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A recent survey showed that children feel pressured by society to own the latest designer clothes and computer games. As Christians are among those who supply that pressure we find ourselves at, a moment of truth.
Children feel pressured for at least two reasons: the materialistic philosophy they are taught by their parents and the target market they have become. The culture of the individualized self is manifest at earlier ages with each passing generation. That dynamic in combination with the almost universal American notion that “I deserve it all” is a recipe for disaster. Add to that the concept of “my own money,” give it to children, and the dish is done. Children are easy pickings for the advertising industry.
What should be more alarming is the actuality that biblical prohibitions against selfism, materialism, greed, pride, and vanity are all but rejected even by most Christians. That things will make us happy, that we must like what the world likes, have what it has, and that we must be well thought of by the world, are attitudes associated with those who don’t truly know God. The fact that these attitudes should be found in children, and indeed among evangelicals, merely reveals the spiritual poverty in which the church finds herself today.
With some kind of misguided rationale that enables him to pursue a lifestyle of “building wealth,” one may attempt to alter the biblical revelation that love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, but one may not alter its reality or consequences. By the way, it is not society that’s damaging children, its sin. Let’s pursue Christ, the only lasting treasure. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! and SecurityImage 3.0.8 |
