Feed the Want By All Means Necessary: Cultural Fables in A Secular Age, Part 3 of 4

Nov 23

Nov 23 Feed the Want By All Means Necessary: Cultural Fables in A Secular Age, Part 3 of 4

If you are following this short series, you might remember that my purpose for these posts is, first and foremost, to remind us that we are all part of the True Story of the Whole World. I use the phrase the true story of the whole world (TSWW) to reinforce the fact that the metanarrative of Scripture is neither a myth nor a fable, nor simply a better story that competes with other religious stories, but is, in fact, true. The TSWW permeates all of life and gives us confidence in the public square—in our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and cities.

Inherent in my claim is the assumption that there are other stories at work out there in our society that look and even feel true and challenge the fidelity of the TSWW. In this series, I highlight three cultural narratives prevalent today—first, I highlight Ariana Grande’s pop single and perfume, “God is a woman,” and point out how this bold assertion reflects a secularized point of view rife with the prominent ideology of expressive individualism—the title and lyrics reveal something of her truest self—something that we cannot deny. My second post considers calls into question social media influencer, Gabby Bernstein’s declaration, “The Universe Has Your Back.” I point out how Bernstein’s spirituality is a mix of pantheism, self-help, New Age, and expressive individualism that encourages her followers to discover their destiny by finding themselves.

In this post, I highlight a third cultural fable that hits close to home—consumerism. I shed light on this worldview on the eve of Black Friday 2021 when we are being tempted to believe that spending money on more stuff will assuage our COVID grief, abate our fear, and will finally restore happiness and meaning to our pandemic-weary lives.

This Cultural Fable is uncomfortable to highlight maybe because satisfying our wants is part of the warp and woof of American life. “Health, wealth, and the pursuit of happiness” is part and partial to the American dream. Uncomfortable or not, I want to remind us of this hidden worldview so that we’re equipped to call out the lies for ourselves and for those with whom we converse.

Hey Siri!: Artificial Intelligence and the Art of Feeding the Want

So, a few years ago, Bob and I spent six weeks in a dorm room on the campus of Colorado State University. Every week grad students provided evening lectures on their focus of research. One intriguing topic included a discussion around innovation, in particular, cutting-edge artificial intelligence that was being designed to anticipate our impulses—to somehow know, even before we do, our material wants—and to immediately indulge those desires. I imagine something like, “Hey Siri, I want low heeled ankle boots in burgundy. You know my shoe size, my budget, bank balance, and credit card number(s).”

Wait. This is happening right now.

A few days ago, I did in fact hanker for a new pair of shoes. So, I googled “women’s low heeled ankle boots,” and in 0.80 seconds I had access to 11,500,000 options. Additionally, my 0.80 seconds of a passive searching resulted in an onslaught of ads on my social media platforms and my husband’s all tantalizing me to feed the want. Once I clicked “buy” (with barely a second thought) the virtual wheels were set in motion and with little or no effort of my own, the boots will magically arrive at my door.

The want within, however, surges ahead looking for more.

When Good Goes Bad: Four Markers of a Consumerist Worldview

This propensity to want, to satisfy the insatiable longing for more is the stuff of great literature—adventure stories are built around either a frenzied search for buried treasure, or the ugly consequences of a Gollum-like greed. Both extremes are inherent in cultural narratives across the ages and are abundantly clear in the Bible. King David’s wanton desire for Bathsheba comes to mind or Job’s remarkably detailed description of humanity’s determined search for precious things,

“Man puts an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit the ore in gloom and deep darkness.
He opens shafts in a valley away from where anyone lives;
they are forgotten by travelers;
they hang in the air, far away from mankind; they swing to and fro.
As for the earth, out of it comes bread,
but underneath it is turned up as by fire.
Its stones are the place of sapphires,
and it has dust of gold.
Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light” (Job 28:3-6, 9–11).

Importantly, creating, and consuming great food and beautiful material goods is part of God’s gift to human beings. Genesis 2:9 reminds us, “And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.” The same passage describes the land where gold, onyx, and bdellium could be found. God created the world to cultivate, consume, and enjoy. Problems arise when consumption turns into consumerism.

Steve Wilkins and Mark Sanford state that the hidden worldview of consumerism starts with something good and makes it absolute good. “Consumerism absolutizes consumption by believing that we can find fulfillment by accumulating wealth and everything that comes with it [and] tells us that all our needs can be satisfied by what we consume. The more we use, the more needs we satisfy. Since the fulfillment of needs is what salvation is about, consumerism is, in reality, a secular religion.”[1] If consumerism is indeed a secular religion, then we all worship at the cathedrals of Amazon and shopping malls.

How do we identify a consumerist worldview? Here I highlight four of what Wilkins and Sanford describe as key convictional beliefs about consumerism:

Accumulating and using things brings fulfillment. Note that enjoying material goods, or delicious food, or meaningful experiences is part of life on earth and is not inherently wrong. We adopt the worldview of consumerism once we begin to believe that our needs are fulfilled by the acquisition of goods and services.
Money is power. Consumerism is built on the assumption that the forms of power attainable by wealth are desirable. The more money you have the happier and safer you will be. We don’t have to be wealthy to adopt a consumerist worldview. Even the poorest person has valid needs, but whenever we believe that money is the solution to our problems, we have adopted a consumerist worldview.
People are viewed as objects to consume. Human trafficking, pornography, sexual and physical abuse, racism, neglect exposes horrific ways in which people are used as objects to consume. Yet, consumerism also shows up in our daily practices of purchasing coffee, interacting with cashiers, or handling problems at work—are the people we encounter a means to an end, or are they valued because they are made in the image of God?
Simply discard what ceases to fulfill me or meet my needs [and wants]. The throw-away culture is evidenced by mountains of waste piled high around the world. According to The World Counts almost 1.9 billion tons so far this year. Importantly, this conviction is reflected in an increasingly transactional way of relating with people as well, evidenced in part by today’s hook-up and cancel culture.

Cultural Fable: Three Ways to Expose the Lie

1. Cultivate a growing awareness of the cultural fable of consumerism—especially during the Christmas season. Take note, as cities and countries haltingly reopen and humanity strains for some semblance of normal, the consumption of goods and meaningful experiences surges. Airlines fight to meet the demand almost to the brink of collapse. Walmart mesmerizes us with the mantra, “There’s no holding back this season. No halfway!” and Amazon touts the power of bigger and better gifts. The season’s narrator spins a yarn, “Every part of you deserves an S(YOU)V!” We require On-Demand entertainment and highly customized platforms to gratify our individual needs—from the food we eat and the wine we drink, the drugs we take and the games we play, to the clothes we wear and the toothbrush we use.

We deserve to indulge for we have endured a pandemic.

Meanwhile, cargo ships filled with everything we need for the best-Christmas-ever drift helplessly offshore from China to Los Angeles. USA Today’s Susan Tompor describes the “fear of missing out” as the fuel behind an impending shopping frenzy.[2]

2. As you consider the consumerist worldview, stop to consider, what’s the story beneath the powerful story of want in your own life. When the party is over, what happens when the gnawing emptiness returns?

3. Since it is Christmastime (something much more sacred than “the holidays”), try setting aside time to dwell in God’s presence and read the TSWW. Start in Matthew and remember how the genealogy of Jesus pings across the Scripture from Abraham to Joseph (Gen. 12:1–3, Matt. 1:1–17) and from Mary all the way back to Adam (Luke 1:26–35, 3:23–38). Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and formed in the womb of an unmarried teenager, was born under scandalous circumstances in a stable in Bethlehem.

Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Jesus, God Incarnate
Immanuel, God with us
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! (Luke 2:8–14).

[1] Steve Wilkin, Mark L. Sanford, Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories that Shape Our Lives (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2009), 45.

[2] Susan Stomper, “Christmas trees, sweaters, gifts in shipping mess: How supply chain issues will affect holiday shopping,” USA Today, Oct 21, 2021 (Online: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2021/10/21/2021-holiday-shopping-christmas-gifts-supply-chain/6116155001/, accessed October 25, 2021).