"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5 KJV
What did Jesus mean when he said meek? From my experience, ministers typically make a distinction between "meekness" and "cowardice." I must agree. First of all, meekness does not necessarily refer to the way that we present ourselves to our neighbors. Perhaps Jesus was referring to our walk with God. Perhaps it is those who walk meekly before their God rather than humanity who will inherit the earth. If this beatitude is read in this way, it takes on a poetic tone that often recurs in the Bible. As the gospel message indicates, you must first give yourself up to God in order to find yourself. Here too, we must first learn to walk humbly before our God before we can inherit the world. In order to gain everything, we must give up trying to gain everything through out own power.
What does someone who walks humbly before God look like? As Jesus states in Matthew 22, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." KJV. The greatest commandment is love the Lord our God; the lesser commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Why is the command to love your neighbor as yourself lesser than the commandment to love the Lord our God? Certainly God is much more important than any individual. Perhaps we might also consider the idea that a follower of God must first love God before he or she can love their neighbors. One who loves the Lord our God, loves the rest of God's people. Perhaps this is why--as Matthew 25:40 indicates--whatever we do unto the least of God's children we do unto God. The fruit of our love for God is love for our fellow human beings. Thus, perhaps one who walks humbly before the Lord, walks humbly before the rest of humanity as well. The fruit of our humble spirit before God, manifests itself in our humility before the rest of creation as well.
If anybody reads this an is a Christian, he or she will probably think to themselves well duh. I fear, however, that we know these words but we don't know how to implement these words. Just look at the world that we have created. Do we walk humbly before our God? We live in an age of material and technological abundance. The typical apologetic I hear for our lives is that we can make enough for everyone. If we invent more efficient machines, we can decrease the time of production and increase what is produced. We can make it possible for everyone to overindulge in this world. I keep hearing this, but I cannot help but shake the suspicion that our abundance rests upon the misery of others.
A family member of mine recently lauded an online college for its low tuition. As an online instructor, my heart sank a bit. How do you think they got that low tuition? They are able to charge so little because online adjuncts are paid very little. They are taking the labor of their instructors and unfairly compensating them for their work. They are able to do so because those instructors are desperate for money to survive. Similarly, perhaps Walmart is able to get those low, low prices because someone out there is not getting paid fairly for his or her work. Every time customers pat themselves on their backs for getting a great deal, a sweat shop worker sheds a tear. Most Americans believed that we got rid of slavery in 1865, and wage labor has in fact taken over in most of North America. Despite this, we should recognize that various forms of unfree labor exist around the world. Statistics remain a bit sketchy because most of those imprison and exploit their workers try to keep it a secret, but my impression is that there are at least as many unfree laborers in the world today as there were in 1865.
Unlike the nineteenth century, however, most churches do not engage in consumer boycotts in order to combat unfair labor practices. In the antebellum US, many if not most abolitionists became abolitionists because of their Christian devotion. Most of those abolitionists refused to buy cotton made with slave labor because they recognized that doing so would only encourage the growth of slavery. Buying cloth made with slave labor would only encourage the slaveholder, and thus they believed that buying slave made produce would make them just as bad as those who whipped the slaves. Where are the Christians today who engage in consumer protests? Does buying clothes made by sweat shop workers make us just as guilty as those who abuse the workers directly? Is blissful ignorance the same thing as blessed innocence?
I think you can see at this point where I am headed. We Americans have lusted after high living for quite some time now. In Texas--so the saying indicates--everything is bigger and thus better. The Texans' slogan could be applied to most American Christians today. We may talk about walking humbly, but then Monday through Saturday we lust after the high life. Unlike our nineteenth-century ancestors, I have never heard an American Christian minister say much about American over consumption our duty to walk humbly before our God. What is the fruit of our desire for big things? We are willing to sacrifice our neighbor for our wants. Our rebellion against God manifests itself in our unneighborly attitude.
The past few months we have been told to buy, buy, and then buy some more. I have never heard any ministers suggest that perhaps this is not a good thing. By promoting consumption, are we saving Americans or saving the economy? By promoting consumption, are we saving greed and lust? Perhaps I am wrong and the apologists for American consumerism are correct. Perhaps we can enjoy overabundance and spread it around the world. Perhaps the key is that we simply need to develop more efficient technologies. I'm worried, however, that we no longer thoughtfully consider that the way we spend our money may change whether we treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated. I'm worried that we do not reflect upon the possibility that our lust for overindulgence may bear bad fruit. It at least seems like a conversation worth having in this day and age when so many people in this recession are begging to realize the true fruits of over consumption: greed and self-centeredness.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Walking Humbly Before the Lord
John 13:3-4 “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.”
It is not uncommon for religious folks to say that there is a lot wrong with America today. Rarely, however, do Christians indicate that community is something that is missing from American society. Despite the relative silence on the subject of community from the Christian right—though they are very loud when it comes to issues like abortion and homosexuality—America’s inability to create community is something that many Americans, both Christian and non-Christian, recognize as a very real problem. In the sixties, students rebelled against a government and society that they felt did not allow them to be whom they were supposed to be. One of these movements against America’s cultural institutions was the Students for a more Democratic society. As they indicated in their foundational document, The Port Huron Statement, Americans were unsatisfied with their lives because there was “no real conception of personal identity except one manufactured in the image of others, no real urge for personal fulfillment except to be almost as successful as the very successful people.” Many students rebelled from this competitive, impersonal, and stultifying environment by dropping out. Some hoped to find something that transcend the media images they were increasingly being bombarded with. Some formed communes in the hopes of finding themselves.
It is tempting to think of these folks who “dropped out” of society by joining communes as finding themselves by rejecting their communities. In order to find themselves, they had to leave everyone else behind. They had to get away from it all. Some of the folks who founded these communes went to Amish communities to learn from them the skills they would need to make a more independent life. They were probably very surprised to discover that these Amish were the Americans who were most dependent on their communities and most willing to humble themselves before their friends. Most of them went to learn how to can vegetables and build homes; few went searching for the reason that the Amish “dropped out” of modern American society. The Amish dropped out of American society so that they could better become servants of the Lord. They decided that worldly, modern possessions inhibited this growth, and they therefore decided not to adopt electrical appliances or automobiles. In order to be more dependent upon the Lord, they decided that they could not become dependent upon what the world had to offer them.
Most Christians today would wonder what cars have to do with humbling ourselves before the Lord? Perhaps an automobile might be a tool that might help us to serve the Lord better. If one looks at the Amish and their communities, however, I think that we can begin to see why depriving themselves of automobiles is so important for their Christian walks. Unlike the world around them, the Amish don’t feel anonymous within a world of big advertisers, nationally syndicated shows, and Tickle-me Elmos. They are radically attached to a place and a community. They cannot travel very far very fast. They have forced themselves to rely upon each other. By getting rid of their automobiles, they have forced themselves to be dependent upon each other. If they need help, they have to humble themselves before their friends and ask for assistance. Within their tightly knit, small communities they cannot remain anonymous. They are unable to drive away and start a new anonymous life somewhere else when they become trapped in a sin. They have to allow their friends to labor with them in love. They have to work things out since they cannot just leave, and they cannot remain individuals in a place where they have to rely on their neighbors. In short, by denying themselves automobiles they have forced themselves to humble themselves to each other.
I think that this helps me to understand better how we, as Christians, might follow the model set by Jesus Christ when he washed the feet of his disciples. He was and is the greatest of all possible people. He is unique in being both fully human and fully divine. Yet even he humbled himself before his disciples. Indeed, Christ’s life is one in which He sacrificed himself for the sake of His disciples and the rest of humanity. He died so that we might live. Christ’s life is thus an even more radical commitment to community and to humility than the Amish.
The lesson of Christianity to the world around it is that human beings might better find out who they are by first dying to themselves. Perhaps the first step in following this Biblical model is to abandon our search for bigness. Stop looking for more money, buying bigger houses, becoming the smartest person, or striving to become the toughest nation on the block. In our search for big things we have lost ourselves. The unrest of the 1960s is an example of the effects of striving for bigness. In searching for our own glory we lost ourselves. We became lonely and isolated. Perhaps we can find ourselves by humbling ourselves before our God, and what better way to practice humility than by humbling ourselves before God’s servants. This is why loving the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and strength is the greatest commandment. Loving our neighbors with all our hearts, minds, and strength flows out of devotion and obedience to God. Walking humbly before all of humanity is what Christ did for us, and it is how we should walk before God and before each other. Whatever we do unto the least of these is truly what we do unto the Lord, and practicing humility before the least of these helps us to become more humble before the Lord.
How might we apply this desire for humility to our lives? What does a humble life look like? Do we need to give up our worldly possessions? Perhaps. It seems to have worked rather well for the Amish who in being radically humbled before each other are radically humble before our Lord. It might be good for all of us to start looking at those parts of our lives that prevent us from better exhibiting the humility that God performed before us when he washed his disciples’ feet. What things get in the way of acting humbly before God and each other? One person might find that he or she watches too much television. Perhaps by turning it off he or she might be able to find more opportunities to create community with her fellow Christians. Perhaps by refusing to want to be the best student, employee, or historian Christians might find more time to dedicate to each other rather than to themselves. This searching of oneself is perhaps best left to the individual believer, but it something that Christians ought to be more self-conscious of.
A few decades ago, an historian named Samuel Hill reflected on Southern white churches. He asked himself why white church communities were not more concerned about the civil rights struggle going on around them. He concluded that it was because they were primarily concerned with justification. Once a seeker declared faith in Christ, the process was over. As such, they ignored the evils that went on around them so that they might focus on getting everyone to say they had faith in Christ. Such an imbalance continues today. Perhaps we should more strongly emphasize fellowship that we can daily become more like Christ. We should lovingly point out to each other the worldly things that keep us from producing better fruit. Perhaps the world around us really does matter. Perhaps the world around us can keep us from growing in Christ. Perhaps we should not call it quits once a seeker learns a Christian lexicon. We should recognize that the stuff we have and the the stuff we do are not just a tool that can be used for good or evil depending upon the person in control of that stuff. Material things have a power too.
We ought to seriously reflect upon what is leading us astray today. What makes us so concerned about funding a national military so that we can be strongest country in the world? Why is it so important that I tune into American Idol; would that time be better spent reading, writing, or laughing with my child? Is this car helping me get to where I need to go, or is it enabling me to get away from where I need to be? Are these activities and things helping us in our walk to become more like Christ, are they neutral, or do they hinder our walk. I think that most Christians would regard such things as neutral in our walk with the Lord, and perhaps they have neither positive nor negative affects for individual believers. On the other hand, I don’t think many self-proclaimed Christians—with the exception of the Amish and few other plain believers—have spent much time reflecting on the effect that such things and actions have on us. Since so many other non-believers feel alienated by what the world has to offer, we might do well to think and pray about the effects that such things have upon us. Apparently, most Americans feel that something is missing in our hyper-consumerism. If we reflect upon the things that lead us astray and abandon those things that lead us astray, we might actually be able to show all those seekers out there that they can find themselves by first dying to themselves.
It is not uncommon for religious folks to say that there is a lot wrong with America today. Rarely, however, do Christians indicate that community is something that is missing from American society. Despite the relative silence on the subject of community from the Christian right—though they are very loud when it comes to issues like abortion and homosexuality—America’s inability to create community is something that many Americans, both Christian and non-Christian, recognize as a very real problem. In the sixties, students rebelled against a government and society that they felt did not allow them to be whom they were supposed to be. One of these movements against America’s cultural institutions was the Students for a more Democratic society. As they indicated in their foundational document, The Port Huron Statement, Americans were unsatisfied with their lives because there was “no real conception of personal identity except one manufactured in the image of others, no real urge for personal fulfillment except to be almost as successful as the very successful people.” Many students rebelled from this competitive, impersonal, and stultifying environment by dropping out. Some hoped to find something that transcend the media images they were increasingly being bombarded with. Some formed communes in the hopes of finding themselves.
It is tempting to think of these folks who “dropped out” of society by joining communes as finding themselves by rejecting their communities. In order to find themselves, they had to leave everyone else behind. They had to get away from it all. Some of the folks who founded these communes went to Amish communities to learn from them the skills they would need to make a more independent life. They were probably very surprised to discover that these Amish were the Americans who were most dependent on their communities and most willing to humble themselves before their friends. Most of them went to learn how to can vegetables and build homes; few went searching for the reason that the Amish “dropped out” of modern American society. The Amish dropped out of American society so that they could better become servants of the Lord. They decided that worldly, modern possessions inhibited this growth, and they therefore decided not to adopt electrical appliances or automobiles. In order to be more dependent upon the Lord, they decided that they could not become dependent upon what the world had to offer them.
Most Christians today would wonder what cars have to do with humbling ourselves before the Lord? Perhaps an automobile might be a tool that might help us to serve the Lord better. If one looks at the Amish and their communities, however, I think that we can begin to see why depriving themselves of automobiles is so important for their Christian walks. Unlike the world around them, the Amish don’t feel anonymous within a world of big advertisers, nationally syndicated shows, and Tickle-me Elmos. They are radically attached to a place and a community. They cannot travel very far very fast. They have forced themselves to rely upon each other. By getting rid of their automobiles, they have forced themselves to be dependent upon each other. If they need help, they have to humble themselves before their friends and ask for assistance. Within their tightly knit, small communities they cannot remain anonymous. They are unable to drive away and start a new anonymous life somewhere else when they become trapped in a sin. They have to allow their friends to labor with them in love. They have to work things out since they cannot just leave, and they cannot remain individuals in a place where they have to rely on their neighbors. In short, by denying themselves automobiles they have forced themselves to humble themselves to each other.
I think that this helps me to understand better how we, as Christians, might follow the model set by Jesus Christ when he washed the feet of his disciples. He was and is the greatest of all possible people. He is unique in being both fully human and fully divine. Yet even he humbled himself before his disciples. Indeed, Christ’s life is one in which He sacrificed himself for the sake of His disciples and the rest of humanity. He died so that we might live. Christ’s life is thus an even more radical commitment to community and to humility than the Amish.
The lesson of Christianity to the world around it is that human beings might better find out who they are by first dying to themselves. Perhaps the first step in following this Biblical model is to abandon our search for bigness. Stop looking for more money, buying bigger houses, becoming the smartest person, or striving to become the toughest nation on the block. In our search for big things we have lost ourselves. The unrest of the 1960s is an example of the effects of striving for bigness. In searching for our own glory we lost ourselves. We became lonely and isolated. Perhaps we can find ourselves by humbling ourselves before our God, and what better way to practice humility than by humbling ourselves before God’s servants. This is why loving the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and strength is the greatest commandment. Loving our neighbors with all our hearts, minds, and strength flows out of devotion and obedience to God. Walking humbly before all of humanity is what Christ did for us, and it is how we should walk before God and before each other. Whatever we do unto the least of these is truly what we do unto the Lord, and practicing humility before the least of these helps us to become more humble before the Lord.
How might we apply this desire for humility to our lives? What does a humble life look like? Do we need to give up our worldly possessions? Perhaps. It seems to have worked rather well for the Amish who in being radically humbled before each other are radically humble before our Lord. It might be good for all of us to start looking at those parts of our lives that prevent us from better exhibiting the humility that God performed before us when he washed his disciples’ feet. What things get in the way of acting humbly before God and each other? One person might find that he or she watches too much television. Perhaps by turning it off he or she might be able to find more opportunities to create community with her fellow Christians. Perhaps by refusing to want to be the best student, employee, or historian Christians might find more time to dedicate to each other rather than to themselves. This searching of oneself is perhaps best left to the individual believer, but it something that Christians ought to be more self-conscious of.
A few decades ago, an historian named Samuel Hill reflected on Southern white churches. He asked himself why white church communities were not more concerned about the civil rights struggle going on around them. He concluded that it was because they were primarily concerned with justification. Once a seeker declared faith in Christ, the process was over. As such, they ignored the evils that went on around them so that they might focus on getting everyone to say they had faith in Christ. Such an imbalance continues today. Perhaps we should more strongly emphasize fellowship that we can daily become more like Christ. We should lovingly point out to each other the worldly things that keep us from producing better fruit. Perhaps the world around us really does matter. Perhaps the world around us can keep us from growing in Christ. Perhaps we should not call it quits once a seeker learns a Christian lexicon. We should recognize that the stuff we have and the the stuff we do are not just a tool that can be used for good or evil depending upon the person in control of that stuff. Material things have a power too.
We ought to seriously reflect upon what is leading us astray today. What makes us so concerned about funding a national military so that we can be strongest country in the world? Why is it so important that I tune into American Idol; would that time be better spent reading, writing, or laughing with my child? Is this car helping me get to where I need to go, or is it enabling me to get away from where I need to be? Are these activities and things helping us in our walk to become more like Christ, are they neutral, or do they hinder our walk. I think that most Christians would regard such things as neutral in our walk with the Lord, and perhaps they have neither positive nor negative affects for individual believers. On the other hand, I don’t think many self-proclaimed Christians—with the exception of the Amish and few other plain believers—have spent much time reflecting on the effect that such things and actions have on us. Since so many other non-believers feel alienated by what the world has to offer, we might do well to think and pray about the effects that such things have upon us. Apparently, most Americans feel that something is missing in our hyper-consumerism. If we reflect upon the things that lead us astray and abandon those things that lead us astray, we might actually be able to show all those seekers out there that they can find themselves by first dying to themselves.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Dying to Find Life
It was John Lennon who said, "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans." As a Christian, I have been reflecting upon what exactly this means for my own life. John Lennon isn't particularly renowned as a Christian scholar or teacher, but what he says does sound vaguely like what Paul told the Romans. In order to find a life that is more worthwhile and more valuable, you must first give up the life you have been trying so hard to claim for yourself. When we become Christians, we are crucified with Christ and have been given a new life with Christ. "Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God." Romans 6:8-10 NIV In other words, life is what happens when you first give up your own cares and concerns. Your worldly life has been crucified with Christ, and you have been given a far better life.
Have I followed this Biblical command? Have I put my old life behind me? Am I now no longer lusting after the ways of the world but rather seeking righteousness? I must admit that I would find the answers to these questions quite troubling. Upon reflection, I put a rather high value on the things of this world. I work very hard to maintain my lifestyle. Upon reflection, I seem rather devoted to my own cares and my own flesh and not all that concerned about seeking righteousness. Most days, the idea of seeking after God does not even enter my mind since I am so consumed with my own concerns. I have not really let go of my own life in order to find a better life with Christ.
Paul is convincing me that my life is currently astray, but I have also been convicted by other writers who have long since died. Just the other day, I was reading one of John Woolman's--an eighteenth-century itinerant Friend--epistles to his fFriends. In his own day, Woolman was incredibly concerned about the effects of slavery. For Woolman, slavery was an evil because of what it did to the slave. Slavery, however, was also an evil for what it did to the master of the slave. When masters took command over slaves, they may have intended "to govern reasonably, and to make their Subjects more happy than they would be otherwise." Woolman noted, however, that slaveowning had a natural tendency to make masters forget their places. Masters of slaves tended to forget that "absolute Command belongs only to him who is perfect, where frail Men, in their own Wills, assume such Command, it hath a direct Tendency" to pervert their minds and to make them rebellious to God's government over their souls. At the root of the slaveowner's problem, according to Woolman, was the slaveowner's misconception of his world. Whereas we are supposed to be all children before our heavenly father. Slaveowners had a tendency to view themselves as masters rather than children. Thus, acting like masters over their fellow brothers and sisters tended to make slaveowners believe that they really were a step above their fellow creatures. Prideful of their roles as masters, they were less likely to let God take control of their lives.
No Americans own slaves today, but we could benefit from reading Woolman's epistles. If we are not careful, our daily activities and habits might also lead us astray from God. Woolman also noted, for example, that slaveowners had a tendency to "lay heavy Burdens on others to support themselves in a luxurious Way of living." Slaveonwers thus willingly worked their fellow human beings for their own luxury and superfluous vanities. At root, slaveowners lusted after a more luxurious way of living and having achieved that luxury thought nothing of their true master. For the wise and obedient servant of God did not desire such vanities "before a plain, simple way of living." We Americans do not own slaves, and thus we are not corrupted by keeping our fellow human beings in bondage. Have we, however, given up our lustful pursuit of vanities? What does a "simple way of living" look like? How is it different than a life that is consumed by a desire for vanities?
One manifestation of our pursuit of vanity is our willingness to go shopping on Sunday. In Woolman's day, it was scandalous within religious communities for people to work on the Sabbath. These folks took literally, God's command to "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God." Exodus 20:8-10. The Sabbath was supposed to be a time of devotion to our God not for shopping. In fact, many religious communities spent all day in worship. The Puritans, for example, worshiped corporately in the morning, took a break for lunch, and then returned for more worship in the afternoon. Today, however, most self-professing Christians--myself included--think nothing of shopping on Sunday after perhaps spending one hour in devotion to God.
The sin of consuming and working on the Sabbath seems to be a very real manifestation of our unwillingness to let ourselves be crucified with Christ. God commands that six days is enough. We don't really need that extra day to labor for ourselves. Our unwillingness to give up this day not only makes us rebellious, but it hurts those who labor so that we can spend most of the day devoted to ourselves. If Christians go shopping, then the workers at the shopping malls and restaurants frequented by Christians cannot spend their day in devotion to God. Thus, our devotion to ourselves not only inflates our vanity in ourselves but also prevents others from spending the day in devotion to God. That seventh day should be devoted to God. Instead of obeying our God, however, we continue to devote that day to ourselves and our vanity. Like the slaveowners of the eighteenth century, we apparently really need to satisfy our vanities with worldly goods, and worse yet we are willing to sacrifice ourselves and our neighbors to satisfy our own vanity. We have let our concern for ourselves and our worldly desires prevent us from dedicating one solitary day to the worship of God. We are too busy making plans for ourselves that we are unwillingly to lose our lives so that we might find life with Christ.
Have I followed this Biblical command? Have I put my old life behind me? Am I now no longer lusting after the ways of the world but rather seeking righteousness? I must admit that I would find the answers to these questions quite troubling. Upon reflection, I put a rather high value on the things of this world. I work very hard to maintain my lifestyle. Upon reflection, I seem rather devoted to my own cares and my own flesh and not all that concerned about seeking righteousness. Most days, the idea of seeking after God does not even enter my mind since I am so consumed with my own concerns. I have not really let go of my own life in order to find a better life with Christ.
Paul is convincing me that my life is currently astray, but I have also been convicted by other writers who have long since died. Just the other day, I was reading one of John Woolman's--an eighteenth-century itinerant Friend--epistles to his fFriends. In his own day, Woolman was incredibly concerned about the effects of slavery. For Woolman, slavery was an evil because of what it did to the slave. Slavery, however, was also an evil for what it did to the master of the slave. When masters took command over slaves, they may have intended "to govern reasonably, and to make their Subjects more happy than they would be otherwise." Woolman noted, however, that slaveowning had a natural tendency to make masters forget their places. Masters of slaves tended to forget that "absolute Command belongs only to him who is perfect, where frail Men, in their own Wills, assume such Command, it hath a direct Tendency" to pervert their minds and to make them rebellious to God's government over their souls. At the root of the slaveowner's problem, according to Woolman, was the slaveowner's misconception of his world. Whereas we are supposed to be all children before our heavenly father. Slaveowners had a tendency to view themselves as masters rather than children. Thus, acting like masters over their fellow brothers and sisters tended to make slaveowners believe that they really were a step above their fellow creatures. Prideful of their roles as masters, they were less likely to let God take control of their lives.
No Americans own slaves today, but we could benefit from reading Woolman's epistles. If we are not careful, our daily activities and habits might also lead us astray from God. Woolman also noted, for example, that slaveowners had a tendency to "lay heavy Burdens on others to support themselves in a luxurious Way of living." Slaveonwers thus willingly worked their fellow human beings for their own luxury and superfluous vanities. At root, slaveowners lusted after a more luxurious way of living and having achieved that luxury thought nothing of their true master. For the wise and obedient servant of God did not desire such vanities "before a plain, simple way of living." We Americans do not own slaves, and thus we are not corrupted by keeping our fellow human beings in bondage. Have we, however, given up our lustful pursuit of vanities? What does a "simple way of living" look like? How is it different than a life that is consumed by a desire for vanities?
One manifestation of our pursuit of vanity is our willingness to go shopping on Sunday. In Woolman's day, it was scandalous within religious communities for people to work on the Sabbath. These folks took literally, God's command to "remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God." Exodus 20:8-10. The Sabbath was supposed to be a time of devotion to our God not for shopping. In fact, many religious communities spent all day in worship. The Puritans, for example, worshiped corporately in the morning, took a break for lunch, and then returned for more worship in the afternoon. Today, however, most self-professing Christians--myself included--think nothing of shopping on Sunday after perhaps spending one hour in devotion to God.
The sin of consuming and working on the Sabbath seems to be a very real manifestation of our unwillingness to let ourselves be crucified with Christ. God commands that six days is enough. We don't really need that extra day to labor for ourselves. Our unwillingness to give up this day not only makes us rebellious, but it hurts those who labor so that we can spend most of the day devoted to ourselves. If Christians go shopping, then the workers at the shopping malls and restaurants frequented by Christians cannot spend their day in devotion to God. Thus, our devotion to ourselves not only inflates our vanity in ourselves but also prevents others from spending the day in devotion to God. That seventh day should be devoted to God. Instead of obeying our God, however, we continue to devote that day to ourselves and our vanity. Like the slaveowners of the eighteenth century, we apparently really need to satisfy our vanities with worldly goods, and worse yet we are willing to sacrifice ourselves and our neighbors to satisfy our own vanity. We have let our concern for ourselves and our worldly desires prevent us from dedicating one solitary day to the worship of God. We are too busy making plans for ourselves that we are unwillingly to lose our lives so that we might find life with Christ.
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