EDGE Autumn 2007 – In but not of… #3

The culture of shopping / consumerism

Welcome

Offer everyone a drink / snack

Read the following news report and use the questions at the end for discussion. 

According to one national newspaper, the England team wives and girlfriends (or WAGs for short) made a big impression on the economy of the town of Baden Baden, where they stayed during the 2005 World Cup.

The 22-strong contingent, including Victoria Beckham, Coleen McLoughlin and Frank Lampard's fiancee Elen Rives, allegedly racked up a staggering £1million holiday bill over the course of their 23 night stay.

£598,000 was accounted for on accommodation and room service, whilst £500,000 more was spent on luxury extras including beauty treatments, restaurant meals, clothes, make-up, laundry and alcohol.

One of the top spenders was 28-year-old Miss Rives who is said to have forked out an impressive £28,607 in addition to her £26,000 hotel room bill, whilst Alex Curran (fiancee of Steven Gerrard) reportedly spent £25,321. This figure included 60 bottles of pink champagne, totalling £4,500. Determined to remain glowing for the duration of her visit she also paid two fake tan specialists £15,000 to fly over from London to administer an all over tan.

In a concentrated shopping spree, six of the WAGs were estimated to have spent £57,000 on clothes and accessories in just one hour.

Nights out were another expense, with the group drinking their way through approximately £25,000 of alcohol in local bars and nightclubs.

The WAGs behaviour attracted so much media attention that there has been talk of banning them from future tournaments.

· If you were the England manager, what would you do?

· Imagine you have an hour to spend £57,000. How would you do it?

· How do you feel about people spending money in this way?

 

Worship

Praise Jesus for his willingness to do Philippians 2:6-11 (giving up everything! And getting EVERYTHING)

Word

Hand out ‘Desert Island Lists’ worksheets and pens.

Ask your young people to imagine that they have been stranded on a desert island. They are allowed to choose ten items that they can have with them. Give them time to discuss and write down what they would want to take.

Come back as whole group and feedback from the activity.

Discuss these questions:

Ø Which of your choices would you consider to be ‘essential’, which are ‘non-essential’?

Ø ‘Consumerism’ describes the way people link happiness to possessing and consuming ‘stuff’! How hard would you find it to survive without your non-essentials?

Ø What can go wrong when people look for contentment in material possessions and consumption?

 

Read Luke 12:13-21 and then 22-34

What are some of the dangers of consumerism… what should we be doing instead?

Read 1 John 2:15-17 if you’re feeling brave!

The Message puts 1 Jn 2:15-17 like this: 15Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. 16Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. 17The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

So what is the anti-consumerism way ahead? Is it like Simon Stylites

Born in AD 409, Simeon Stylites grew up as a shepherd boy. His ambition in life was to become a monk, for he believed that by living a life of self denial he would become closer to God. When he eventually entered an order, however, his extreme behaviour so upset the other monks that he was banished from their community.

Deciding that in fact a solitary life was more in keeping with his plan of self denial, Simeon found a lonely place in the desert, built a six foot high pillar and lived on it alone for several years.

This austere lifestyle was still a little too comfortable for Simeon’s liking. So after some searching, he found a sixty foot pillar and took up residence on that. The pillar was three feet across at the top, and had a railing to prevent him from falling off as he slept. Simeon soon attracted disciples impressed by his self denial, who would occasionally bring him food and remove his waste. Simeon did not leave his pillar for thirty years, enduring extremes of temperature, and often standing for long periods with his arms outstretched in the shape of a cross, or repeating a series of prostrations until he fell exhausted in a heap.

Simeon inspired others to copy his lifestyle, and until as recently as the nineteenth century there were still stylites living in Russia.

What would Simon Stylites and a WAG have to say to each other?

What would Jesus say to Simon Stylites? What would Jesus say to a WAG?

We are consumers: so how can we consume in a Biblical way?

1. Read Philippians 4:11-12

2. Read Luke 12:48b

3. Read Isaiah 58:6-8

 

Witness

Pray together with gratitude for all God has given you and for all the things you are storing up in heaven where moth, rust or thief can’t get!

Decide right now to have a different Christmas –be brave and courageous when making your Christmas lists…. Ask all your Aunts and Uncles to buy you goats in Africa!