We live in a consumer-driven society. Our entire way of life depends on the fact that we will produce and consume enough goods and services that our economy grows. We have jobs because people will buy things. We have GOOD jobs because people will buy things they don't need. We are in TROUBLE because people will neglect family and God to work more to get more money to buy things they don't need.
Don't think that this way of life evolved easily. We had to do some major shifting in our beliefs about right and wrong in order to pull this off. Our great-grandparents, if they were to come back and visit us, would have trouble listening to the way we describe right and wrong.
First, we had to change our minds about debt. Our great-grandparents saw debt as something to be avoided at all costs. Going into debt was WRONG. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would say that today, let alone live it out. The average American household has over $200,000 in debt (credit card, mortgage, and student loans- not counting car loans and other types) and yet no one feels much guilt about that. In order to support our consumer-driven society, we had to change our beliefs about debt.
However, it goes much darker than that. Sociologist James Cote said this, "In order to support the massive consumption that drives modern economies, North American societies have redefined the seven deadly sins into a new pleasure-focused way to be adult:
1. Pride has become self-esteem, individuality, and vanity.
2. Greed has become acquisition and "taking care of yourself."
3. Anger has become competitiveness and drive.
4. Lust has become sexuality, sex appeal, love life, fashion, and liberation.
5. Envy has become initiative.
6. Sloth has become leisure and relaxation.
7. Gluttony has become "the good life."
When we redefine sins into something more palatable (after all, who wants to be a glutton? Let's just call eating, drinking, and consuming more than we need "the good life" and we will all be happy) we blind ourselves to the evil that they produce in our lives. Let's look at the results of this redefinition in our modern day society:
1. When Pride becomes self-esteem, individuality, and vanity, we set ourselves up for the inevitable fall which accompanies pride. "Pride goes before a destruction; a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18). By not guarding against pride, we also rid ourselves of pride's opposite- humility. By embracing pride as something good, we rob ourselves of God's blessing ("God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6). By redefining pride as self-esteem, we set ourselves in opposition to God and rid ourselves of His grace. Not a good idea.
2. When Greed becomes acquisition and "taking care of yourself," we put an inordinate emphasis on having more and more. We push out God's desire for us- generosity- because all of a sudden being greedy is desirable.
3. When Anger becomes competitiveness and drive, we drop our guard for the subtle ways anger destroys us. Anger has been so redefined in our culture that men regard expressing anger as a statement of masculinity and manliness, not a petulant loss of self-control. When we as a people become comfortable with anger, we drop our desire for anger's opposite, which is forgiveness.
4. When Lust becomes sexuality, liberation, sex appeal, etc, we drop our guard against the powerful drives which inhabit all of us. We see no problem with disregard for God's will for man and woman and marriage- we become a society that openly rebels against God's standards and will pay/are paying the price every day in terms of divorce, pornography, STD's, broken hearts, a 41% out-of-wedlock child birth rate (which leads to increased childhood poverty, illness, violence, and diminished prospects for education and employment).
5. When Envy becomes initiative, we constantly compare ourselves to things others have, abilities others have, and lifestyles others have. We see nothing wrong with the seething anger that grabs us when someone has what we don't have. We see nothing wrong with criticizing, belittling, even stealing what they have because we are envious. We miss out on the opposite of envy, which is contentment. A contented person is much more pleasant and at peace than an envious one. However, without envy, we wouldn't sell nearly as many products to the consumers, so envy stays.
6. When Sloth becomes relaxation and leisure, we see nothing wrong with taking for ourselves what others have worked for. We see nothing wrong with someone else providing for our needs. We even begin, as a society, to demand that others meet our needs so we won't have to work for them. Sloth is taking over our society right now, with the highest numbers ever recorded receiving some kind of government assistance. When Sloth becomes a way of life, we miss out on the blessing of work and the fulfillment and character it creates.
7. When Gluttony becomes "the good life" we will have no problem whatsoever with indulging whatever appetite we have at the moment. Gluttony is more than just overeating- gluttony is buying more house than you need, more car than you need, more clothes than you need, more accessories than you need, more gadgets than you need. Gluttony is "living by your stomach, not your head." Gluttony is what causes us to be up to our necks in debt, fatter than 90% of the people on this planet, and constantly unsatisfied. When we embrace gluttony as a culture, which we have, we diminish the desire for self-control. We even mock those who exercise self-control, calling them "prudes," "sticks in the mud," and "off the deep end." A society that lives for gluttony, under the banner of "the good life," experiences the hedonistic paradox, which states that the more pleasure you run after, the less you attain.
Christians must take a serious look at these sins in our lives. Most of us are completely unaware of these seven deadly sins in our lives. Most of us are perfectly fine HAVING them in our lives, because we have bought the cultural redefinition of the sins and now are marching in step with what our Western culture dictates. I urge you to reconsider how these seven deadly sins have been redefined in your life and make changes today. Call pride, greed, anger, lust, envy, sloth, and gluttony what they are. Repent of them. Rid yourself of them. Then, go live in the freedom that God offers you.
Don't think that this way of life evolved easily. We had to do some major shifting in our beliefs about right and wrong in order to pull this off. Our great-grandparents, if they were to come back and visit us, would have trouble listening to the way we describe right and wrong.
First, we had to change our minds about debt. Our great-grandparents saw debt as something to be avoided at all costs. Going into debt was WRONG. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would say that today, let alone live it out. The average American household has over $200,000 in debt (credit card, mortgage, and student loans- not counting car loans and other types) and yet no one feels much guilt about that. In order to support our consumer-driven society, we had to change our beliefs about debt.
However, it goes much darker than that. Sociologist James Cote said this, "In order to support the massive consumption that drives modern economies, North American societies have redefined the seven deadly sins into a new pleasure-focused way to be adult:
1. Pride has become self-esteem, individuality, and vanity.
2. Greed has become acquisition and "taking care of yourself."
3. Anger has become competitiveness and drive.
4. Lust has become sexuality, sex appeal, love life, fashion, and liberation.
5. Envy has become initiative.
6. Sloth has become leisure and relaxation.
7. Gluttony has become "the good life."
When we redefine sins into something more palatable (after all, who wants to be a glutton? Let's just call eating, drinking, and consuming more than we need "the good life" and we will all be happy) we blind ourselves to the evil that they produce in our lives. Let's look at the results of this redefinition in our modern day society:
1. When Pride becomes self-esteem, individuality, and vanity, we set ourselves up for the inevitable fall which accompanies pride. "Pride goes before a destruction; a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18). By not guarding against pride, we also rid ourselves of pride's opposite- humility. By embracing pride as something good, we rob ourselves of God's blessing ("God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" James 4:6). By redefining pride as self-esteem, we set ourselves in opposition to God and rid ourselves of His grace. Not a good idea.
2. When Greed becomes acquisition and "taking care of yourself," we put an inordinate emphasis on having more and more. We push out God's desire for us- generosity- because all of a sudden being greedy is desirable.
3. When Anger becomes competitiveness and drive, we drop our guard for the subtle ways anger destroys us. Anger has been so redefined in our culture that men regard expressing anger as a statement of masculinity and manliness, not a petulant loss of self-control. When we as a people become comfortable with anger, we drop our desire for anger's opposite, which is forgiveness.
4. When Lust becomes sexuality, liberation, sex appeal, etc, we drop our guard against the powerful drives which inhabit all of us. We see no problem with disregard for God's will for man and woman and marriage- we become a society that openly rebels against God's standards and will pay/are paying the price every day in terms of divorce, pornography, STD's, broken hearts, a 41% out-of-wedlock child birth rate (which leads to increased childhood poverty, illness, violence, and diminished prospects for education and employment).
5. When Envy becomes initiative, we constantly compare ourselves to things others have, abilities others have, and lifestyles others have. We see nothing wrong with the seething anger that grabs us when someone has what we don't have. We see nothing wrong with criticizing, belittling, even stealing what they have because we are envious. We miss out on the opposite of envy, which is contentment. A contented person is much more pleasant and at peace than an envious one. However, without envy, we wouldn't sell nearly as many products to the consumers, so envy stays.
6. When Sloth becomes relaxation and leisure, we see nothing wrong with taking for ourselves what others have worked for. We see nothing wrong with someone else providing for our needs. We even begin, as a society, to demand that others meet our needs so we won't have to work for them. Sloth is taking over our society right now, with the highest numbers ever recorded receiving some kind of government assistance. When Sloth becomes a way of life, we miss out on the blessing of work and the fulfillment and character it creates.
7. When Gluttony becomes "the good life" we will have no problem whatsoever with indulging whatever appetite we have at the moment. Gluttony is more than just overeating- gluttony is buying more house than you need, more car than you need, more clothes than you need, more accessories than you need, more gadgets than you need. Gluttony is "living by your stomach, not your head." Gluttony is what causes us to be up to our necks in debt, fatter than 90% of the people on this planet, and constantly unsatisfied. When we embrace gluttony as a culture, which we have, we diminish the desire for self-control. We even mock those who exercise self-control, calling them "prudes," "sticks in the mud," and "off the deep end." A society that lives for gluttony, under the banner of "the good life," experiences the hedonistic paradox, which states that the more pleasure you run after, the less you attain.
Christians must take a serious look at these sins in our lives. Most of us are completely unaware of these seven deadly sins in our lives. Most of us are perfectly fine HAVING them in our lives, because we have bought the cultural redefinition of the sins and now are marching in step with what our Western culture dictates. I urge you to reconsider how these seven deadly sins have been redefined in your life and make changes today. Call pride, greed, anger, lust, envy, sloth, and gluttony what they are. Repent of them. Rid yourself of them. Then, go live in the freedom that God offers you.
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