The "Black Friday" Tension

I have a confession to make. I WANT A NEW TV. I don’t want a cheap TV. I want a 47″ Vizio LCD HDTV – 120Hz – 1080p. I have been spending the last two days trying to find a great deal on this TV. I have been sucked into the Black Friday frenzy.

While I’m at it I’ll make another confession. My wife and I share one computer and that annoys me. So, I’ve decided that for Christmas I’m going to buy her a new netbook.

My roommate has a nice TV that we share. My wife and I can share a computer. But, if I’m honest I want my own TV. My own computer. That’s just my nature.

Well today I started reading through the Gospels again. And this is what I read today ::

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [matthew.6v19-21]

It jumped off the page at me. It grabbed my heart and held it in front of me…as if to say…where’s your heart?

Listen, Nicole and I do a pretty good job taking care of our money. We do a good job at saving money and paying off debt. I could probably move a few things around and find the money to buy that TV.

This is where the tension begins. I could virtually afford that TV, especially with the killer “Black Friday” deals. But why would I buy that TV? Does God really want me to buy that TV? Does God even care if I buy that TV? What does it say to my son? What example am I setting when I buy that TV? Am I creating a new world where God and what he cares about reign or am I just go along with the flow? What does that TV say about my heart? What does it say about what I care about?

I’m not saying that having a big TV is bad, a sin, or ungodly. I’m not talking about anyone else’s situation…I’m talking about me and the tension I feel.

It’s the tension between materialism/consumerism and God’s Kingdom. It’s the tension between the very real option that I could give that $1,000 to build wells so a village can have clean water or I could have a super sweet TV in my living room.

The tension is so good for me. It’s stretches me. Makes me think. It causes me to grow. And God is in the middle of the tension with me.

I know what obedience looks like for me. I don’t really like it a lot. I would rather give into the “Black Friday” frenzy and go buy that TV tomorrow and flaunt it on twitter. But that would say so much about my heart…and I’m not willing to wake up to that every morning.

I’ll choose not to fill up my treasure box with more TV’s, computers, surround sound systems, designer jeans & everything else that the “Black Friday” adds tell me I can’t live without. I’ll choose to live without them for now. I’ll choose to fill up my treasure box with meeting people in their pain and true needs. I’ll choose to fill up my treasure box with more of God and the things that won’t rust, break and need replaced.

That’s my tension…what is your tension?