An Evaluation of “Stuff Love” in Light of Wallace’s Consumerism and Christian Community

The Stuff Love activity was taken from the study guides offered at the Practicing Our Faith website, and can be found here. This activity is intended for use with teenagers. The purpose of the activity is to identify the reasons why consumerism is rampant among Americans. The activity is built on Luke 12:13-21 where Jesus says that a persons’ life is not about the abundance of her possessions. The activity consists of the scripture, a few points about who might be responsible for American consumerism, and reflective questions about consumerism.

Wallace’s article, Consumerism and Christian Community, published in the Anglican Theological Review, (also available here) was the reading for this week. In her article Wallace reviews a handful of books about the problem of consumerism in America. She highlights the fact that this culture judges people’s worth by the amount of money they make and the type and amount of stuff that they own rather than their character (584). Wallace then suggests that the counter-cultural message, found in Church, that we are loved by God could ward off the penchant, which is driven by this culture, for looking for love in the wrong places of stuff and money (587).

The activity places consumerism in the light where it can be examined, which is what the American teenager needs. It is likely that she is not aware of the extent to which consumerism has an effect on her life. However, the activity is rather flat, dull, and impersonal. The questions for reflection do not draw the participant into examining the influence of consumerism on her own life. Rather, they approach the topic in a broad and impersonal manner. As it stands, I do not recommend this activity for use with the Euro-American teenage culture. In order for this activity to be successful, it needs to engage the participants on a personal level and challenge them to take some sort of action regarding consumerism in their lives. A hands-on or movement focusing activity to draw the participants in would also be helpful. Without these changes, I do not believe that this activity would be successful.