Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
My son had a nanny for the first 2.5 years of his life and she is one of my favorite people in the world. She’s like the aunt I never had but always wanted. She was great with our son, both of our kids loved her dearly, and she was an amazing cook who would often cook dinners for our whole family. To show our appreciation for her, we wanted to get her a gift. We asked our nanny’s daughter if there were something she’s always wanted but never purchased for herself and she told us she’s always wanted a dutch oven pot from Le Creuset, which is a really nice ceramic pot. So that’s what we got for her and she was very excited to cook in her new pot. But the main reason why she was excited for her new gift was so that she could cook great food for her family and friends. She was excited for her gift so that she can essentially give to others. This is exactly why God distributes various gifts for all of His children; gifts like teaching, generosity, prophecy, mercy, and others like it are given to God’s people so that we can bless others with them. When we don’t know and utilize our spiritual gifts, we can easily drift into Christian consumerism. We approach churches and even our own faith with an attitude of a customer. It’s easy to “conform to the pattern of this world” by treating church like we would a restaurant and talk about it like Yelpers online. “That sermon was too much meat and potatoes. That music was too loud. The ambience wasn’t to my liking.” One of the best ways to avoid consumer Christianity is to know and utilize our spiritual gifts.
