While my international travel had me a bit behind on all things iPad, once I’d settled in where I had a reasonable Internet connection, I checked out Apple’s latest product and shared my initial reactions on Facebook. I basically called it what the MacBook Air wanted to be, but wasn’t; that is, an uber-light web terminal that provides quick and easy access to your online world (with the bonus feature of having a potentially killer calendar app). A few people offered their initial reactions as well, including my brother who wrote:
Apple has mastered the art of capitalism and consumerism… create a product that nobody really needs with a bunch of fun, yet mostly pointless, apps and then convince people that they actually need it to make their lives happier. I DO have to tip my hat to that even if I doubt I will ever own one.
I’ll admit that my initial reaction was to get defensive, after all, I’m a self-confessed Mac junkie, you know, the type who has gotten up early in the morning on the day a new product is released and has sat in line before the store opened (which, by the way, is an incredible community experience that, sadly, Christian congregations rarely offer). However, as I considered the way Mac advertises, and how others respond when they get their hands on my iPhone and immediately ask what games I have on it (the answer is, I don’t because I didn’t like the amount of time I wasted playing them), in the end, I had to, at least at a large level, agree with him.
As a result of his comments, over the past number of days, I’ve been wrestling with the issue of faith and consumerism. Now, I don’t want to come out and say that all products like the iPhone, iPad, or any whatever else is out there is inherently evil and that no self-respecting Christian should own one, but if my brother is right, and I’m inclined to say that he is, then how does a life of faith invite us to respond to products that are developed primarily to feed into our consumer culture?
First, this assumes that a consumer culture is a bad thing, which I’d argue it is, and it doesn’t matter how you define it:
- Increased consumption is good for the economy. No, responsible consumption might be, but purely increased makes the rich richer, the poor poorer, and the middle-class debt-laden, something that stands in strong opposition to the Bible’s notion of justice.
- Buying stuff will bring personal fulfillment and make you happy. No, it will just give you a temporary high that will quickly wear off and leave you pining for more stuff. This is what Scripture would call idolatry, and the pining part, is the evidence that your false god has failed you.
So, if consumer culture is one of those things that Christ calls us to repent of, and if we’re to believe in the gospel and the Kingdom of God that the gospel invites us into, how should Christians approach products that were created for a consumer culture that we’re no longer a part of? Here are a few guiding questions that I’ve come up with:
- How will this product help me to love God and serve my neighbor? At first, this might sound like a question that automatically deserves the answer, “It won’t.” but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case. For example, I’m an idea person, which means my mind, at the oddest times, comes up with all kinds of ideas that are helpful for preaching, teaching, or some other ministry project (all of which help me to serve my neighbor). However, the ideas come in flashes and if I don’t get them recorded immediately, they’re lost. Now, I used to try and write them down on paper, but the vast majority of my notes ended up getting lost or going through the washing machine (the same thing would happen with reminders of things that I needed to do after a conversation or a meeting). However, with my iPhone and the combination of the Evernote and OmniFocus apps, I’ve not only retained my ideas, but I’ve been able to put them to use, and I’ve been more efficient at getting things that need to get done, done. In this way and others, my iPhone has helped me to serve my neighbor (although, I will be the first to admit that I haven’t always managed it well and it’s also served as a distraction).
- What is currently filling the role the new product would serve? Given that it was the iPad that started this conversation, and that I just mentioned my iPhone, this seems like a good follow-up question. Incorporated into this question is the debate as to whether the new product is substantially better at filling this role (my iPhone over paper) or just nominally better / equivalent (an iPad over my iPhone). It seems that if you’re not significantly improving your ability to love God or serve your neighbor, then you’re really just being one with the consumer culture that you’ve been called out of.
- If the new product does allow you to love and serve significantly better, is there a reason to keep the less effective product? Now, in the case of going from paper to my iPhone, this really wasn’t important, however, if I’d come to the conclusion that an iPad would be a significant upgrade to my iPhone, then I’d have to ask what to do with my iPhone. I’d have to explore the resale value, the cost of a dumb phone and an iPad when compared to an iPhone, and the cost of getting rid of the iPhone (you know, that pesky contract with AT&T).
There’s a few of my initial thoughts on this issue. I’d love to have this turn into a conversation so, what are your thoughts? If you’re not sure where to start, how about:
- Do you disagree with my premise that being a part of consumer culture is being a part “of” the world (as opposed to being “in” it)?
- How would you adjust the guidelines offered?
- What other guidelines would you include?
- Am I out of line when I make the claim that my iPhone has helped me to serve my neighbor?
For those of you who know my preacher / teacher side, you know that I’m huge on hermeneutics, that is, the art of interpretation. When doing this work, I follow what’s known as the historical-grammatical method, which, as the name would indicate, involves seeking to understand what’s going on both culturally and historically at the time the text was written and how this impacted what the original audience heard, as well as digging into the grammar to understand the how the author used various words, what the words meant to the original audience, and how the words relate to one another.
