In the 1970s, Americans were exposed to about 500 ads per day, according to Jay Walker-Smith, president of a marketing firm. Today, it’s over 5,000 ads per day. “Everywhere we turn,” Walker-Smith says, “we’re saturated with advertising messages trying to get our attention.” Each of these ads is designed to create or awaken desires we didn’t know we had, and each ad promises that satisfaction is just one purchase away. Author Rodney Clapp says, “The consumer is schooled in insatiability. He or she is never to be satisfied—at least not for long. The consumer is tutored that people basically consist of unmet needs that can be appeased by commodified goods and experiences.”
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus flatly denies the view that life is the pursuit of material desires. He reminds us that life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing, despite what the 5,000 daily advertisements would like us to believe. Jesus’ call to take our focus off of material needs and desires is intended to alleviate our anxiety. When we see the world from God’s perspective, as a place under his providential care and provision, we can release our fears. When we see the world from the perspective of Madison Ave., not only will our fears remain, they will multiply.
Back in 1897, at the dawn of the modern advertising industry, one newspaper reader said that in the past we “skipped ads unless some want compelled us to read, while now we read to find out what we really want.” Most of the 5,000 ads we see every day are not designed to remind us of our needs, but to manufacture new ones. Imagine if you were reminded 5,000 times a day of God’s presence, love, and promise to care for you. How would that affect your level of anxiety?
If you are struggling with fear or the stress of trying to acquire more, consider removing some of the ads you encounter each day. What media can you turn off? What places might you avoid? Replace them with prayer, reading Scripture, or time with things that lift your imagination to God.
Daily Scripture
Matthew 6:25–34
Philippians 4:8–9
Weekly Prayer
From Ashton Oxenden (1808–1892)
God, I want your guidance and direction in all I do. Let your wisdom counsel me, your hand lead me, and your arm support me. I put myself into your hands. Breathe into my soul holy and heavenly desires. Conform me to your own image. Make me like my Savior. Enable me in some measure to live here on earth as he lived, and to act in all things as he would have acted.
Amen.
