consumerism :: The Tentative Apologist

Post tagged with consumerism

Is the church supposed to be “a place for you”?

September 29th, 201112:09 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

In the late 1970s a young preacher named Rick Warren started going door to door asking people why they didn't attend church. He then took that data and used it as a basis to start his church. And the rest, as they say, is history. I'm sure you could learn a lot of value from an exercise like that. "The greeter didn't look at me when he shook my ha...
Consumerism as Religion

June 14th, 201107:09 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

Tomorrow I fly to Rio de Janeiro to deliver an address on the topic of happpiness. As I have written the talk I have chosen to focus on two different, rival accounts of happiness: consumerism and Christian personalism. In preparing for my address I have been struck both by the overlap between consumerism and Christianity on key points as well as th...
The Gap changes its logo: Is nothing sacred?

October 10th, 201011:21 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

It was with great shock and dismay this week that many of us learned our favorite retailer of unnecessary clothing has changed its logo. It seems that we live in an age of such superficiality that a retailer like The Gap believes it is no big deal when it casts off the legacy of its treasured forty-one year retailing history like so many used paper...
Can the Church beat Starbucks?

September 18th, 200912:12 PM ET

By Randal Rauser

It used to be an easy decision. You go to church on Sunday mornings and save the coffee shop for Tuesday night small group. But things are not so clear anymore. Indeed, over the last several years the church and Starbucks have increasingly moved into each other's territory. And this leads to the question: will the church go the way of the UK's Coff...
The Tragedy of Capitalism

May 19th, 200910:51 AM ET

By Randal Rauser

One hour into my flight home yesterday from Denver, panic set in. I had completed my book (Sam Storms, Chosen for Life) and with some reluctance had even resorted to reading the in-flight magazine. Now with more than an hour still to go and the magazine done, my eyes darted around for more food for the eyes. Perhaps read the safety card? Or the vom...