C is for Costco and Consumerism
Every Monday is my Sabbath. It's my day to just rest, recuperate from a busy weekend, and get my mind off those things that usually are just all business and take some time to be still.
I usually sleep in a little, do a little extended devotional time, catch up on football games that I missed on Sunday, and go to the gym. One thing I've recently begun to do as part of my routine is to also go to Costco every Monday to fill up on gas.
The people at Costco are such geniuses (and might I add that Seattle is the home of Costco--serious Washington pride right there!). If you don't have a Costco American Express Card, it's such a time saver and it also doubles as your Costco membership card. They even print your member photo in color! Seriously, though, no hassles at the pump. Just swipe your credit card and you're good to go. No inputting your zip code and you save 3% to boot.
But instead of just filling up on gas, just because I can, I go inside. To this day, I still cannot walk into a place like Costco or Home Depot without a sense of amazement and privilege, not only to walk into a place of plenty, but with the ability to purchase whatever I want to, within reason, in the store. It's like I'm a kid again walking into an adult Disneyland that has bulk items and too much fruit for me to eat in a week's time.
I mean, it's ridiculous. Like today, I went in and walked past the display they had for this new game I had heard about in the news. It's called DJ Hero, made by the same people who made Guitar Hero.
I don't even play games but I walked by this thing like three times and even picked it up at one point thinking, "What if the youth group could use this at retreat or something?" But did I really need it? Absolutely not. I just thought I would pick it up or even, maybe, buy it just because I could and had nothing better to do that day than to play with a new toy. There were probably a million reasons and logical calculations I made within seconds, but I started to wonder, "When's the last time that I put this amount of thought into giving?"
There's nothing bad with having a Costco membership. I love saving money. But at the same time, let's be honest, how much money have we spent just because we got to save a little on a good deal?
In a down economy, I've been trying to give more generously and have tithed more faithfully than I ever have in my life. Could I do with some more, sure, I'd love that! But, there's something to be gained when we put God first and deal accordingly with what He's given us.
I do not believe God just wants us to be faithful with our stuff, but wants us also to be fruitful with it. Consumerism is all about me, but what if you could use what you have for the benefit of others? What if the church could invest in it's community locally and abroad? What if you could just give, not because you could, but because you are so rich in Christ (again, not about the stuff He provides) that it was a natural extension of your character to do so?
