PREACHING IN A CONSUMER SATURATED CULTURE
Marshall Shelley: "I just read about the latest form of oppression: Tivo Tyranny. It’s the burden of having recorded too many TV shows, and now finding there’s no way you’re going to be able to watch them all...

"It’s just the latest example that, yes, we live in a “consumer culture.” And whenever we consume, whether goods, products, or services, we’re inclined to overindulge. And each new convenience, promising new kinds of freedom, can lead to its own form of bondage.

"How can preachers effectively address people who are surrounded and saturated by their consumer culture?"

This is a great question -- and not just for those of us who do the actual "preaching." How does choice and information overload -- combined with the growing assumption that the consumer is king -- affect how we communicate the faith? Practically speaking, what has to be different from what we did 25 years ago? Do we move toward the technology in order to speak "their language" or move away from it to create a needed place of refuge? Do we help people overindulge or do we release them from saturation?

No easy answers on this one.