Jim,

I hear what you're saying and the context is important, to be sure. That being said, I don't find the bits of AC that I've used and shared with my folk to smack of "moralizing killjoys who think that their way of praising the God who sent his son into the world is demonstrably superior" to mine.

I shared some of the material with my folk yesterday and received positive feedback on the perspective it helped people see. This feedback came, not from my 'lefty' folks, but rather from those who I thought might find it most intrusive and accusatory.

My issue with the system that equates the Christmas season's success with the bargains we can snag (never mind whether we can afford them) seems to seduce the very folk who can least afford it.

As Anglicans (and 'lefty', as you so aptly put it), it seems that we can find, as part of our heritage, some Via Media in it all so as not to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.

Maybe Advent Conspiracy is akin to the Anglican view of auricular confession, "all may, some should, none must."

Blessed Advent,

--Warren

Thanks Jim -- my discomfort with this video is exactly as you say. As I said on FB - it seems very "Lady Bountiful" to me.
I wish we did not call people who are poor, thirsty, etc -- The poor, The thirsty, etc - like that is their identity and makes them "other."

Thank you, Jim, for unpacking the class snobbery lurking in this campaign. Scolding ordinary people for their tackiness might not be the best way to enter Advent. As Jesus' mom reminds us, God not only sends the rich out empty, but fills the poor with good things...as vulgar as that might be.
And if we're talking about conspicuous over-consumption, what is it with the endless mission trips? You might feel holy and self-sacrificing by spending a thousand bucks on airfare to El Salvador, but really you could just give that money away.

Actually, the creators of AC are aware of this tension, as you can see from this blog post: http://www.adventconspiracy.org/blog/want_to_really_do_advent_conspiracy_go_shopping/

The whole thing is great, but this stands out:

"Last week a woman emailed me in a panic because she was so convicted over the fact that her son really wants a bicycle for Christmas. I asked her what the problem was. She told me her church is doing [AC] this year and that she’s not supposed to buy gifts. I asked her if she had the money to buy her son a bike. She said she had been saving up for one for the past few months, and that she really wanted to buy it on Black Friday because she’d save a lot of money. She really didn’t know what to do, and asked for my “official” opinion. I told her, “As an official spokesperson for AC, I want you to buy your son that bike!” She cried with relief.

"And I felt sick to my stomach. Was [AC] doing a good thing, or did we create a new Frankenstein made of Fair Trade fabric and glitter glue?"

I think the folks at Advent Conspiracy would agree with your post 100 percent and will be grateful for your efforts to combat the judgmentalism that can arrive from claiming to be observing Advent More Spiritually Than Thou.

Laura Toepfer

I hear what Jim is saying. In general, I'm more positive. Here's what I had to say about it last year.

http://www.diosohio.org/digital_faith/news/263

I do think that, as with any form of asceticism, a lot has to do with the spirit in which it is practiced. Nietzsche said of Christians: "They should look more Redeemed." Last year, we continued to purchase gifts for our children, some of them that might have seemed frivolous to the dour moralists among us. In general, though, it's helpful not to have an orgy of waste.

I think that AC materials could be used in a way consistent with Jim's legitimate concerns. There are a host of behavior modifications that the righteous among us practice that are practical only for the well healed and which betray the joy of the Kingdom. Part of Jesus' critique of the Pharisees was that the degree of separation they practiced (for all the right reasons) left out the poor of the land.

It seems to me that in all things there needs to be a balance. When is comes to the consumeristic debauchery that has become "the holiday season" there is need for a balance of the true Spirit of the season. The gift of Jesus is just that, a gift to each of us. I think that in a world in which many many many either haven't heard the message, or most likely just choose to ignore it; a campaign like Advent Conspiracy is a wake up call that there is more to life (and faith) than seeing if you can wear the new chip right out of your credit card. I like the fact Jim that you are continuing to help us find that balance in understanding that generalizations don't apply evenly. I oft say in preaching that I preach for myself as much as anyone else, because I need to hear the message. I need to hear the message of AC as I seek to find a balance this holiday. I also need to be reminded that just because it applies to me, it doesn't work for everyone. That balance is why we read blogs and share opinions. That all might grow.

Lots of good points and considerations, but I second and hope that everyone reads the blog post that Laura T posted.

"I’m worried that people are being guilted into Advent Conspiracy. The last thing we want is for people to feel like they can’t shop because their church or family member or friend told them it’s not the [AC] way. Because that’s not true. So what is the [AC] way? Simply this: We want to encourage people to do Christmas differently by worshiping Jesus first before anything else. We want to push back on hyper-consumerism. Notice the word “hyper”. We’re not saying you shouldn’t buy a gift, we’re merely suggesting you don’t gorge yourself on gifts or buy stuff out of obligation. That kid I mentioned earlier is going to wake up Christmas morning and he’s going to remember it forever because that’s the day he got a brand new bike. And the mom won’t regret it because she didn’t go into debt to show her son how much she loves him. That’s a beautiful thing. Some will opt out of buying gifts and make something for their loved ones, and that’s a beautiful thing. Others will buy things from organizations like Trade as One, and that’s a beautiful thing. Some will shop on Black Friday because they really want to honor their finances by saving money on gifts, and that’s a smart thing. Here’s what’s not a beautiful thing: Getting all bent out of shape and stressed out because someone said “we” don’t want you to buy gifts. Kind of a silly thing, especially since one of [AC]’s intentions is to help people relax and enjoy the season. The point is, make it personal by making it about Jesus first. The rest is just details. "

That doesn't really sound like "moralizing killjoys" or "class snobbery," to me anyways...

And Sara, regarding your thoughts on mission trips, I totally agree regarding "endless" ones or spectacularly wasteful or less than helpful ones. Especially if it's serving as a band-aid to one's own self regarding need in the world.

But having gone on and taken youth in my ministry on some that were great and some that weren't so great, there is real value in the personal interactions- 1) in the way people in far off places have said it makes them feel noticed and cared about when someone takes the effort to come and be with them (even if the hand rail your 10th grader put up isn't the changing all that much.) 2) sometimes people's eyes aren't opened until they're taken out of the familiar, out of their comfort zone. Sure I want my young people to get involved in local, relational service, but sometimes the spark that lights that fire is seeing need out in the world, before they can notice the need around them at home.

Again, don't disagree that there is probably plenty of waste in mission trips, not to mention them sometimes being for the wrong motivations and not always helpful for any of the parties involved.
But they can also be sacramental and life changing. Just my thoughts on the matter.

in Peace,

Jonathan Chesney

I am appreciating this conversation, and the quotations from the Advent Conspiracy blog make me think better of them. They have, as Laura and Jonathan said, seen that their message doesn't strike everyone in quite the way they intended, and responded in a sensitive and intelligent way. That said, I am responding to what strikes me as the prevailing tone of their communications, and as someone from a working class background, I find it off putting.

Hmmmmm --I wonder where/when exchanging gifts at Christmas came from/began.

I also wondered from whom the Advent Conspiracy emanated before I shared it... thank you Laura.

Either extreme --gorging on gifts or refraining from all gifts is extreme. However, I will say that my beloved and I do not exchange gifts at Christmas --haven't for about 15 years now, and we give gifts to poor elderly shut-ins in a local nursing home or environmental groups or etc.

It surely makes for a very different Christmas.

Meg Matters

hey Jim,

if you (or anyone who felt the same,) felt so inclined, would you talk a little more about that tone you heard from the AC stuff, maybe point to a couple examples?

My assumption is that it feels akin to people criticizing people who go to Wal-Mart, even if it does have the cheapest prices for folks who need those prices to feed and clothe their familes, kinda thing?

I ask out curiosity and an interest in widening my view.

Thanks! If not, no worries, I'd just like to hear more on that vibe some folks are feeling.

I must be going soft or something. Because this was a walk-off grand slam into the upper deck.

When I watched it -- I felt that it was from an particular socio-economic point of view - one that could see "the poor" etc as "not us." It is like Jesus' parable of the wages paid to the workers (where they all get the same amount) Those who are not day laborers are outraged and say "not fair." There is no understanding of those who are often chosen at the end of the day (because they are weaker, not the favored worker, etc) and what a wonderful thing to be paid a full days wage and not have go home with nothing. The video takes the point of view of the "haves" and urges them to do something with their excess (not a bad thing). The feeling I get is once again of the child with the hand me down bike and clothes -- people being made to feel good while still able to give their kid a new bike and the latest fashions. It is my reaction- I understand that - and not the intent of the video -- but trying to help you see the differences in points of view.

Ann,

I agree. An often unarticulated assumption is one of choice -- something that wealth often buys in our culture. Many people simply don't have that.

I read this online a long time ago, I think on the Ship of Fools boards. I take it out when my Advent smuggery gets a little too intense, to remind me that Jesus is extravagant and came to save the world extravagantly.

******
I love the very thought of Christmas.

I love it as soon as the clocks go back at the end of October and the light begins to fade at 4pm.

I love the lights of the shops gleaming in the dark wet evenings, people scurrying home from work and gazing at the early Christmas decorations waiting for buses that seem never to arrive.

I love smelling cinnamon and oranges and looking at the strangest of chocolate confections that seem only to appear at this time of the year.

I love reading the odd assortment of anthologies and joke books and rules of strange games and thinking of odd presents for odd uncles and aunties.

I love thinking of the money I shall waste which I haven't got and the rampant commercialism of it all and thinking this is the world Jesus loves and hasn't it really always been the way? A world of incarnation, of tainted dreams, of extravagance and exploitation, of messy compromises and a world that cannot wait for feasts, even if it is only to make money.

I love driving home from work and spotting the first house to be festooned with garish lights and flourescent goblins on the lawn long before Advent arrives and wondering how do they afford the electricity?

I love the expectation I feel for foolish things and daft family reunions that end in tears but may one day heal old wounds and address hard to forget slights.

I love the idiots who wrap themselves up in Christmas glitter after the endless office parties beginning from November.

I love so many irrelevant, wasteful, irrational, commercial things that only Christmas brings.

I cannot wait.......

I love your note Kit

Thank you, Kit. I love Christmas time, too. It is a time for all of us to have the chance to relive childish wonder.
Pam Alger

Advent is my second favorite time of the liturgical year (my favorite being Lent). It provides an opportunity for prayer, scripture study and quiet reflection without which Christmas, with its frenetic pace and seemingly mandatory jolliness, would be unbearably oppressive.