ODE TO A SHOPPING MULTIPLEX (From the Archive)
A Dramatic Moment from TOTAL IMPACT Vol. 1 Issue 12 originally published in December 1993
I know a place.
Ah - it is a more than magnificent place. A place of wonderment, of family joy, of acceptance to the once-exiled. A place where magical animatronic elves call home and Santa’s beard is removable. A place where the angelic visitation can be heard in choral performance by each and every elementary class in town somewhere near the bottom of the escalators. A place where knitting yarn, link sausage in a basket, and a cassette of YOU singing “The Greatest Love of All” can all be purchased while you play Ms. Pac-Man and munch on a hot dog on a stick.
I know a place called the mall.
Let’s face it. The ultimate creation of today and the societal commune of tomorrow is our greatest American asset: the mall. And what better time to celebrate the mall than in this merry holiday season. The time the true reason behind the mall’s success is clear: all the things. Oh, yes, yes, YES! So many necessary and undeniably pleasurable things that we simply MUST HAVE — especially in this great season of giving-in-order-to-get.
What if God took the same approach?
What if all you and I were to Him were possessions? Little toy soldiers. He went to the people store and paid cash-on-delivery with His son as both payment and collateral and walked out knowing He would own us from then on. Why didn’t He? Why did God choose rather to suffer the greatest loss of all time by sacrificing His one and only to leave us with the freedom to choose? The answer lies in God’s intention.
God doesn’t want stuff for the sake of stuff.
God desires our lives offered as a gift to Him rather than as payment for services rendered. When we realize God’s enormous power and love for us, we feel that we owe Him all that back. Well - we absolutely do. But, we also owe Him our choice. We owe him an attitude of “I’m not merely going to accept You, but I’m going to live my life as something worthy to be accepted.” Not only inviting Him into our lives, but spending time making it a good place to live.
It is at that point that our salvation no longer remains a debt or a possession, but becomes a relationship. And, it is at that point that we can finally understand true emotion, miracle and sacrifice that world transforms into “Merry Christmas.”
Next: “Futurcise! An Infomercial” A Dramatic Moment from TOTAL IMPACT Vol. 2 Issue 1 originally published in January 1994