by Tom Sine

Thanks for the invite to the Conversation Café. Make mine a small decaf mocha. Now let's get down to business—the business of wealth-creation and lavish consumption.

My friend Ron Sider had some very unkind things to say about materialism in The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience. Apparently Ron doesn't understand that materialism is what made America what it is today. Where would we be without Enron, World Com, and Tyco? An executive at Tyco recently spent $2.1 million of company funds to throw a modest little birthday party for his wife in Sardinia and flew in a number of friends. Isn't that an example of extravagant use of corporate funds we can all admire?

I stand with those who strongly oppose all forms of taxation, particularly for the excessively wealthy. I for one am glad that 82 major American corporations have found a way to avoid paying a single dollar of U.S. taxes so they and their shareholders can fully enjoy the money they make. As you know, CEO's often enjoy multimillion-dollar salaries and even larger golden parachutes when they retire. We should all be glad to pay more taxes to make up the difference for what these corporations don't pay. I know I am.

We all need to support the permanent end of the “death tax” too—so that the super-wealthy can leave their entire estates to their indulged children. Sure, we will all have to pay a little more in federal income tax to make up the difference, but isn't it worth it to create a permanent new aristocracy of privilege and wealth in America? Remember these children of the wealthy can become a model of extravagant living that gives us all something to strive for.

Finally, let's all strongly support making the tax cuts for the richest one percent of Americans permanent too. Sure, it will mean billions in lost revenues and that will result in severe cutbacks in assistance to kids, single parent families, the disabled, and the aged as we have seen recently in the proposed federal budget. But if we lighten the tax load on our wealthiest citizens, won't that somehow trickle down and eventually improve all of our lives…eventually?

I am sure our leaders couldn't be mistaken about the wisdom of making permanent the tax cuts for the super-rich. I know I am not the least bit concerned about the record deficit of $427 billion those tax cuts helped to create since we have been assured that by cutting social programs over the next four years and blessing tax cuts for the wealthy we can grow our way out of this huge government debt.

Greed & envy are not so bad!

Through the late nineties Forbes Magazine ran a series of articles that made a compelling case that not only is materialism good but greed is good too. They explained that even the Amish had become entrepreneurs starting small businesses on the side to increase their wealth while farming. By the time I read the last in the series of articles they had my vote. Greed must be good.

I concluded, as I put the magazine down, that Christians in the Middle Ages obviously had greed all wrong. In fact, it became clear to me that all the seven deadly sins (including greed and covetousness) were really good. Of course the sin of sloth is an exception.

There is a small but troubling number of Christian writers including Ron Sider who have spent a lot of time bad-mouthing materialism, greed, and covetousness. With sincere remorse I confess I was among those seriously-confused authors. One has only to look around to see the tremendous benefits accomplished by the marketers of the global economy in persuading us to be chronically discontent, always wanting more.

Envy has inspired us to consume at levels never seen before on the planet. Look around at the super-sized houses with four-car garages, the expensive RVs, second homes, the newest iPods, lavish holidays. Isn't this the abundant life Jesus promised us? Sure, there are some environmental costs. But we can always pass those on to our kids.

Of course, as some of the spoilsports point out, middle-class Americans are running the highest personal debt and the lowest saving rates in years. Sure that's taking a toll on family life and our personal health, but it's keeping many therapists gainfully employed, thus bolstering the economy. And don't forget we get to show off a lot of nice stuff even if we can't afford it.

Many Christians are catching on…

It is not surprising that many Christians are finally waking up to the reality that our identity, self-worth, and life purpose come not from our faith but from our success at making and spending money. Growing numbers of Christians are learning to keep their religious values appropriately in a small spiritual compartment where it doesn't get in the way of everyday life.

Increasingly even the Christian young are discovering how much their identity and self-worth come from wearing the right brands, driving the right cars, and being seen in the right places. They are determined to make their parents happy by “movin' on up.” What could be more American?

Sure, following Jesus is still important. But growing numbers of the Christian young are discovering that they can get that out of their system during a rousing time of praise worship on Sunday nights in a way that doesn't interfere with their real lives.

Where many Christians become confused on the issue of materialism is that they start from the wrong premise in defining their Christian worldview. Too many believers, influenced by writers like Ron Sider and Tony Campolo, start with the premise that Jesus calls them not to seek life but to lose life…in service to God and others. While one can understand how this call to service might challenge some Christians, it totally fails to recognize the real purpose of life on earth.

The profound insights of a free market economy, not the inspirational teachings of Jesus, need to be our starting point in helping us understand how our world works. Free market economics clearly teaches that the way we work for the common good is not in the service of others but rather in the pursuit of our own self-interest. Economists help us understand the way the world is really designed to function. They explain that if we all pursue our own self-interest in a free marketplace, it will universally and automatically advance the public good. Isn't that the foundation stone of a truly Christian worldview?

In other words, when we get our worldview straightened out we realize that materialism is the furthest thing from a problem to be critiqued. In fact, the more aggressively we pursue our own economic self-interest in the consumption of all kinds of “stuff,” the more we improve the world for everyone else. Only then can we all realize our highest human calling—an ever expanding appetite for more.

Recently a wealthy Christian businessman, who clearly understands this viewpoint, explained his way to help those at the margins. He said, “The best thing I can do to help the poor is to purchase a fleet of Cadillacs, thus improving the economy and putting more people to work.” Who can possibly argue with that?

The kind of churches we need

Therefore, we need more churches that not only stop railing against materialism but also become willing chaplains to our materialistic culture. We need churches that affirm the culture of consumption instead of critiquing it, making people feel uncomfortable with their affluent lifestyles.

We need churches that are not afraid to spend money to build lavish facilities that reflect the status of both their members and the values of their upscale communities…which, of course, will attract other people of means to embrace this very accommodating faith.

We need churches that realize the basic human drive is not altruism but self-interest. We need churches that cheer us on as we move up the corporate ladder, buy our mini-mansions, and go on our lavish holidays. And, of course, we also need churches that are there to help us in the down times when the economic bottom falls away.

The last thing we need are churches that question our pursuit of status, wealth, and privilege for ourselves and our kids. Nor do we need churches that make a fuss about the fact that while our per capita incomes have increased more than 90 percent over the last three decades, our per capita giving has declined nearly 20 percent to 2.4 percent. Sure “the earth is the Lord's.” But it should be clear to every believer that God wouldn't have given us so much affluence if he didn't want us to enjoy it and indulge ourselves.

There is no reason churches that have their priorities straightened out shouldn't sponsor an annual missions conference where we use some of our leftovers to help our poorest neighbors aspire to live like us and realize what they are missing out on.

Finally…

Materialism is not only as American as apple pie. It's also becoming a worldwide delight in our new global consumer culture—whether people can afford it or not. Don't you agree that we should never hold back from enjoying the luxuries within our reach while we have the opportunity, leaving the rest with God?