By: Pastor Tim
Cue blaring alarm.
Video clip stops abruptly.
Service ends (sort of?).
Sermon was cut short.
Last Sunday the message was cut short. I almost made it. I joked with someone the week before that my rhythm and cadence was off after not preaching for some time. And then this week I came within a few minutes of landing it right before the time I needed to end. Oh well…
What you should have seen, and hopefully by now you’ve taken some time to watch “The True Cost,” was a great juxtaposed scene between Black Friday shoppers and the destructive global effects of consumerism. I won’t go over the facts and I don’t want to get into a debate about their validity. I don’t know about you, but the one fact that hit me the hardest was the one about farmers in India:
250,000 suicides in the last 15 years.
On some level, we all know that the great deal we might be getting as consumers must mean a raw deal for someone else. It’s just so easy to be isolated and removed from those people. They’re just so far away.
And yet they’re not.
The world is much smaller than it used to be. Information is at the click of a finger and with one look at the label of your clothing, the world is on each of our backs. As followers of Christ, we need to be aware of our lives and the impact we have on the rest of the world. I’m sure none of us have malicious intentions nor do we have a desire to do harm to others. And indeed, whether cultural or “just the way we are,” we all want a good deal when we spend our hard-earned money. But at what cost?
For some of us, the message was just a reminder of our global influence. For others it’s a wake-up call to our international responsibility. And I know for some of you, you might even still be struggling with this interpretation of this parable. (Please continue to struggle, I mean, that’s what parables are for – sermons too!) And some of you might be thinking, “Tim, there’s clearly going to be a judgment day. And clearly we need to be faced with the reality of heaven.” And I’m definitely not here to argue that you’re wrong. I’m not suggesting that at all. The “gospel” is something for us to continue to work out and wrestle with daily and not just with our eyes on life after death.
But do your own research. Find out the work conditions around the world. The country that’s on the label on your shirt to start if you don’t know where. Find out the quality of work for your favourite clothing company. Sure, you might not be a fashionista; but all of us wear clothes. I’m not asking us to stop wearing clothes. I’m not asking us to stop shopping. But if we want to be faithful, we need to at least be aware: Aware of our world, aware of our impact and aware of the gospel that Jesus has called us to.
250,000 suicides in the last 15 years.
I’m not suggesting that the gospel has nothing to do with eternal life, but surely the kingdom of heaven doesn’t include our actions ushering in hell on earth.
You may not agree with my interpretation of the passage.
You may not like the documentary.
You may even contest and challenge the facts of the ethical fashion messaging.
But after you see what we have seen, how can we not act?
The alarm has been sounded.