Last fall Terrell Owens—or at least his publicist—revealed a lot about today’s youth culture. In case you missed the frenzy, the controversial Dallas Cowboys receiver looked as if he tried to commit suicide; but he said he accidentally overdosed on pain killers. Terrell Owens’ publicist, Kim Etheridge—with a bit of a “you-must-be-kidding” tone in her voice—matter-of-factly said Owens “has 25 million reasons to be alive.” In other words, why would anyone with a three-year, $25 million contract as a pro athlete want to commit suicide?
We’re living in an age that teaches redemption by wealth. Chances are that you don’t minister to many students who share Terrell Owens’ 25 million reasons for living. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t hoping right now to get there someday.
I realize it’s nothing new. The relentless pursuit of money has been around for a long, long time. I remember when the addiction first bit me.
I was in junior high. It was a Saturday morning in late summer, and my dad had ordered me to wash and wax the family car. I noticed my best friend, Howie, walking down the sidewalk. With him was Pete, who had just moved in across the street. They were going house to house, pausing for a few moments in front of each and then moving on. By the time they came to ours, I realized Howie was telling Pete about each of his neighbors. I turned and got very busy polishing the headlights. Then I heard Howie describe me and my family.
“And here’s where old second-hand Mueller lives. They never buy anything new.”
His words hit me like a punch in the stomach. I was more mad at my dad than Howie. Dad was a pastor, making a very meager four-figure salary. We lived next to our church in a neighborhood where everyone else had a five- or six-figure salary, two new cars, and a maid. My family didn’t have as many “reasons to be alive.”
Howie’s betrayal left me feeling an immense sense of inadequacy. Even though I now treasure my modest upbringing, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that there still is a battle inside between trusting God as my reason to live and trusting metal and paper gods.
Fast-forward to today. The values that influenced Howie (and me) are even more deeply entrenched and pervasive. Perhaps the only difference is that our self-confessed Christian kids are even less aware that there’s a contradiction between stating one’s allegiance to God while living out one’s allegiance to money and things.
CONSUMER-CULTURE REALITIES
In an effort to better understand how to address this sobering reality in our ministries, it’s important to look at the cultural realities that have made it possible.
Cultural Reality No. 1: Narcissism. Our kids are growing up in a world where a thick thread of narcissism is celebrated and woven through the fabric of their lives. It’s all about me, myself, and I. Look out for No.1. Children and teens are socialized into a selfishness characterized by narcissistic greed.
Cultural Reality No. 2: Materialism. Our consumer-oriented culture has fostered an ever-expanding spirit of materialism. He who dies with the most toys wins. Even our Christian kids are duped into believing that message. Of course, it’s counter to Jesus’ key question, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36, NIV).
Cultural Reality No. 3: Entitlement. Long before our kids reach adulthood, they are functioning with a deep sense of entitlement. Wants become needs; needs become what’s deserved.
Cultural Reality No. 4: Consumerism. Lastly, our culture teaches students to live to consume rather than to consume to live. When this happens, our vocational choices have little or nothing to do with working to the glory of God in a way that reflects His kingdom priorities. Instead, job choices are based on what kind of economic gain and lifestyle advances they promise. In this kind of world, everybody is—in the words of the ’80s band Loverboy—”working for the weekend.”
SUBSTITUTING CASH FOR GOD
God cares deeply about our attitudes toward money and wealth. Did you know that more is said in the New Testament about money and wealth than about heaven and hell combined? Five times more is said about money than prayer. And 16 out of Christ’s 38 parables deal with money. Theologian John Stott sums up Jesus’ teachings this way:
What Jesus forbids his followers is the selfish accumulation of goods; extravagant and luxurious living; the hardheartedness which does not feel the colossal need of the world’s under-privileged people; the foolish fantasy that a person’s life consists in the abundance of his possessions; and the materialism which tethers our hearts to the earth.1
What steps, then, can we take to eliminate these roadblocks to maturity in Christ?
Action Step No. 1: Teach the fall. Our kids need to learn that selfishness is ingrained into them down to the very core of their being.
Shortly after the Protestant Reformation, the writers of the Heidelberg Catechism asked, “What does the Law of God require of us?” They found the answer summarized in Matthew 22:37-40: that we are required to love the Lord our God and to love our neighbor. They then asked, “Can you keep all this perfectly?” They answered, “No, for by nature I am prone to hate God and my neighbor.”
All of us are born in a state of sin. We hunger for God and His kingdom, yet we are prone to substitute other gods and “redeemers.” More often than not, the god we embrace in today’s world is money and things.
Action Step No. 2: Define true success. Part of our job is to help our students redefine their idea of success by equipping them to understand and live out God’s definition.
Of course, this requires that we understand and live out His definition ourselves. Success is faithfulness to God and obedience to His commands.
Action Step No. 3: Demonstrate living “without.” The world’s poorest Christians often have a joyful faith that puts us to shame. They haven’t become “tethered” to the world. Instead, their deep need has led them to tether themselves to God.
We need to experience the blessing of finding satisfaction in Christ and not be tripped up or distracted by an abundance of “stuff.” Our young people need to embrace a life that John Piper says is “a rhythm of need and nourishment” and “a rhythm of danger and deliverance.”2 Could it be that being blessed is exactly the opposite of what we’ve come to believe it to be?
Action Step No. 4: Serve. Finally, we must engage our students in opportunities to live out the gospel through selfless service.
We should teach our kids kingdom priorities by letting them experience opportunities to truly worship by acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with their God (Micah 6:8). Maybe it’s time to foster spiritual formation, not by taking that expensive youth-group ski trip to the Rockies over Christmas vacation but by getting involved in missions and service.
The truth is, there’s only one reason to be alive. It’s not football or cool cars, super salaries or big houses. What are you doing to point kids out of the deadly fog of materialism and into the waiting arms of the life-giving Redeemer?
[1] John Stott, ed. By Timothy Dudley-Smith, Authentic Christianity (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 242.
2 John Piper, A Godward Life (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1997), 85.
WALT MUELLER IS PRESIDENT OF THE Center for Youth/Parent Understanding and the author of Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture and other books.
