A believer’s struggle with consumerism

As  I invite you to offer your opinion on whether or not I should buy an iPad, I thought that I would use the Wesleyan quadrilateral to guide the discussion. That is, I’ll examine the ethical considerations of buying an expensive piece of machinery through the lens of scripture, reason, tradition, and experience. John Wesley’s quadrilateral is by no means the definitive framework for considering Christian ethics, but it is a fairly good one. For those of you new to the discussion, last week I invited feedback on whether I as a Christian (who believes that the money given me through my Salvation Army salary is a resource from God) should purchase an iPad. The real point behind this is to examine the Christian’s relationship  with today’s consumer culture.  Is rushing out to buy the iPad or any other technological fad falling into the trap of materialism?  If we determine that it is in fact materialism, could we possibly conclude that buying an iPad is materialistic, perhaps even sinful?

“‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

‘No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Sounds clear enough on some level.  The words, “Where you treasure is, there your heart will be also” kind of slap you in the face, don’t they? In my previous posting, one of the commenters noted that the Bible does not expressly say, “Thou shalt not buy an iPad.” Very true, but these words from Jesus that suggest money and luxuries can cause divided loyalties in the believer’s heart should make us wary about the things we long for. Naturally, we could counter-argue this by saying, “It’s only wrong to buy an iPad if your love for the iPad surpasses your love for Jesus.”  I don’t know of many Christians who would say they love the iPad more than they do their Saviour. I think however that these distinctions are quite difficult to make and cannot be so easily separated.  On a conscious level, of course we love Jesus more than anything.  But does this declaration of loyalty always match up with the way we spend our money?

What do you think?  Does scripture suggest that materialism is inherently bad, or should it be seen as a reward for God’s faithful? (Wasn’t Abraham the Patriarch abundantly rich in land and cattle?)  Perhaps it is simply a matter of priorities. Is buying an iPad okay if you’ve paid all your bills, paid your tithe to the church, made a big Partner’s in Mission contribution, etc?

Thank you to some of my congregation members for their verbal feedback. Perhaps I should take a lesson in materialistic-free living from them. They’ve not even sat at a computer before, much less know what an iPad is. And I love them for it.