Consumerism and Materialism

The apostle Peter warns that Satan “prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, NLT). He uses riches, consumerism/materialism and worldly prosperity to lure believers away from following Jesus, the true Provider, Protector and Sustainer. We, as believers, need to maintain Job’s attitude towards riches: “The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!” (Job 1:21, NLT).

Simplicity

John Piper writes, “Jesus presses us toward a wartime lifestyle that does not value simplicity for simplicity’s sake, but values wartime austerity for what it can produce for the cause of world evangelization… The point is: a $70,000 salary does not have to be accompanied by a $70,000 lifestyle. God is calling us to be conduits of his grace, not cul-de-sacs. Our great danger today is thinking that the conduit should be lined with gold. It shouldn’t. Copper will do. No matter how grateful we are, gold will not make the world think that our God is good: it will make people think that our God is gold. That is no honor to the supremacy of his worth.”*

“Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them” (2 Timothy 2:4, NLT).

Apostolic Passion

Cultivate what Floyd McClung calls an apostolic passion, “a deliberate, intentional choice to live for the worship of Jesus in the nations…. If you have apostolic passion, you are one of the most dangerous people on the planet. The world no longer rules your heart. You are no longer seduced by getting and gaining, but devoted to spreading and proclaiming the glory of God in the nations. You live as a pilgrim, unattached to the cares of this world. You are not afraid of loss. You even dare to believe you may be given the privilege of dying to spread His fame on the earth. The Father’s passions have become your passions. You find your satisfaction and significance in Him. You believe He is with you always, to the end of life itself. You are sold out to God, and you live for the Lamb. Satan fears you, and the angels applaud you.”**

How can this be done? By simplifying one’s lifestyle, by practicing contentment, by getting out of debt and by learning to live with as few possessions as possible. Strip off every weight that slows you down and get in the race!

Interested in some additional help? Read John Piper's book or talk with someone in recruitment ministries.

*John Piper Let the Nations be Glad, Baker Books, 1993.
**Floyd McClung Apostolic Passion article from Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, A Reader, William Carey Library, 1999.