The Lenses We Wear - Consumerism

Following on from my last post...

In the 1920's, a man called Edward Bernays became the absolute public relations and advertising guru. He is practically unheard of today, but his role in society's cultural self-perception is mammoth. His uncle was Sigmund Freud, and he used his uncle's understanding of ego and self to change advertising forever.  Prior to him, advertising had primarily focussed on what you need, after him, the emphasis increasingly became about what you want.  The world we use for this is consumerism. It is a form of spiritual amphetamine. 

This has had a massive influence on how the gospel is understood in our churches:

'In a culture context rife with such idolatry (self-love, consumerism), a gospel that promises enriched personhood and divine favour is readily accepted as goodnews, albeit in direct competition with the alternative forms of personal fulfillment.  To place personal salvation at the cutting edge of the gospel is such a setting therefore a clear miscontextualisation.' (David Lowes Watson, Christ All in All, in Church between Gospel & Culture) 

To be honest, I struggle with having a consumerist heart and desire the materialistic  "wants" just as much as the next guy. Like in all of the ages past this particular culture is not an easy place to live out the Christian message. But this is something I am deeply working on in my own life.  It's all about getting closer to the one who calls us to follow him!