temples

• Roman Temples had a gabled roof

• A deep porch with free-standing columns

• A frontal staircase giving access to a high platform

• New materials were used in the construction of Roman Temples such as concrete with brick and stone facing and marble veneers

Roman Temples

• Walls of Roman Temples were painted in fresco - the frieze often depicted Roman life (ads)

• Sculptures of Roman Gods and Goddesses were used as decoration in the form of free standing statues (manequins)

• Roman Temples were large, ornate and numerous

Roman Temples• The Roman temples were located

in important positions such as at one side of the forum or along a major road

• In Ancient Rome a fundamental basis of the religion was the belief that if the Gods were happy then they would receive good fortune. It was therefore important to worship the Roman Gods on a daily basis. (fountains)

Daily Sacrifice

• What is sacrifice exactly?

• Is it paying a price, consistently?

• Wouldn't you say that buying the desiresof your heart involves sacrifice?

• We work for this money and daily worship through our sacrifice of indulgence.

Starbucks

• Sells about $2,600,000 of coffee each day!

• Americans drink 25% of the world’s coffee

• Nearly every American needs a daily “fix”

• Do we worship coffee five times daily?

Starbucks Logo• A picture is worth a thousand words

• A logo represents the soul of an organization

• It’s a Nordic Goddess, a two-tailed mermaid siren complete with a crown of stars

• “That early siren, bare-breasted and Rubenesque, was supposed to be as seductive as coffee itself.”

Apple• What is the most desired

music device?

• Did you know that violent crime has increased since the invention of the iPod?

• Apple understands the art of “shiny things”

• Steve Jobs is said to have an intimate understanding of the psychology of desire.

Hosea 13:2-3Now they sin more and more;they make idols for themselves from their silver,cleverly fashioned images,all of them the work of craftsmen.It is said of these people,“They offer human sacrificeand kiss the calf-idols.”

Therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window.

The Golden CalfExodus 32:1-6

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said,

“Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

The Golden CalfExodus 32:1-6

Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.”

So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

The Golden CalfExodus 32:1-6

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the LORD.”

So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

Our Response...

• Wake up to what we see whatis going on around us

• Realize that we need money in this world

• Realize there is a delicate balancebetween need, want and worship

• We must be in the world, but not “of” it.

• The voice of my mother in my head...

• “You don’t need it!”

Store up your treasures...“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For where your treasure is,there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21

Get the Roman TreatmentTherefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritualact of worship.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2

The Rich RulerA certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother. ’ “

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.

Luke 18:18-21

The Rich RulerWhen Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!

Luke 18:22-24

It’s up to you!

• Will you let material things strap you down?

• Will you worship the creator or the created?

• Keep your things in this world in-check

• Give honor to God with every “thing” you have

• You need to be “in” the world, but not “of” it

• Prioritize the spiritual and intellectual

Discuss