Sunday's Movie Night - What Would Jesus Buy?

This coming Sunday evening we have another family movie night. You all know how much I enjoy movies and how important I believe it is to engage our Christian discipleship with culture. The film for this Sunday evening is "What Would Jesus Buy?" I have a description of the film on the left hand side of this blog under our activities section. And while many moments of this film are outright satire, it seems more timely and approriate than ever.

Take the recent death of 34-year-old temporary Wal-Mart employee, Jdimytai Damouron on 'Black Friday' (the biggest shopping day of the year in America, the day after Thanksgiving). How ironic that we set aside a day to be thankful, only to have the day after it be a day of consumption and spending. Greed (or avarice) does not just belong to the wealthy bankers on Wall Street, but is a sin all of us at some point fight against and it can come anywhere at anytime. Here's an excerpt from the New York Daily News of this terrible event:

Roughly 2,000 people gathered outside the Wal-Mart's doors in the predawn darkness.

Chanting "push the doors in," the crowd pressed against the glass as the clock ticked down to the 5 a.m. opening.

Sensing catastrophe, nervous employees formed a human chain inside the entrance to slow down the mass of shoppers.

"They took the doors off the hinges," said Wal-Mart worker Jimmy Overby, 43. "He was trampled and killed in front of me. "

Even officers who arrived to perform CPR on the trampled worker were stepped on by wild-eyed shoppers streaming inside, a cop at the scene said.

"When they were saying they had to leave, that an employee got killed, people were yelling, 'I've been in line since Friday morning!'" Cribbs said. "They kept shopping."

"I look at these people's faces and I keep thinking one of them could have stepped on him," said one employee. "How could you take a man's life to save $20 on a TV?"

Were the bargains worth it to the people who finally got into the store? Is this what Christmas has become? Have consumerism and greed have become prevalent forms of idolatry in America? As Christians what can or should we do? Are we merely consumers in this society? Or can we call others to a better way, a simpler way, a life of more than materialism, more than consumption? Let's kick start that discussion this Sunday - keep checking this blog for more material to prep your hearts and minds for the movie.

Film starts at 6:00 – and this event is open to the entire church.