Materialism | Money | Stewardship

THE NEW MATERIALISM
In a recent editorial in Christianity Today, Harold Myra includes these words about the new materialism: We see it in every stratum of society, often resulting in preposterous consumption in a desperately needy world. On TV we see Cher’s $6.4 million mansion, Jill St. John’s $100,000 fur, Aston Martin’s $150,000 Lagonda automobile, and a Paris jeweler’s $300,000 solid gold trinket case — all gushed over as wonders to envy. As Gil Beers and I were discussing this recently, he told me a story: While at Forest Lawn in California, Gil had asked the mortician at the cemetery, “What was the most expensive funeral you ever had here?” The mortician didn’t have to search his memory. A man embittered at his ex-wife and children had left them almost nothing, but had provided bountifully for his own final, ostentatious farewell. He had assigned $200,000, about a half- million in today’s dollars. First a bronze casket was bought for around $18,000, and a beautiful…