The Simple Pastor

By Phil Whittall, church planter, blogger & book reviewer

Archive of "selfishness" Category

• Christmas, consumers, gifts and gratitude

  December 20, 2011 // No Comments »

  For a blog that is supposed to have a focus on consumerism and generosity it’s been a while since I posted on the subject. However, I have been stacking up a substantial backlog of posts that I’ve noticed but not quite managed to write about it. This post both clears the decks and gives plenty of food for thought.

  If you hadn’t noticed it’s nearly Christmas, that time of year where we go slightly loco with money and stuff, and it’s a unique event. Rampant consumerism and the celebration of the birth of Christ in a stable, and it was combining those two things that led to this very clever advert. Of course in the race to condemn all this excess we may kill all the fun or so thinks Sarah Dunn. This chart shows Christmas spending by country.

  Unsurprisingly, in America despite not having the most money they will spend nearly the most on gifts. This is because, as Eugene Peterson says in this short video, the most materialistic we have ever known and shows how to handle wealth! (Ht: Mark Meynell)

  It was following a drive through America that Tim Challies began to seriously think about the issue of money. He found this prayer on stuff and contentment and then ways to think wrongly about money. He then asks the questions do I have to give? And if so how much do I give? 

  This all goes to show that we live in a consumer age and it’s a pressure not evenly felt. By that I mean, as this post says, ‘UK parents seem to find themselves under tremendous pressure to purchase a surfeit of material goods for their children. This compulsive consumption was almost completely absent in both Spain and Sweden.’ A thesis that our personal experience can anecdotally support.

  The best antidote is to be generous and to cultivate gratitude and that takes some thought. It’s worth thinking about.

   

   

  Tags: consumerism
  Categories:
  celebration, christmas, consumerism, generosity, selfishness, shopping, simplicity, wealth

• Adbusting: Radox

  June 28, 2009 // No Comments »

  Some ads are subtle and others are less so like this one.

  They even have a website where you can learn good reasons to be selfish which is hardly a quality our nation is short of. Time is apparently ‘woman’s greatest enemy’ and the way to freedom, the way to harness time, the way to make it your friend is to be selfish, is to have more ‘me’ time.

  It’s a concept which I hear a lot, it’s an idea that is most definitely in the church, it’s in my life. I need ‘me’ time, to focus on myself and that’s just one step from saying “It’s OK for me to be selfish.”

  It is good to spend some time in quiet, to do things on you enjoy, it is good to have time for reflection but it is never good to be selfish. A selfish approach to time means I’m deliberately putting myself above others, I’m consciously making MY agenda the top one, the prime one, the most important one. Life, even for a short time, becomes about me. For most people this is entirely reasonable but for someone whose life belongs to Christ it’s not so reasonable. In fact you could argue it’s sin.

  We need a radically different view of time that frees us from the demands of a busy life. that sees it as a gift and every moment to be enjoyed. For that try this from Tim Chester or consider this from the Promise of Life,
  

  “Because life is a gift, we live it thankfully
  Savour what we have
  Pray for what we need.
  No longer hurried, distracted, or worried,
  We’ll walk through each moment with God”

  Don’t be selfish, be free

  Categories:
  advertising, selfishness, time