Enslaved to Materialism and Convenience

I'm not sure that enslaved is the right word to use, but I've concluded that we are at least (my generation of 30-somethings and younger) obsessed with stuff (materialism) and ease (convenience). I am NOT saying that materialism or convenience-ism is limited to our age group. (I simply believe that we have to answer the problem). I don't think too many people would stand up to argue against the notion that America is consumed in the quest for getting more stuff. It's everywhere...from cars to clothes to electronics to home decor...the rage for more junk never ends. I live in an upper middle-class world of doctors, lawyer, business owners, and executives. But I'm definitely not even middle-class (maybe lower-middle class). The sheet metal in the parking lot (the cars) cost individually more than my annual salary for the most part.

The thing that I've noticed, and why I write those details, is that financial standing is all about perspective. I know one individual who I have regular contact with who equates his financial standing with mine. I always think, "you make a six-figure salary and you're talking about being in the same boat with me making in the low twenties (at the time)?" How could he think his struggles were like mine? His children are grown and married, his wife works, he has his own business and another side income and he wants to compare his financial "struggles" with mine! The answer to these questions is perspective. He doesn't see my struggle compared to his because he only looks at life through his self-centered spectacles. And we all do it! I'm not just picking on one person here. We are all absorbed in our own quest for more junk but we'll never admit it because we don't have a correct perspective.

As Christians I think this is especially sad. We do the same thing the world does by comparing our level of stuff with people who have more and say "I'm not a materialist!" People think that if they only spend $50,000 on an SUV that they are not a materialist because so-and-so spent $80,000 on theirs and that was a little over-the-top. "They're sooo materialistic!" We do this with our houses, our clothes, our... you name it. I don't think I have the simple answer that most of us would like (because of our obsession with convenience), but I feel pretty strong in concluding that we're sick.

So I'll have to come back to this and say more about perspective and then deal with this issue of convenience, which may be indeed what drives much of our materialism...but later.