Countdown...

For many the countdown has been on for, well, maybe about 11 months now.  Finally it is only a few days away…  Actually, that is incorrect.  It is now way less than 24 hours away.  No, the “it” is not Thanksgiving Day (although I did intend to write and post this earlier in the week).  The “it” is perhaps the most unholy of days – black Friday. 

It is no longer enough to get up way before dawn the day after expressing thanks for all of our “blessings” to go out and get more of these “blessings” at a reduced price.  That way of doing things is soooo 2000.  It is not enough anymore to be camping out for days (or even a week) in advance of the biggest shopping day of the year.  That, by the way, is probably soooo 2010. 

Come on now, this is 2012, and the way we roll is by starting black Friday on, uh, turquoise Thursday.  Oh, I mean Thanksgiving Thursday.  Now before you get riled up about this intrusion on a day of thankfulness, you will be pleased to know (depending on the stores you choose to visit) that you can eat your turkey (maybe for breakfast) before heading to stores that will open at 3:00pm or so.  Yet some will open at 9:00am, or earlier. 

I could make this longer, but I will refrain.  Yet I will admit I am using some strong words and being a bit sarcastic as well.  However, my next sentence will be neither sarcastic nor an overstatement.  Our culture (for years and years) has been leading people on a way one path to hell. 

If we do not take the time to ponder the results of actions, or listen to others telling us something that seems brash, or ridiculous, or something that is obviously wrong because I have never heard that before, then we may wake up one day and wonder, “Where did things all go wrong?” 

I am not against saving money.  I am not against giving gifts.  I am not pleading for the government to pass a law against “black Friday,” or anything like that.  I simply want us (especially if you are a follower of Jesus) to think.  What does all of “this” really get us?  For some it gets a pressure of feeling they “have” to go out on Friday (or Thursday) and get great deals for gifts for their kids…because after all money is tight…and the kids really need this stuff – or we really want to give it to them – and we can save a lot of money (and who doesn't want to see their kids "happy"?).  Stop.  Just stop, please.  Do we realize where that is going to lead? 

Now specifically for followers of Jesus, we need to acknowledge the fact that we live in a materialistically driven culture.  We must wrestle with the truth that what keeps many from God (or stagnant in their walk with Him) is money (cf. Mk4:7,18-19).  I am not anti-money.  I cannot be because God is not anti-money; He owns it all anyway.  Yet what I am “anti” (right along with God) is what it does to people.  Indeed, I know what it can do to me.  Yet sadly, I am not even fully aware of that - because I am blind to so many things.    

I am also “anti” how black Friday and the like overshadow Christmas; or how somehow people think they are preparing for Christmas by saving a lot of money.  Christmas is not a day, it is a season.  Yes, Christmas is an entire season preceded by another season – Advent.  We will have more on Advent later; perhaps on the most unholy day of the year.