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Real Answers™
kl3
Copyright: © Oct. 2008 Ken Lottis
550 words

I WANT IT ALL... NOW!

By: Ken Lottis

“I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now…”

The words of that song, coming from our television sounded like a church choir or a fraternity house glee club. As I turned to watch, I realized that it was a commercial for a major credit card! The obvious message was, I could have it all, now, by using their credit card.

The words of this jingle seem particularly ironic juxtaposed with the evening news. Banks and investment firms were failing, the stock market was in a downward tumble and our government was rushing in to save the economy. Sandwiched in between the gloomy news, the commercial encouraged viewers to use a credit card to satisfy their desires to have it all, now.

According to the American Bankers’ Association, the average American family carries $8,000 in credit card debt. Many consumers have multiple cards and frequently all of them are maxed out.

I recall standing in line at a restaurant cash register waiting to pay for my breakfast. The lady ahead of me handed one credit card after another to the waitress, trying to find one that would accept the charge. What most impressed me however was that the woman, in addition to paying for her meal, had picked up several jars of expensive specialty jams and jellies offered by the restaurant and conveniently stacked next to the cash register. That style of impulse buying probably had contributed to the rather embarrassing problem she faced when unable to now pay her bill using her wallet full of credit cards.

It seems that as a nation we feel we’re entitled to have things whether we can afford to pay for them or not. So we have people unable to keep up with mortgage payments on their homes, falling behind on car payments for a new gas-guzzling automobile, student loan payments in arrears, plus a mountain of credit card debt.

Perhaps we can find encouragement in knowing this problem in our society is nothing new. Jesus warned people in his day, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15)

These were not people who drove air conditioned cars, frequented shopping malls, or made purchases on the Internet. Nevertheless they had been captivated by the notion that the quality of life was attached to the quantity of their possessions. Interesting isn’t it, that in spite of all the advances in education, science and technology, we seem to be locked into the same pattern that was evident 2000 years ago.

During the recent election campaign debates, the candidates for both parties spoke repeatedly about “the corruption and greed” that contributed to the nation’s current economic problems. In his writings, the Apostle Paul astutely identified greed as idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

Webster tells us idolatry is the worship of a physical object as a god. Can it be that we actually worship our homes, our cars, our television sets, our cell phones, our iPods, like idols? And that anthem we hear on the TV commercial, “I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now” is our hymn, part of our liturgy as we worship our possessions?

"Real Answers™" furnished courtesy of The Amy Foundation Internet Syndicate. To contact the author or The Amy Foundation, write or E-mail to: P. O. Box 16091, Lansing, MI 48901-6091; amyfoundtn@aol.com

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