It’s funny he should say that, and not just because he makes 3D movies, but because that’s exactly what they said about HD. “Not since the introduction of colour in the 1970s will there have been such a revolution in quality of viewing” said the Times in 2006. One cable service is still talking about it in the future tense, claiming “High Definition will be the biggest revolution in TV for years”. The latest Sky ad sells HD as “the ultimate TV experience”. I guess not.

It’s also funny because 3D viewing has been predicted as the next frontier of entertainment every decade since about 1890, when the first 3D film was shown. There was Teleview in the 1920s, Polaroid tinkered with it in the 30s, it was a big 1950s craze, and then the 70s had Stereovision. You could enjoy 3D horror films with names like ‘Comin’ at Ya!’ in the 1980s, and then then we had IMAX. None of these technological developments have been as exciting as the one predicted. In 1974,  futurist Bob Mackenzie said 3D television was “technically feasible through ionization of alpha particles in the air that fills the living room”, which sounds much interesting than Samsung’s LED-with-bells-on model.

I doubt that it is a revolution, any more than HD has been. There are only so many revolutions you can experience in one lifetime after all, and I’m still trying to work out how to live with the internet. So I won’t be rushing out to buy a 3D television. Besides, there’s been a recession on, and the technology companies might be pushing the consumer treadmill up one speed too many. I’ve been into the pawn shop in Luton, and it is piled to the ceiling with HD televisions.

Here’s a tip: Your thoughts will follow your money. ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Matt 6:21). So we can use or giving to retrain our desires and interests. Spend money on things and those things will matter to you. I remember seeing a beautiful, new car parked on our street and thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a car like that?’ And then I thought, ‘No! I’d only worry about it getting scratched.’ So use money to retrain your desires and interests by giving it away. Spend money on mission and other people, and mission and other people will become what interests you.

This latest rediscovery came from this book review on John Stott’s final book The Radical Disciple and it’s eight ways to live this radical Christ-like life. The review says,

“A fifth area is simplicity. John Stott speaks from a position of integrity on this subject, since his book sales and speaking engagements could have made him a millionaire, yet he practices what he preaches, giving all his book royalties towards the work of providing books for believers and pastors in poorer countries. He feels grieved that the International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle which took place in March 1980 received very little attention, and this chapter is simply given to republish their statement (which he co-wrote with Ron Sider). This is a very challenging chapter, and one that exposes deep-seated idols that we are reluctant to part with. It is sad that Stott seems to be something of a lone voice in the evangelical world on this subject.”

So I followed the links and discovered this and this. Breathe, (and I realise this is a bit ambitious), has taken up the baton for a simpler lifestyle. Perhaps we should call for a new International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle. It’s about time don’t you think?

Immense market forces are at work trying to make children want more stuff. How do we help them resist? How can we introduce kids to the power of generosity?

Resistance is Futile? is a new guide from Stewardship. It’s concise, measured and practical, and best of all it doesn’t give up hope. There are some provocative and helpful suggestions about things like TV, family rituals and pocket money. 

As the guide points out ‘you can’t teach disbelief to a child, only wonderful stories’. It’s no good just railing at consumerism – we have to tell (and live) a better story.

Read Resistance is Futile? here. Or download other resources on the Stewardship website.

I hope all my links work and if you are wondering about the stoning of adulterers bit on my title… well, I stole it from my new best friend AJ Jacobs, if you want to know what I am talking about watch this interview with him on Today (something American). Unfortunately, you will have to listen to some commercial drivel first… but its worth it!

We’ve been here before with Christmas. Is it rich for Christians to complain if the fast-feast season of Lent and Easter is taken over, extended and rebranded as a non-stop festival of consumerism? Didn’t the church originally hijack Eostre the pagan festival anyway? And what is Cadbury supposed to do? Its aim is to increase sales.

We seem to be at an impasse. Except there is one thing I notice. For Jesus to have a season dedicated to him there was a cost. 40 days of fasting in the wilderness (for the forty days of Lent). Death on a Roman cross for Good Friday. Appearing to witnesses a couple of days later for Easter Sunday. Whatever way you look at it that’s quite an investment.

So Cadbury would like a season for their Creme Egg. Are they willing to match that kind of commitment? Seeing as they’d like a longer season, should they be looking to exceed what Jesus offered? Something tells me that the image of someone demolishing a chocolate treat, with sweet goo dribbling down their chin, isn’t quite going to match the story of the man who gave his life away for the sake of the world. 

But hold on – maybe there’s a middle way here. Part of the meaning and message of Easter is that we find life more when we give it away. Easter is about celebrating the triumph of good over evil (In the words of Desmond Tutu: “Good is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness; life is stronger than death. Victory is ours, through him who loves us”). Easter has inspired literally billions of people to seek to bring hope to the places they live and work and suffer.

So how can we go forward? If Cadbury really want a season, then how about a few suggestions:

1. Make Creme Egg chocolate Fair Trade. Cadbury have already done this with Dairy Milk, as have their rivals Nestle with Kit Kat. While not solving the world’s economic woes, Fair Trade is exactly the kind of symbol of a better world that every season should have.
2. During Lent, why not suggest that people give a Creme Egg? Even better, give something better than that (a small cheque, a free lunch, help to neighbours) and top it off with a free Creme Egg as a sign of the season.
3. Cadbury should earmark a proportion of the revenues from Creme Eggs between January and Easter and put them to creative use: a Cadbury award for social entrepreneurship; grants for Easter community festivals; Cadbury scholarships for students in developing countries (e.g., for research into effective, equitable and sustainable global food production).
4. While we’re eating the eggs (not a bad thing in themselves) how about a Carbon Fast to offset some of the wider costs of consumption? 

A season with no substance, no bite, is at best a fad. At worst it’s a cynical gimic. But it doesn’t have to be this way. The feast can have some meat to it. Creativity can oust cynicism. Chocolate can be a gift worth celebrating, not endlessly self-indulgent junk food. 

The Egg can be a symbol of new life, right?

Or is it just processed sugar wrapped in foil?

Cadbury – you decide.

John Piper on C.S. Lewis’s ever-relevant indifference to relevance:

He loved the wisdom of the ages, not the whimsy of the passing present. He called himself a Neanderthaler and a dinosaur. He didn’t read newspapers. He never wore a watch. He never learned to type. He did not own or drive a car. He cared nothing about cutting a good appearance and wore the same old clothes until they were threadbare. He was incredibly free from the addicting powers of the present moment.

(HT: Between Two Worlds)

“In my view, the single biggest cause of stalled churches in the UK is the belief that material comfort can be normative for Christians. It is the opposite of radical commitment to Christ.”

Couldn’t agree more

Why did it happen? You could say that it’s part of the unsustainable growth mentality we seem to be stuck in. But I blame the eggs…

January 1st to April 4th has recently been pronounced ‘Creme Egg Season’. April 4th, you might think, don’t I recognise that date from somewhere? Yes, perhaps. Technically it’s Easter Day. But don’t worry about that. These 94 days are now Consumption Time. Never mind the fact that Christmas barely finished before this new ’season’ began. Never mind the fact that they’ve nearly doubled Lent (presumablytheir best sales period). Never mind the fact that Lent is a period of fasting.

This is the turbo-consumer economy. We have no time to fast. Everything is up for repackaging. All is consumption; all is pleasure. Never mind about Haiti or the other salutory struggles of life.

So I blame the eggs. The same non-stop, maximising philosophy behind the ads was also behind the Kraft takeover and in the minds of the shareholders who accepted it.

Thank goodness, though, Easter can’t be rebranded away. It’s values can’t be taken over. And still in 2010 it calls for compassionate business people, like the original Cadbury’s, to show the world that there’s more to life than money.