a week of deadly vipers: bling bling
November 3rd, 2007 @ 7:20 am
in three years, i went from debt free to $40,000 in the hole. i was only twenty years old. i didn’t know about credit reports or collection agencies but i found out about them really quickly after i stopped paying my credit cards on time. none of that debt was school loans either - just a really pretty mustang convertible and a few credit cards on which i paid the electric bill at nordstrom.
granted, this time period is what i call my “dark years.” my head wasn’t on straight, i was making far more money than any twenty year old should make, and i had a lot of people to impress.
or so i thought.
the bling bling assassin doesn’t bother hiding in our culture. in fact, he walks down our perfectly manicured streets like he owns them, stopping by to chat with us like a friendly neighbor would. he makes shiny things shinier. he turns needs into wants.
don’t get me wrong. it’s not wrong to have nice things. but when you fear not having them or fear losing them, it shows your faith is in what’s parked in your garage or your checking account and not in the One who gave them to you.
chris and i are facing a potentially scary future. except for a couple years left on our cars, we will be entirely debt free in just a couple of months. i know if we don’t make a plan now, all of this disposable income would be completely wasted on stupid stuff that doesn’t matter. so we are in the midst of discussing how much we can give away.
we are already sponsoring one child through compassion. we hope to sponsor many more. a percentage of mad church disease profit will go to compassion, and another percentage will be invested right back into kingdom work through our church. we are trying to think of other creative ways we can give away what we don’t need.
on a side note, i think the bling bling assassin also hangs out in our church staff meetings. in the last five years, i’ve probably talked with hundreds and hundreds of pastors. so much of what is communicated in the western church culture is the keeping up with the jones’ mindset, except the jones family is that shiny new church you took your team to and drooled over their awesome lights, their “off the hook” youth center, and their amazing stainless steel accents.
i cannot tell you how many times i have heard, “if we only had what so-and-so had, we could really reach more people.”
ummmmm.
no.
no, no, no.
to close - from the book,
“So ask yourself. How satisfied are you with your income, house size, or possessions? How many times during the day do you think about what you want versus what you could give? How much personal value or self worth do you find in what you own? What percentage of your income are you giving away to help others?”
(that isn’t rhetorical. do some thinking. write down how many times a day you are lusting after that _______ you don’t have that you really really want. take a look at your bank account online. where’s that money going? for us…we eat out way too much. it’s quite sickening, really).
BONUS LINK: What Would Jesus Buy? (From Supersize Me Producer Morgan Spurlock)
Deadly Viper
Deana said,
November 3, 2007 at 9:31 am
i have not heard of that movie…looks interesting!
Jason Curlee said,
November 3, 2007 at 9:59 am
whole hearted agree to this one…it is a prevalent mindset in our culture…even in churches. it is preached and interlaced from the pulpit as well. i agree it is not bad to have all those things but i see a lot of pastors out there who are living the lifestyle…there are many who are not…but i mean come on…when you have a pastor who is driving two bmw’s has a two story large house in the “nicest”…hmmm…”wealthiest” neighborhood in the area. guess i’m starting to get a little fickle lately about the pastoral position.
Lory said,
November 3, 2007 at 10:23 am
the leadership at my church is very focused on social justice type issues…our struggle is encouraging our members to take it to heart. we a re making strides, but there is so much more we could be doing!
on another note, i work with our youth (the youth ministers are my best friends..so of course i do) and we always say if we had “more room (just room for chairs even), new things like ping pong tables, etc. one day we decided to focus on what we have instead of what we don’t have…
what did we discover?? we filled up an entire page with the things our KIDS are doing…not the adults working with youth, but the students themselves! we have an amazing group of kids who are reaching out and ministering to their friends at the point of need. we may not have the latest greatest, but we have kids who love Jesus and are willing to share his love.
what more could we ask for?
Rich Kirkpatrick said,
November 3, 2007 at 10:25 am
Contentment is really a choice, albeit one against the grain. You articulate that very well here.
The church leaders who go GAH GAH over everything they see at some huge church at a conference really is gross and nauseating. AMEN to that fact that you do not NEED those things. You need the power of changed lives. Production value is a tool, not anything more than that. Ouch.
ubertech said,
November 3, 2007 at 12:23 pm
great stuff
Abiding in Christ, Amen said,
November 3, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for your post. Its very interesting to read your writings - well that coupled along with your recent photo accents. LOL. Let us in on the secret…is that your own set of BLING in the picture?
All jokes aside, I can totally relate to most if not all of what you said in your post in the “gotta have it now, and gotta have what everyone else has” aka, the bling-bling mentality. And you’re right in that it is seeping into church meetings, and gathering houses. I just left a church like that. Where ppl were living in 29,000 trailer homes but had on 300 dollar gators (shoes) with a pair of levi jeans.
Oh, and the best techno this, lights and (no joke) big shiny young group with (NO LIE) steel accented panels. (I almost fell off my chair reading that).
Is expensive stuff bad? no. But in an effort to building the church they forgot the ministry, and loss ppl because of 1. burnout, 2. lack of new volunteers and 3. weak word and baby christians dying from a lack of a mature word or the mention of Jesus.
Ironically, I”m in a church now where Jesus is their primary focus, and the strenght of their members is awesome. Yet they dont have two drum sticks to rub together to beat on their drum set (all coming thru the radioshack PA system.)
So its interesting.
Thanks for opening our eyes. Yes yall, its really out there.
nicky said,
November 3, 2007 at 3:11 pm
how much do i think about what i want versus what i can give…wow. i needed to hear that.
Sarah Markley said,
November 3, 2007 at 4:23 pm
This is a timely post. My husband just downgraded from a very nice car to a very normal car. No big deal. We wanted less of a car payment, better mileage, etc.
However, if you think about it, who “downgrades”? I feel like we’ve spent our life trying to trade in the not-so-good for the much-better. You don’t trade the luxury car in for the rental. Its normally all about the upgrade (nicer phone, nicer house, nicer…).
It feels strange to downgrade in such an outward way. Will people think we are broke? Will people think we can’t afford things? I live in an area where pastors do drive the newest Mercedes and EVERYONE wants better than what they have. We are the weirdos for trading in the nice car.
Its making me realize that I am greedy and image-focused (at least in this respect) and I don’t like that about me. Thank you for making me think (even more than I have been lately).
Jenny said,
November 3, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Seriously…I moved out of my flat in September, and will not be moving into a new one until January…where’s my stuff? There’s nothing like living in limbo to make you get rid of all but the most essential! (And the stuff you’re not quite ready to let go of yet:-). By the last day putting things in storage and running out of boxes, I was amazed at what had once been treasures that were now going in the charity heap…I would recommend this as a spiritual exercise to anyone!
Living simply has taken on a whole new meaning!
Anna said,
November 3, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Anne,
It’s funny you posted this… I’ve just been thinking about how much money I throw away! I eat out WAY too much as well! Think of how much money I could be saving, or giving away, if I would just curb a few of my bad spending habbits… (Star Bucks, almost daily!)
Great posts this week! You’re awesome!
Gina said,
November 3, 2007 at 10:55 pm
you bet its invaded our staff meetings. we joke that ministry doesn’t pay that well, but no one appears to be suffering. we all put on the face and fit right in with our environments, don’t we?
confessional… i think way too much about the things i don’t have that i think i need. sobering
Derrick Henslee said,
November 3, 2007 at 11:57 pm
painful….no really. That hurt! We’re in the midst of some of the same questions at the Henslee house. Got a new baby on the way…..what to do?
Joshua said,
November 4, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Awesome post. My wife and I are moving and obviously are trying to save money. For a split second I almost held back on the tithe until I read this post and mentioned it to her. It’s easy for me to get so consumed with ‘I’ll give more in the future when I make more’ but in reality I need to be consumed with giving all (and then some) to God…Now.
Often I save for my needs, but in reality we should save to give back to God as well. I hope to get better at this and saving in general.
Rindy said,
November 4, 2007 at 1:31 pm
I am in the process of getting rid of ’stuff’. I want simple!! it’s so much easier–and freedom to give to others comes with giving up my wants. That feeling and ability to do it is better than any ’stuff’!!
Rachel said,
November 4, 2007 at 9:56 pm
I just love that you called it the bling bling assasin! Brilliantly written! I agree with all that you wrote. Thanks for writing it!
palletjackracer said,
November 5, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I’d highly recommend taking a Crown Financial class from http://www.crown.org. They usually offer them through local churches. My wife are in one right now and it is very good. Its focus is to get the people of God to get their finances in order so that they would be able to better serve by giving financially.