What Would Jesus Buy?

Right now Amanda and I are watching a documentary called What Would Jesus Buy?

Reverend Billy and his hoard of red robed protesters, in dramatic and ironic fashion (like the Old Testament prophets), travel the country staging gospel services in order to expose our consumerist obsession for what it really is and to inspire people to stop shopping, to give out of love, and to think about what really matters. What a novel concept!

Why had I not watched this yet?!

It's distressing and prophetic. It points out, in wonderful creativity, just how out of hand American consumerism has gotten. Our consumption, our need for more at the cheapest price and the cynicism it creates, has consumed us. It has seeped into our hearts, our minds, and everything we do. Shopping, in one form or another, has become as natural to us as breathing. Yet any concern for how our shopping might affect our world or our souls is further from our minds than the need of the world which is right in front of us.

It revolves specifically around the most destructive consumption season of the year... Christmas. How tragically appropriate.

Well since Kmart is already marketing red & white lights and mechanical Santas, it's not too soon for us to think about how we might revive Christmas as a holy season of good news to the poor. I recommend watching What Would Jesus Buy? as a way to begin your Advent season!

Would we recognize Christmas without all those Christmas decorations?