“A theology of consumption [has begun] to invade our culture–and our churches. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, we‘ve wandered away from the foundational teachings of Jesus–sharing our wealth, identifying with the marginalized, living a life of grateful stewardship–and [have begun] to identify our worth with how much money we made or how many possessions we owned…Our identity has changed: from being American citizens to being American consumers. We now produce very little for ourselves. We have become voracious consumers of not only goods and services, all in an attempt to increase our quality of life.”
Evy McDonald, minister and cofounder of New Road Map Foundation, as quoted by Jan Johnson in Abundant Simplicity (Downers Grove: IVP, 2011) 89.