It’s estimated that Americans spend $450 billion on Christmas every year.* And for what? For a gift that he/she MAY like? How long are they actually going to use that? How long until it’s being sold at a garage sale, given to a church or homeless shelter, or worse, thrown away? My wife and I have decided that this year, we are going to go minimal on the consumer type gifts this year, and instead try to do something a little more helpful to those in need.

I want to mention a few organizations that have really got me thinking in the last year.

TOMS Shoes

One of them is TOMS Shoes. I love the “One for One” model of business they represent. With every pair of shoes we buy, they give away a pair to a child in need. Sustainable giving to help. I love it.

Trade As One

Another is one I recently learned about is called Trade As One. Trade As One is an organization that sells “fair trade” products. In case you don’t know about fair trade, let me give you my version of it. Fair trade employs workers in poverty stricken areas of the world to produce quality products while being well paid. Fair trade helps fight poverty in developing nations by giving opportunities for enterprise and sustainable business. From the Trade As One website:

There are two crises that keep us awake at night. First, the crisis of extreme poverty that defines much of the developing world. Second, the empty consumerism that has left much of the developed world bereft of meaning and purpose. We believe Fair Trade is a way to alleviate both.

Advent Conspiracy

The last is probably the most spiritual, and I think really hits the heart of consumerism at it’s peak moment. Advent Conspiracy was started a few years ago by a group of pastors who were fed up enough with the consumer version of Christmas that they decided to bring the story of Christmas back to it’s roots. Instead of spending hundreds of billions on gifts that will most likely be tossed aside, spend less on those gifts, and give gifts that people REALLY want. Gifts of relationship, hope, and life. And the money that wsn’t spent? Give it to really help some people. What started as a few churches in the first year giving $500,000 to build wells in Africa, turned into $3 million the second year. And it’s continuing to grow.

This holiday, lets not forget what they are REALLY all about. Worshipping God the way the shepherds and wise men did. Giving like the wise men gave. Loving like our God did.

*From adventconspiracy.org

A friend of mine introduced me to this, and I felt it was not only appropriate, but much needed in our modern day consumerism society.

Advent Conspiracy is an international movement restoring the scandal of Christmas by worshipping Jesus through compassion, not consumption.When Christ was born the empire was threatened and as a result Herod, who was one of the more powerful kings of the day, ordered the killing of all the boys two years old and under who were in Bethlehem. The reason for this was that he hoped to take out the child-King that posed a threat to his kingdom.While we are not living under Herod’s reign, there is another empire of consumerism and materialism that threatens our faithfulness to Jesus. Jesus brought with him such an extraordinary Kingdom that is counter-culture to the kingdoms of this world.

Part of saying “yes” to Jesus means that we say “no” to over-spending. We say “no” to overconsumption. We say “no” to these things so we can create space to say “yes” to Jesus and His reign in our lives. The National Retail Federation was forecasting that Americans would spend approximately $457.4 billion at Christmas in 2006. The American Research group estimated an average of $907.00 per family to be spent at Christmas in 2006. After the Holiday we work for months to get out of debt, only to find that the presents we bought in the name of Christ furthered a consumerist mentality in us and our children and took our focus off of the greatness of Jesus. As Christ-followers, the Advent Conspiracy starts with us resisting a culture that tells us what to buy, wear and spend with no regard to bringing glory to Jesus.