Affluenza
TCF Sermon
October 23, 2005
There’s a illess going around. You’ve definitely heard of it, even if not by the name I’ll use today. It’s not the bird flu. It’s not the regular flu for which many of you have already gotten flu shots, or will be getting one soon.
It’s not one of the more notable illnesses, like AIDS, or HPV. But again, I’m sure you’ve heard of it. In fact, everyone has seen it. Everyone has seen its devastating effects. Some have seen it up close and personally. Some have experienced it themselves, or seen a loved one devastated by it. Some of us here this morning are plagued with this illness, perhaps just a mild case only affecting a part of our life, but infected nonetheless.
But the scary thing is how contagious this is, and how susceptible all of us are to this illness. Any of us can get this illness, and all of us have to take ongoing precautions against getting it. If we let our guard down, and don’t take illness prevention steps, it’s likely we’ll be infected.
But, though we’ve heard many warnings about how this illness can affect us, we tend to take it for granted. We tend to think, no, not me. I won’t get this illness. I won’t be affected.
What am I talking about this morning? Let me first read a passage of scripture which gives a warning about this illness, and then I’ll tell you a modern-day name for it.
Turn with me to Luke chapter 12.
Luke 12:15 (NIV) Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Here’s our warning against this illness. Watch out, be on your guard, said Jesus, against all kinds of greed. This illness is called affluenza. And our culture, especially our western culture, is really sick with this illness.
Since we live in this culture, it’s hard to avoid exposure to this illness. Now, calling this human tendency to value things more than God affluenza is not my original idea at all. I first read author and speaker Steve Farrar as he wrote of this, writing about affluenza, and its impact on the family, in a couple of his books. He may have heard it elsewhere, that’s just the first time I saw the word used. He wrote of the many warnings in scripture about this illness, and then wondered if anyone had ever seen a warning label on money, like we have on so many other things.
Now, it’s a widely used word, even outside the church, where people recognize how getting caught up in materialism can be a real sickness…it can ruin lives… it can cripple families, it can debilitate and cripple us, and have a ripple effect that destroys us.
Scripture says that too.
1 Tim. 6:9-10 (NIV) People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Here are some ideas about what affluenza is:
Americans are infected with an all-consuming virus that threatens our individual and communal well being. It is called affluenza, which is defined as a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste, resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. The symptoms are everywhere, the causes not so mysterious and the treatment available, but sadly there is little evidence that many Americans recognize they suffer from affluenza and even less evidence that those who are aware will actually take significant steps towards recovering from the disease.
Symptoms of affluenza include: shopping fever, bankruptcies, family upheaval, an ache for meaning, the consumerizing of our children and a loss of community and satisfaction accompanying our lives.
Even PBS, hardly a bastion of spiritual truth, noted the problems with affluenza in a special report a few years ago:
This report called affluenza a dysfunctional relationship with money/wealth, or the pursuit of it. This program noted that affluenza is characterized by:
- an inability to delay gratification and tolerate frustration
- a false sense of entitlement
- loss of future motivation
- preoccupation with externals
- self-absorption
- workaholism
- rampant materialism and consumerism
I think an example of affluenza.is our society’s infatuation with the lottery. I read that Oklahomans spent more than $5 million in the first five days of lottery ticket sales in our state, the 41st of the 50 states to give in to affluenza in this particular form. This also shows that affluenza is not just a rich peoples illness. Most of the people who play the lottery don’t have the money to waste. But they’re infected with this illness, which apparently also makes you stupid, because, against all logic, against incredible odds, those with affluenza seem to think that it could happen to them…that they could be that big winner, and never have to work again a day in their lives.
Unfortunately, for many, there’s a huge cost to this illness, this get-rich-quick mentality. Instead of lifting them out of poverty, it only worsens their financial situation.
Of course, the lottery is only one example of affluenza. Even the world recognizes that something’s wrong with this picture. Even the world knows, almost instinctively, that money and things cannot buy happiness, even though so many seem bent on trying to buy happiness anyway.
If money talks, said a comedian...then all it says to me is " BYE, BYE "...
Even the PBS program I mentioned earlier notes:
People across all socio-economic levels buy into the overriding value within our culture that money solves all problems, thus denial of money-related difficulties is supported by society. Many sufferers of affluenza hesitate to seek help. As a nation, we have developed the false sense of entitlement which is characteristic of affluenza. Far from guaranteeing happiness, wealth or the single-minded pursuit of it can destroy happiness, or -- at the least -- exacerbate existing problems.
It’s also interesting that most of the world’s major religions and philosophies recognize the danger of this illness as part of their teachings.
American Indian "Miserable as we seem in thy eyes, we consider ourselves… much happier than thou, in this, that we are very content with the little that we have." (Micmac chief)
Buddhist "Whoever in this world overcomes his selfish cravings, his sorrows fall away from him, like drops of water from a lotus flower." (Dhammapada, 336)
Confucian "Excess and deficiency are equally at fault." (Confucius, XI.15)
Ancient Greek "Nothing in Excess." (Inscribed at Oracle of Delphi)
Hindu "That person who lives completely free from desires, without longing… attains peace." (Bhagavad-Gita, II.71)
Islamic "Poverty is my pride." (Muhammad)
Jewish "Give me neither poverty nor riches." (Proverbs 30:8)
Taoist "He who knows he has enough is rich." (Tao Te Ching)
Of course, as Christians, we cannot help but notice, assuming we’re paying attention, the tremendous number of passages in our scriptures which deal with money, and warn us of the dangers of affluenza. Before the fall of the Iron curtain, a leader in the Romanian church, which suffered persecution under communism, said this:
"In my experience, 95% of the believers, who face the test of persecution, pass it. 95% of the believers who face the test of prosperity, fail it.”
Prosperity, having a lot, is a test of our faith. It’s a test of where we put our treasure. The parable that Jesus told immediately after the warning we just read talks about this.
Luke 12:16-21 (NIV) And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, ’What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18"Then he said, ’This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I’ll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ’ 20"But God said to him, ’You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Rich toward God. Isn’t that an interesting phrase? What are we rich toward? Are we rich toward things? Are we rich toward certain activities? Are we rich toward money or wealth? Or are we rich toward God? Being rich toward things is what the parable says it is: It’s storing up things for yourself.
Being rich toward God is storing up things, or spending ourselves, our time, our resources, on the things of God. Jesus tells us at the beginning of this parable that the good life has nothing to do with things, or with being wealthy. Because that’s true, we have to be on guard. We have to take precautions in our lives and in our spirits, against greed…which I guess would be a bible word for affluenza.
A big part of our problem in dealing with this illness, is that being on guard against greed, is the exact opposite of what we hear in our society. How about this advertising phrase? You can have it now! Or this one: You can have it all! Or this one: You deserve the best! Advertisers spend millions of dollars enticing us to let our guard down against affluenza.
If we take the illness analogy, and there was an outbreak of the flu, it would be as if advertisers said: Don’t wash your hands. Don’t worry about being around someone sneezing. Drink from the glass of someone with the flu, and be sure to share their food, too.
Advertisers tell us that if we buy more and more of their products, we’ll be happier, more fulfilled, more comfortable, maybe more popular, and definitely much cooler. There’s no hint of the warning of excess, and no hint that having the things they’re selling will not make us happy.
Did you know that 34% of Americans polled in 2000, rank shopping as their favorite activity?
Seventy percent of Americans visit malls each week, more than attend churches or synagogues. On average, Americans shop six hours a week, and spend only 40 minutes playing with their children. By the age of 20, the average American has seen some one million commercial messages.
How much do you think these million messages are balanced out by messages from the Word of God like we’re hearing this morning? If you figure that the average hour-long TV show has about 20 minutes of commercials in it, then all you have to do is watch two hours of TV, and you’re told during those hours to indulge yourself in exposure to affluenza for a period of time just as long as I’m taking this morning to remind us of the scriptural warning to be on guard against it.
And that’s only counting TV commercials, and not the hundreds of other ways other kinds of ads encourage us to indulge ourselves, because we’re worth it…at least according to those trying to get us to spend our money on their products. The sheer weight of these messages on our spirits is overwhelming.
Advertising accounts for 2/3 of the space in newspapers, and 40 percent of our mail. The average American spends one year of their lives watching TV commercials.
And here’s something that makes this onslaught of this contagious illness even tougher. Did you ever notice that when you have children, they’re usually the first to bring an illness into the house? Then everyone else in the house gets that cold or whatever? Well, children are the fastest growing segment of the consumer market. In 1995 alone, companies spent $1 billion marketing their products to young people. In the messages we get from our culture, if we hear something often enough, we start to believe it.
How about these ideas from this commercial onslaught:
If you use this product you will...
1. Join a wonderful group of people.
2. Feel appreciated.
3. Be rewarded.
4. Be held in high esteem by others.
5. Will have more love or sexual gratification in your life.
6. Will enjoy the adventure or escape that you want.
7. Will be more like famous or wealthy people.
8. Will be associated with success, humor, or tradition
9. Will find deep satisfaction.
And, if you do not use this product you will ...
10. Face social isolation or career failure.
11. Face failing health or death.
In other words, if you don’t use this product, you’re a real loser. All of these things conspire to spread affluenza. But the Bible says:
Luke 12:34 (NIV) For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
That verse is just a few verses beyond the parable we just read. It’s how Jesus concludes his remarks on trusting Him for our needs…reminding us that the Father knows what we need and is more than able to provide.
So to spend inordinate time and energy seeking after material things, may be revealing the initial symptoms of affluenza in our lives, or perhaps a full-blown case of this dread illness. In fact, 15 percent of everything the gospels record Jesus said relates to this topic (money and possessions). There’s more about money in scripture than His teachings on heaven and hell combined. So, it begs the question: Why did Jesus put such an emphasis on money and possessions? Why is there so much in scripture about wealth?
I think it’s clear…there’s a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and how we think about and handle money. We may try to separate our faith and our finances, but God sees these things as absolutely inseparable.
So what’s a good Christian to do?
How many of you remember the sermon back in August, twinkies or broccoli? If you remember that message, you may remember that, in our battle against worldliness, our inclination is to set certain external standards, and the way we do that is to come up with a list of do’s and don’t’s. And remember, we talked about how that may be the easiest solution, but it’s also the least effective solution to worldliness. That’s because, though worldliness may be revealed in our actions, worldliness is a heart attitude. It starts in the heart, and God looks at our hearts first. We can be worldly, and have no one else but God know it.
In other words, we can hide our worldly attitudes, just by not doing somebody’s list of don’ts. I said that day that I’d rather the Holy Spirit convict you about what’s worldly, than me come up with a list you try to live by.
The same kind of thing applies to affluenza. Affluenza is an illness of the heart. It may be a little harder to hide from others than worldliness, but still, God is the only doctor capable of diagnosing, and healing, the human heart. That’s true if the ailment is worldliness, and that’s true if the ailment is affluenza.
Let me be clear about something. We cannot usually diagnose affluenza in others. I must admit that, through the years, I’ve had times when I tried to be the affluenza doctor in other people. I would see someone’s luxurious house, someone’s big car, someone’s cool stuff, and immediately assume that they were inflicted with affluenza. Now, thank God, though this was a stupid thing to do, I didn’t compound my foolishness by telling these people to get an affluenza shot. But since those days, I’ve been convicted about something. Materialism is not primarily what you have, it is an attitude.
You can have a lot and not be afflicted with affluenza. You can have very little and have a very bad case of affluenza. As an attitude, only God can truly know what’s going on with us. Only God sees the heart. Now, it’s true, we may be able to notice symptoms. We may, in extreme cases, where God gives us the kind of relationship and direction that would allow us to speak these things to someone, see these symptoms of affluenza, and feel the need to ask them to go to the Great Physician to get checked for affluenza.
That may be more true of parents, who in some ways, serve as the physician’s assistant for their children, especially when they’re still living in your home.
We may feel the need to do what we’re doing this morning, and that is, educate in a general way, about this dread illness – its symptoms, its causes, its cure….with the purpose of inoculating people against affluenza, or helping them recover from affluenza in part of their lives.
In fact, relating back to the huge amount of scripture dealing with money and possessions, I’d say that this kind of education should be used more often than maybe we do here at TCF.
But only God can diagnose affluenza, and this message this morning is not so that we can look around us and wonder who might be a carrier, or who might suffer from this illness today. The only thing we need to do in response to this message this morning is ask, am I susceptible to affluenza?
And the answer to that is yes – we’re all susceptible. We must ask ourselves, are we afflicted with affluenza, in any part of our lives? We must look at our own heart, not the hearts of others.
I’m reminded of the apocryphal story about a conference in which one of the speakers asks, “Is it possible to own a house that is sinfully large? And how large would it have to be?” From the back, someone piped up, “Bigger than mine!”
Steve Farrar writes about the magazine Better Homes and Gardens. He says when he reads it, he’s reminded that the magazine is not called Homes and Gardens. It’s called Better Homes and Gardens.
Better than whose? Better than mine!
So, we have these warnings. They’re seen throughout the Word of God. But they’re for us, not for us to diagnose the other guy.
So, maybe we can see the problem. Maybe we can see the difficulty with affluenza. Maybe we can even admit that we’re at least susceptible to it, if not outright afflicted.
So what’s the cure – or maybe the inoculation, if you will? Is there an affluenza shot we can get? This may not be a complete list, but I think there are three things we can do.
1. cultivate a thankful heart
2. learn contentment
3. kill money’s power in us by giving it away
Cultivating a thankful heart is a very foundational thing in the life of a Christian.
Col. 2:6-7 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
There’s a definite connection between our growing in Christ - our development in the faith, being rooted in Him, being built up in Him, strengthened in our faith, and overflowing with thankfulness, as this verse says.
If we want to cultivate a thankful heart, and have a crop of overflowing thankfulness, the answer is so basic as to be missed sometimes. We must be rooted and grounded in Christ. We must practice the spiritual disciplines
- read the Word
- fellowship with saints
- talk to God in prayer daily
- live lives of repentance
Then, we can live in Him, overflowing with thanksgiving, with gratitude to the one who bought us with a price, the one who will never leave us or forsake us.
Another underappreciated way to cultivate a thankful heart is to practice delayed gratification. That’s the idea that we intentionally put off acquiring things. We might be able to get them now, perhaps by putting the purchase on a credit card.
But did you ever notice that when you delay the purchase of something you really want, how much sweeter it is when you get it? How much more thankful you are for it? How much more you appreciate it?
Second solution: The apostle Paul says we can learn contentment.
Philip. 4:11-13 (NIV) I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
Now, this is clearly related to our first point about being rooted and grounded in Christ. Note the reason Paul says he can be content when he has a lot of things, and content when he has very little in the way of material blessings.
He can do everything through Him. Who’s Him? Jesus. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Maker of the universe. The great provider.
God was Paul’s source, He wants to be ours. That was Paul’s not-too-well-kept secret. Our contentment, our satisfaction, must be in Him and Him alone. Only when we find our satisfaction in the things of God will we truly find real, genuine, life-giving satisfaction. If we’re satisfied in God, then I believe we can truly enjoy the things He blesses us with, because they’re gifts from Him. We can be content with plenty, we can be content with little.
Paul had his priorities straight. He was grateful for what he had, not worried about what he didn’t have. The secret of contentment lies in your perspective, your priorities, and your source of power.
Finally, perhaps the most effective way of killing the affluenza germs that seem to seek us out, to bombard us daily, is to get rid of the source. The source of material blessings is money. And money loses its power over us when we are faithful and consistent to give it away. And not just give it away, but to invest it in God’s purposes, in Kingdom purposes. That starts with the tithes, offerings and missions giving here. But it extends beyond that to the other things we give our resources to, as well as the things we spend our time and energy on.
The movie Wall Street contained an insightful comment: Hal Holbrook’s character says to Charlie Sheen’s character, “The problem with money is that it makes you do things you don’t want to do.”
It’s true, isn’t it? That’s what bad masters do. They enslave their followers.
Proverbs chapter 30 is attributed to Agur. Agur had a prayer to God in this chapter that you won’t hear on many Christian TV programs these days.
Proverbs 30:7-8 "Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: 8Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
Why would you pray that the Lord would not give you riches? We can all understand the prayer not to be poor, but why would we pray not to be rich? The answer is in the next verse:
Proverbs 30:9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ’Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
Agur knew that riches can turn a man’s heart away from God. One commentator wondered if it was possible that Agur, who was probably a contemporary of Solomon, saw what riches did to Solomon. Despite Solomon’s God-given wisdom, he couldn’t handle riches, either.
There are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. GK Chesterton
Agur knew he should desire less.
And finally, this well-known quote by martyred missionary Jim Elliott, who ironically ended up giving his life for His Lord.
A man is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
Let’s give away what we cannot keep – our resources, our money, our very lives. In return, we get so much more as we serve the King of Kings, and the things we get in exchange, we cannot lose. And in doing this, let’s ask God to protect us from affluenza.
