Why I need an alarm system for my home

I was watching tv the other day and I saw an ad for a home alarm system.  The voiceover said, "This elaborate home safety system protects all that you hold dear; keeping your things safe 24/7."

This time of year always brings out the grouch in me- at least, that's what people say.  I love Christmas and I love Thanksgiving, and I hate the commercialization and materialism that marks what should be a religious holiday season.  Many times I find myself being more grouchy than thankful, more of a curmudgeon than a celebrant, and more of a clanging cymbal than a person expressing love. 

I watched this ad and something just sat wrong with me.  In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus says, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

So, number one, I'm not supposed to store up things that a thief would want to break in and steal.

However, this ad was telling me that I needed a security system to protect what Jesus said not to have in the first place.

How many of us will not only disobey Matthew 6:19, but also will buy a home security system to protect it?

Now, I'm not against home security systems.  There are people who live in neighborhoods where they do not feel safe and they need something if someone were to break in to try to hurt or kill them.  I get that.  I am not knocking home security systems.

I'm upset by the need for them.

I'm upset that Christians would live lives of such affluence that they feel the need to protect that which Jesus said not to have.

I'm upset that Christians place such a high premium on worldly goods.

I'm upset that there are some Christians whose attachment to "treasures on earth that can be stolen or destroyed" is identical to people who are non-Christians.

I'm upset that the celebration of the birthday of the Man who said, "Do not store up treasures here on earth" is marked by exactly what He said not to do- frenzied consumerism, gluttonous buying, sales goals, an onslaught of catalogs, and unbridled materialism rather than a sacrificial obedience to His command and sacrificial following of His lifestyle.

I'm upset that we have designed an entire industry around protecting the very things Jesus said not to have.

I love Christmas.  I truly do.  I love the traditions, the carols, the decorations, the time with family.  I love gathering as a family and lighting advent candles, singing Christmas hymns around a table with my family.  I love what Christmas represents- God's gift of His only Son to a world that would reject Him and crucify Him, not knowing what it was doing.  I love Jesus and what He taught.

I just wish we didn't have anything that a thief would want to steal, and therefore would have no need for security systems.  I wish we all had ALL of our treasure in heaven, where there is no need for a security system.  

This picture pretty much sums up my opinion of Black Friday and the ensuing holiday shopping season:

See why people call me a grouch?  I'm truly sorry- I don't mean to insult anyone or be a grouch.  It's just that when I read Matthew 6:19, and I look at the season coming upon us with all the buying and consuming and "storing up of treasures here," I just can't get them to coincide.  Could it be that Jesus would have us celebrate His birthday much differently than we celebrate it?