MATERIALISM

"So often we settle for how the world does things, when there is an opportunity to do it better."

"I grew up where everyone has everything and everyone is Christian"

-Beware of Christians

QUESTIONS

• Is having nice stuff really wrong?
• Can you love God and have all the things you want?

We live in a materialistic world and Christians are not exempt...

American consumers spent $1.1 billion on non-essentials..

72% of millennials feel social pressure to compare their material possessions with their peers.

87% of young Americans think it's important to buy and own things.

The US is responsible for 30.3% of the world's total retails sales.

The avg. American throws away 81 pounds of clothes annually.

Why should Christians Care?

• Church Fraud
• Prosperity Gospel

Open Bibles to Luke12:13-23

How can we connect this passage to materialism?

It's a heart issue

• Having a worldly/ungrateful perspective will most-likely lead you to ruin and seperation from God.
• But having a Christ-centered perspective brings righteousness and hope for the future

"All that is not of eternal use, is eternally useless"
-C.S. Lewis

Are you Materialistic, ask these questions:

• Do I find contentment in the things I already have or do I long for more?
• Are my dreams for the future about things or people?
• Could I give up all my material possessions?

Wealth & Poverty

"We make extreme poverty the enemy but we forget extreme wealth is just as deadly"

-Beware of Christians

- Families making less than $50K annually are the second-highest givers in terms of % of income

- Families making between 100K and 500K are least in total charitable giving in terms of % of income.

Homelessness has grown by 12% in the last year reaching 650K.

The US faces a shortage of 7.3 million affordable rental units

“Earn all you can; spend as little as you can; give as much as you can”
-John Wesley

Do you think this is relevant to our situation and culture?

Open Bibles to:
Nehemiah 5

Be Like Nehemiah

• In the midst of business, he saw those in need
• He sought social justice
• He restrained his own living
• He shared his resources with others

Truth to take away

Let's not seek to have more or less things unless our heart's desire is to use everything for God's kingdom.