My God is a God who wants me to have things. He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block.
Wow! Me too, me too! I want a God like that! Pick me! Pick me! Well, I'm not sure which God Blige found, but if there is one thing we know it is how much materialism affects our lives. Consider this bedtime prayer (not sure where I came across it but i've udpated it a bit) that is probably offered multiple times each night in Lake Oswego (a very affluent suburb of Portland), OR:
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray my Cuisinart to keep
I pray my stocks are on the rise
And that my analyst is wise
That all the wine I sip is white
And that my hot tub is watertight
That lacrosse won’t get too tough
That all my sushi’s fresh enough
I pray my razr cell phone works
That my career won’t lose its perks
My microwave won’t radiate
My condo won’t depreciate
I pray my health club doesn’t close
And that my iPod songlist grows and grows
If I go broke before I wake
I pray my Hummer they won’t take
It is said that Jesus spoke of the dangers of materialism more than any other subject. As I write this my wife is holding a garage sale (which in and of itself is symptomatic of too much stuff), and she told me that a lady in a Lexus SUV drove up, looked around; picked up a .50 cent trinket and counted her pocket change and said "will you take .39 cents?" For cryin' out loud! She's driving a car that she probably paid more than $40,000.00 for! And as soon as a Ron Sider authors a book called "Rich Christians in an age of hunger" you get a Gary North responding with a book called "Productive Christians in an age of guilt-manipulators".
Well, if you have taken the time to read this post, may I ask you to do this one thing for me? Please, PLEASE add just a little more time - 5-7 minutes - and read this post by RLP. His dramatized scripture readings touch me deeply, and I hope that as you read this you too will think about Jesus' words about materialism. And say a prayer for Mary J. Blige too.
