In recent years I was invited to a baby shower for a Taiwanese girl. Attendees were encouraged to purchase items easily transported via international flights as well as to purchase items made in the United States. The first request was easily attainable but the second was not. I searched many stores in my city and discovered that almost every baby item I looked at had a ‘Made in China’ tag. I only found 2 that were not made in China. They were made in Thailand and Taiwan.
A few months later I read an article about a local lighting plant that was closing in spite of having been a top producing plant. In fact it had received ‘Best Plant’ and ‘Lean Manufacturing Company’ trophies just days before the news of closing. Every time the company asked them to lower production costs or streamline deliveries they succeeded. The European based company was relocating all of its American plants to Mexico and this plant was simply a piece in a bigger puzzle. Click here if you would like to read the article for yourself.
These two events triggered some pondering. If more and more items are bearing the “Made in (Insert Country Name Here)” and at the same time more and more U.S. based plants are moving to (Insert Country Name Here) aren’t we shooting ourselves in the foot when we purchase foreign made goods? Sure the products are cheaper and foreign trade encourages competitive pricing but what will the long term effect be? It seems to be a vicious cycle. American based jobs are lost because large corporations can hire cheaper labor abroad. In turn those who have lost their jobs end up on tight incomes spending their limited resources purchasing cheap, foreign made goods in order to survive. (On a side note, quite frequently this “cheap” labor is actually slave labor, an issue that could use several blog postings to cover. f you are curious as to how frequently you purchase items made by slaves in other countries, check this website out. I took the test and realized around 60% of the items I purchase regularly have been made/grown by slaves.)
Several weeks ago I purchased a second pair of pajama pants from Target. On the second pair I ordered one size larger because the first pair shrunk after the first time visiting the dryer and fit a little snug around my waist. To my disappointment, the new pants were an additional two inches around the waist and in each leg. Larger waists do not equal larger thighs, larger knees, and larger ankles but this is the evil nature of mass produced clothes. I started thinking again about this whole foreign, cheap, plastic, ‘Made in China’ movement. In essence we have traded quality for quantity. In years past, a person would go to a tailor or make their own clothes from a pattern. The pants, shirt, dress would be hand crafted specifically for the individual. Instead, we purchase cheaply made pants from cheap retail chains and end up with umpteen pairs of cheap, mediocre pants with a short lifespan rather than a few pair of quality, tailor-made, lasting pants.
Unfortunately, I am beginning to see a pattern of trading quality for quantity. I see in my own life how frequently I choose the cheap, fast, processed, and often unhealthy foods over fruits, vegetables and whole grains. I know when I eat those more natural foods I feel much better but over and over again I choose the cheap, easy way.
I see this unhealthy trade off in relationships. I often spend time keeping up with friends on Facebook rather than actually sitting down to a conversation with my friends in my current city. I send impersonal texts rather than having an actual conversation with someone. I send emails rather than taking time to write out a simple note to a friend. Indoor heating and cooling systems have driven people from the community of front porch living to the solitude of television watching couch potatoes.
I also see a pattern in the dating culture around me. Many I know go from significant other to significant other treating dating with as much thought as shopping for a used car. When the person/car gets old, or a more attractive person/car comes along, the person moves right a long to the next new person/car. Commitment in relationships are minimal. Many couples move in together trading the quality of a lifetime commitment for a cheap imitation. Check out this enlightening article called ‘The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage’. The author points out that cohabiting seems like a step in a commitment direction but in reality it is often fueled by indecisiveness towards a commitment almost like a holding cell until the couple can decide. I also see individuals trading the safety and security of monogamous relationships for an abundance of sexual partners throughout their lifetime walking wounded from partner to new partner.
My goal is not to condemn. I desperately want to renovate the way I think about the flippancy of how I spend my time, my money, my emotions and how I relate to those around me. I believe as a culture we have let the media and pop culture and ultimately our adversary dictate our lifestyles and like lemmings we never stop to think about where our path will lead us. I want to stop and examine the path I am on, the path our culture is on and ask myself if this path will ultimately lead to an untimely death of sorts walking over the edge of a metaphorical cliff.
Even worse than our purchasing, eating habits, and relationships, I see this same pattern in our cheap, American Christianity. In ministry, I struggle frequently with overcommitting myself to church related activities. I see a pattern of reaching a burn out stage every few years to the extent that in order to survive I must take a month long sabbatical to regain my sanity. I buy into the lie that busyness = worship. I try to do so many things and end up missing the bull’s eye.
I see it in my private worship times. I read recently about a man who closed himself up in his ‘closet‘ after every meal and labored in prayer for his family and neighbors. I can’t remember the last time I labored in prayer for anything. On good days, I spend about 10 minutes in prayer, 5 minutes of Bible reading, and 10 minutes of scripture memorization before I rush off into my busy day. Meditation on the Word happens rarely. Sabbath days to rest and be saturated in Jesus are few and far between.
Lastly, I see it in this nation exporting a cheap gospel. Jesus said we would have trouble in this world because we follow him. Jesus told us to take up our cross daily in order to follow Him. To follow Him means we may be killed and our blood used to bring others to the cross. The sad reality is that in America most so-called Christians will not even inconvenient themselves enough to grace the doors of a church or open their Bible much less lay their life down for those with no access to the gospel. Quite often in American churches, attendance numbers are exalted. We equate a large, growing, busy church as a healthy, vibrant church. During His lifetime, Jesus focused much more heavily not on the masses but on the twelve. His 3 year investment in those 12 men multiplied over centuries, continents and we benefit from this ripple effect that is still rippling. (Suggested Reading: The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman) I want to follow Jesus in every aspect and this includes foregoing the masses, numbers, quantities and investing in quality time with a few people who will in turn follow Him and be willing to lay their lives down.
My prayer of late has been that I would figure out how to simplify and be most efficient/effective with my life. I only get one chance to live this life, to impact eternity. I don’t want to be distracted by mediocrity, by large quantities, by busyness, by cheap imitations. I yearn for simplicity, quality, and to take full advantage of the handful of days I have left on this earth. I want my one dart to hit the bull’s eye rather than having darts all over the board. I want my life, my decisions to be fruitful, wise, and beneficial. I don’t want to reach the end of my life and realize I wasted much of it on unhealthy choices, checked Facebook far too often, neglected precious time with my family and close friends, bought too much plastic crap, failed to invest my life in a few leaving the only lasting thing I can behind. I long to have a quality life and I am at a point where I am ready to say no the cheap quantities offered me.
"Some men die by bullets,
some men die by flames,
but most men die crawling inch by inch
playing silly little games." -Unknown
"It would see that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." -C.S. Lewis
