The treasure those consumer mobs missed in ‘free’ aisle

By Wayne Hammel

Image credit: miamism.com

Every year we are bombarded about the ferocity surrounding Black Friday just before Christmas. In 2011 no one that I know of was trampled to death, or died by some other means, but there were several ugly incidents all across the nation: a woman in Los Angeles was so intent on getting at a crate of xBox video games that she pepper-sprayed 20 other customers to clear her path; crowds in New York decided they had enough “mob” power to forget about the “paying” part and looted a clothing store, taking whatever they wanted as the shopkeeper was helpless to stop them; shootings at stores from the West Coast to the East Coast; stabbings in Sacramento; police having to restrain customers who decided they didn’t want to wait for the store to open and stormed it early; arrests occurring all across the country; and so it goes, the list goes on.

What’s the deal with all this?

Many want to blame corporations or the shopkeepers who hype their sales to the point where people supposedly cannot possibly maintain control of themselves.

Maybe crazed consumers are to blame for the yearly uproar that runs virtually to the end of the year. The answer, of course, is a simple one: both are partially to blame. It is really ironic that America’s post-Christian nightmare reaches the height of insanity around the day that we honor the birth of Jesus.

If our treasure is represented by how we act as consumers during the Christmas season, we need to consider the Word of God and repent of our obsession with property and bargains. The church, which should be the conscience of the nation and be an example of godly living, should look nothing like the rest of the country.

Jesus warned us about the temptation of property in the Sermon on the Mount: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19–21 (KJV 1900)

Look, the simple fact that everybody seems to ignore, and has become a cliché I suppose, is that wealth is temporary. That is a no-brainer! You are going to die and leave whatever you have accumulated behind. You ain’t taking anything with you! Job said in Job 1:21 (KJV 1900) “And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Our mortality is no excuse for us to just lay back, do nothing, and be totally worthless all our lives. The Scriptures intend to put things in their proper perspective. We are to work hard, take care of our families and be financially responsible; that is a Christian’s obligation. But what goes on during the weeks leading up to Christmas, beginning with the insanity of Black Friday, has nothing whatsoever to do with the biblical command to honor the Lord with the resources He has given us.

Where is your treasure?

Is it on the temporary stuff advertised by Madison Avenue? Is our treasure centered on the junk advertised as being essential to our well-being and happiness? Or is our treasure focused on the only One who can eternally satisfy?

Christians already possess the sweetest treasure imaginable. We possess the crucified and risen Christ, and He possesses His people! Everything else is less than zero! God knows we need food, clothing, and shelter; He knows, and He will provide. What He will not provide for us, though, is anything that interferes with our relationship with Him. Those caught up with the things of the world go around pepper-spraying others in an effort to get stuff. To be in league with these shames the Name of the One who gave His all for us! That type of selfishness makes a mockery of the Christ who is “the way, the truth, and the life!”

Men in rescue missions don’t have much; but they aren’t immune to the greed that seems to infect all of us, particularly in the just-past Christmas time. And so, as we remember those who have far less than what most of us have, let’s not ever forget the most important gift we can give homeless men, women, and families: the truth of Gospel.

God in the Person of the Son entered into this world as a helpless baby, grew up into a man, and gave the gift of His life when He died on the cross for the sins of His people, thereby granting us eternal life. That is the mercy we come from celebrating.

Wayne Hammel works for Union Gospel Mission and is in charge of its discipleship program.