There are certainpsychological dynamics which drive any culture, and two of the most obvious ones inour culture are the consumer and competitive drives.  There are an awful lot of Christians who areconsumer junkies or competition junkies. They have to go to the mall or play some game or watch some game, orthey are just plain bored with life.  This word just in— boredom is a state of mind of those who lackimagination, and especially lack Christian imagination.  So what do we do to change the way we envision things, change the pattern of our behavior?  Let’s start with how you choose a church.

Do your best to stop evaluating your churchfrom a consumer point of view.  Don’tchoose a church on the basis of where youcan get the most out of it, but on where you can best serve.  What I am saying is that the consumermentality is a form of the primal sin of self-focus, self-centeredness.  And the competitive mentality, especially ifnot properly channeled destroys friendships, marriages, leads to one drivingyour children to do things they are not really capable of or gifted for, andultimately it goes back to Cain and Abel.  It is sibling rivalry writ large.

If you want afight worth fighting, then let’s fight the war on drugs, on sin, onpornography, on the sex trade, on sexual promiscuity and abortion.  If you want to compete, then compete to bethe best parent, husband, Sunday school teacher you can be.  I am not saying all competition is bad.  There are of course athletic metaphors in theNT, but the question is what really constitutes winning?   Have you won anything worth having if you’vecheated to get it?   Have you won anything worth having if it leadsto the alienation of people who are your fellow Christians?  Christians have to be in the business ofredefining ‘success’ or ‘winning’, or placing it so far down the depth chartafter compassion, and love of neighbor, and nurturing of community and the likethat it looks very differently.

Let me give anexample. One of the persons I most admire in all of sports is DarrellGreen.  He was an all pro defensiveplayer for the Redskins for many many years, and he led by example.  His faith in Christ was the most importantthing in his life, and winning football games was entirely secondary.  But as a Christian he committed himself toexcellence, to going on to perfection, to doing and being all he could do andbe to set a good example for his teammates. He was an absolute team player. When the Lord told him to stay in Washingtoneven when he had multiple more lucrative efforts to go elsewhere hestayed.  He had a church and a familythat meant everything to him and they were of a much higher priority thanmaking more money in his life. 

He stayed in Washington through theups and downs of Redskin history, and now he has been inducted into the Hall ofFame in 2008. What was especially striking to me was that he was inducted notby his coach, but by his son.  And what hisson kept saying about him was what a role model of a godly father he had been,and how much he wanted to be like his father.  Here is an example of how Christian values can trump cultural values,without compromising one’s integrity and without failing to give one’s best inone’s profession.  This is indeed beingin the world, and a good witness to it, without being of the world.   A Christian is a person who needs not onlyto have his priorities straight when it comes to what is really of value inlife, but he also needs to know what are non-negotiables in life.  It’s no use gaining the whole world andlosing one’s soul.

Another way to change the pattern of your life is to change the persons you hang out with. 

Psychologists areperfectly clear that people emulate and often become like those that theyadmire.  One of the ways to simplify yourlife is stop trying to keep up with the Jones or hanging out with the Jones.  The simple but seductive influence of envywhich leads to emulation and imitation is less powerful if one does notregularly hang out with people who are dripping in bling and up to theireyeballs in hock due to their over-sized house, car, boat and lifestyle.  By contrast, when you start hanging out withpeople who have simplified their lifestyle, if you are not that way, you beginto become helpfully self-critical.  Youbegin to realize you need to change some things.   This does not mean you need to go camp outwith the Amish next week, but it does mean it wouldn’t hurt to get moreinvolved with Christians you know who are living a less consumer drivenlifestyle.