GUEST POST: Consumer or Confessor?

This guest post is from my good friend Mark Seager.  Mark has posted before and is the Associate Pastor at Cedar Run Community Church.  He is the overall champion of the “Nicest Guy in the World” award.  If you like what he has to say, follow him on twitter @CMarkSeager

Do you follow Jesus because of who He is or because of what He does? It’s the difference between a confessor and a consumer. Consumerism characterizes our culture and seeps into our assumptions about Christianity. The mantras of consumerism: “The customer is king!”; “Have it your way…”; “What have you done for me today?” are taken for granted…almost as gospel truth. Consumerism tries to shape reality by what “I” want. What “I” think is best is best. When consumerism collides with Christianity it sets up a train wreck by trying to mesh differing priorities: us and Jesus. You cannot have two different sets of priorities. The consumer follows Jesus for what Jesus does; the confessor follows Jesus because of who He is. The consumer ultimately follows his own whims. Consumerism and Confession are incompatible.

If you are following Jesus for what He does rather than who He is:

• You will be limited to what you can see…and the trouble is that you can’t see all that He’s doing. Jesus is generally not interested in quick results. But if you focus on “what-He’s-done-for-me-today” your faith will be shattered. There are days, weeks, months and longer when His work may be deep but invisible to the naked eye. It’s in these uncertain times He calls you to trust Him – believe He really is as good and powerful as He is. He summons you to live by faith and not by sight.
• You won’t be able to cope with suffering or trials. You’ll assume He has abandoned you or is mad at you. It won’t feel like He’s doing anything for you and might possibly be against you. You begin to think He’s inadequate, uninterested, angry with you, or a combination.
• You might slip into a legalistic bargaining mindset where God owes you good things because you go to church and do a few Christiany things you are supposed to do.

Consumerism is a dead end. You will be unstable because you cannot serve two masters: Jesus or yourself. Choose this day who you will serve. Choose to trust Him by following He for who He is because who He is trumps what He does.