I hate Walmart. Actually I hate what Walmart stands for. Nothing against Sam Walton - he really was a great man, and I'm not sure what the company has become would honor him. What I hate is the consumerism it represents.
I can drive by our local Wally world, night or day, and find the parking lot full. What on earth are people so in need of buying that they need to fill the parking lot (not to mention the isles) all day long? Our town isn't that big!!
And my own answer to that is "frills". I know that some people shop there to get cheap essentials. Food and toilet paper and diapers are things that we really need. But what about the frills? I have a sneaking suspicion that we have simply become addicted to buying. We like the buzz of new crap.
Walmart is a little like the church - we like the buzz, whether it was the founder's intention for that to happen or not. I think Sam Walton wanted to provide a cheap way for people to be able to live, not a cheap way for America to drown in its own consumerism. And I think Jesus started the church to love the world, not provide a religious feel-good for consumer oriented Christians.
It looks to me like we have taken that God shaped hole inside and stuffed it with anything that we can cram in there. How much longer do you suppose He will tolerate that?
Thursday, May 28, 2009
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2 comments:
I don't think that Wal-Mart promotes consumerism more than any other store. What I dislike about Wal-Mart, and all chain stores, is the lack of a personal touch. I'd rather spend a little more at my local family-owned grocery store because I know the people there and feel better patronizing a small, local business. But I do find myself shopping for essentials at Wal-Mart because doing so saves me a few bucks. It's a struggle.
I find a similar struggle when it comes to church. Our little church is failing, and my kids clamor to go to the big church down the street. There's a program for everyone there. But when everything is programmed, there's no personal touch. I feel like a consumer.
Maybe we should start having church at Wal-Mart. That certainly creates a lot of conversations and images in my mind.
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