From Black Friday to Advent Podcast by John Stonestreet for Break Point
GNN Note – While this is close to two weeks old, when it originally aired we were shut down due to illness. While it’s not “hot-off-the-press” it’s still hot!!
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We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
Black Friday has certainly given America’s cultural reputation a black eye. The day after we pause to give thanks as a nation for God’s provisions, we trample security guards for iPhones and flat-screen televisions. It’s now an annual tradition: America’s big-box stores drop their prices and in response, shoppers go berserk.
News stations everywhere lead with the requisite embarrassing video footage, showing shoppers crawling over each other, throwing elbows and curse words. Checkout lines at Walmarts and Best Buys nation-wide become dangerous places to be or to work. It’s not a good look.
Of course, online Black Friday sales have already been going on for a month now, which allows us to indulge our consumerist tendencies without physical violence. I guess that’s an improvement…
Dennis Prager once told me on a panel that if this is America’s biggest problem – scuffling with each other in a rush to buy presents for our loved ones – we could do a lot worse. I told him that I was not convinced these shoppers were altruistically buying for others, but still, I take his point. There certainly needs to be room for frivolity at Christmas time.
All of this should remind us of the idols vying for our attention this Christmas season. Certainly there is the idol of stuff, but, looking through social media, there is also the idol of other people’s perceptions.
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