The quality of childhood we offer the next generation. This was the shocking finding of a Unicef report five years ago. Last year, they released a follow up report which focuses on the fact that buying stuff for children can’t compensate for quality time with parents. Consumer culture is letting our kids down. It promises much, but delivers obesity, higher reported anxiety, decreasing outdoor play and less stable relationships.

A turning point for me was reading this in a report from Stewardship:

“Watching TV seems to cultivate more materialistic values in us. The more time children spend in front of the TV and computer, the more materialistic they tend to be. The National Consumer Council research Watching, Wanting and Wellbeing indicated that materialistic values tend to disrupt family dynamics, with children having both a lower opinion of their parents and also of their own self-esteem.”

Put like that, it suddenly appears so simple. Why would I want TV, gaming or shopping to be a major part of my child’s life? This inspired us to work with Stewardship, Tearfund and A Rocha on the Play video, which I hope you’ve seen because it’s truly excellent!

So I need a detox because I’m the father of four children. I’m commanded to bring them up ‘in the training and instruction of the Lord’ (Eph 6:4), not in empty ways of acquisitiveness, stress and cocooned electronic entertainment. I’m not saying this is easy or that we have all the answers. But I do believe that any responsibility I have to contribute to the economy, get in with parents at the school gate, or meet middle class expectations is far outweighed by the commission God has given me to parent my children well.

But even if you don’t have kids, it’s all of us that create a culture. ’Most of the obstacles children face today are linked to the belief among adults that the prime duty of the individual is to make the most of their own life, rather than contribute to the good of others’ (A Good Childhood, The Children’s Society). Did you realise this? Our values, our shopping and entertainment habits, our working patterns and the work we expect of others – all this shapes the next generation? We detox not just for ourselves but for our children.

We saw how young women in a village there were trying to get by on a maize crop, selling some, eating some and using the rest to seed next year’s harvest. We saw how precious each kernal was. And I thought, ‘how could I possibly tell these vulnerable and malnourished young farmers that in my country we throw up to a third of our food away? In every town we found the most ingenious creativity. Trainers were re-stitched, bicycle pumps mended with spare tubing – almost everything was carefully reused. How could I explain that many of us become bored of our stuff, or just store it away unavailable and untouched? We were served chicken and goat every day by generous villagers too poor to eat meat except on rare occasions. How many times do I eat meat without even pausing to reflect on the privilege?

The environment is my third reason for a consumer detox.

I need to find a more sustainable way to live. And I can only get there with the help of others. Major lifestyle change requires a group effort; we need each other to do it. We need our global neighbours in Uganda and elsewhere to teach us the value of the world we take for granted. And they need us, too. Because the other thing you can’t help but notice about African economies is that they’re headed our way. TVs and mobile phones, football strips and soft drinks, advertising and commercialisation – the high-consumption western lifestyle is catching on all around the developing world. This leaves us with a daunting responsibility. If we can model simpler patterns of consumption, invest in sustainable technologies and develop greener habits, in time developing nations can follow our lead. But if we don’t, there’ll be no lead to follow.

There’s one more thing. I need you. I need the support of others, to know I’m not the only one trying in my fitful way to live this. And maybe you need me, too – to give what encouragement I can. To say today it’s not too late to be greener this Lent: go meat free til Easter, or give up your car, or check out Tearfund’s Carbon Fast. In recent years I’ve tried all these things and found they’ve helped us live more sustainably long after Easter. So let Lent be green. And let us not live as if our brothers and sisters around the world can teach us nothing.

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Idolatry is serious stuff. The besetting tragedy of the covenant community through the ages. The mis-shaping, God-forsaking tendency in each one of us. And it has a field day in our consumer culture that squeezes God out of the picture or turns him into a commodity (or turns commodities into gods).

In 2010 evangelical leaders from around the world summed this up:

“…love for God’s creation demands that we repent of our part in the destruction, waste and pollution of the earth’s resources and our collusion in the toxic idolatry of consumerism” (The Cape Town Confession of Faith, I:7)

So when was the last time you or I repented of our collusion in the toxic idolatry of consumerism?

Exactly. Time for a detox. Or in Paul’s words ‘put to death…greed, which is idolatry’ (Col 3:5). But how on earth do we begin such a process? Cutting down on chocolate is one thing; repenting of collusion in toxic idolatry is quite another.

Maybe we could start with two simple questions. What squeezes God out of my life? What makes me too busy, full, worried or distracted to seek his kingdom first?

For me, top of the list would be work, the desire to prove myself and my fear of boredom/suffering. Each of these is, of course, a kind of greed; each an idolatry. So now the idols have been named. How about yours?

We do true religion no favours by conjuring up images of idolatry as exotic, stupid and obvious. Idolatry is, and always has been, excusable, popular and attractive. But just as Gideon began responding to YHWH’s call by tearing down an idol (much to his village’s dismay – Judges 6:25-32), so Lent can begin with the naming and shaming of our alternative gods. Then the most important task follows: to clear space for the one true God. How can you clear space for Him every day this Lent?

So why do you want to detox? Why do I?

If we know our reasons, we’ll be able to judge whether we have been successful. Here’s a thought – make a note of why a consumer detox might be good for you. If there’s one thing (or three things at the most) you’d like God to do in you through Lent, why not make a point of asking him now?

As for me, I’m aware that I got into this area through a desire for a ‘purer’ life – a desire that can easily turn pharisaical. So I try to keep myself tied to clear reasons. In this first week I’ll look at five of them.

First, it’s about the shape I want to be (I wrote about this a while back for LICC). There is research to suggest that as materialistic values rise, our abilty to be generous, to show empathy and cooperate with others decreases. There’s a great 5 minute video about this from New American Dream. But it shouldn’t take a team of scientists to prove that where our treasure is, our heart will be too (Matt 6:21).

I need a consumer detox because I have come to believe that I was made to be generous. In fact, I - like you - was made to be Christ-shaped. But I feel consumerism daily pulling me in a different direction. It trains me to want without limit, to buy without conscience, to work without boundaries. It reduces my life to comfort and convenience. But you and I were made for more than this. We were made to live in this consumer culture but exhibit a different mindset. We were made to want differently, buy differently, work differently, live differently. So detox is absolutely crucial.

That’s my first reason. What’s yours?

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Believe it or not, a Lent consumer detox isn’t first about giving something up. It’s about making time for reflection. Each morning there’ll be a new post on this blog to stimulate thought and maybe discuss with others.

OK, maybe you could give something up, too. Abstinence focuses the mind! You could:

• Give up the car and use alternative travel instead (dust off the bike?)
• Give up meat and try to eat more sustainably (exessive meat production is a contributor to global warming)
• Give up TV to make space for God, others, and kinds of recreation
• Give up non-food shopping or consumer treats
• The old classics: chocolate, coffee, wine, and so on…

Last of all, a whole bunch of small groups around the country (and beyond) will be working through the Group Notes together. These include the provocative challenge, featured on UCB radio this morning, to share a list of your possessions with a friend! Alongside all this, there’s the Consumer Detox book, too. But the main thing is simply to consider the challenge each day of living more freely in the midst of our consumer culture.

So then, tomorrow we begin.

Do you remember the joy of the merchant who sold everything to buy just one pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44)? May God give us that joy as we pursue him this Lent.

Lent is on its way. ‘Less’ is coming to our lives, for a limited time only. But could less actually lead to more? Now is the time to find out.

Could Lent be a time of genuine freedom and generosity? Could we glimpse below the surface of the consumer haze to the deep patterns of our lives? Could the road through the wilderness lead us somewhere new?

The Consumer Detox begins on Wednesday.

Lent 2012 Consumer Detox – Group Notes

There’s up to seven sessions, based around challenging and creative activities which link with biblical material. Any church or small group can tackle them.

I’ll be blogging daily during Lent to accompany these notes, telling the story of how these challenges play out in my life, family and community. I genuinely believe that this process can be transforming for our life and faith. If you have any questions, you can raise them by commenting on this post.

Enjoy!

Basically it’s an invitation to detox through Lent (22nd Feb-8th April) with some resources for support. It includes a daily blog at this site, seven small group meeting suggestions (available here from 10th Jan) and some talks which will be available online too.

You could do the detox with friends, a small group, a church or whoever. My great hope is that God will use Lent 2012 to lift many of us out of consumer habits and traps, and breathe a greater freedom and generosity into our lives.

I hope you can join us.

During Lent 2012, I will be posting daily on this site. Discussion guides for small groups and links to talks through lent will also be available soon.

I hope you can join in.

Mark