One Messed Up Understanding of Christmas

Who needs to play one of the violent video games on the new, Nintendo Wii or Sony's Play Station 3, when you can just stand in line for them and personally experience violence? Consider an Associated Press Story written by Peter Svensson last week:

"HARTFORD, Conn. - Two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting for the new PlayStation 3 game system to go on sale early Friday and shot one man who refused to give up his money, authorities said.

In Sullivan, Ind., a man was in critical condition after emergency surgery for a stab wound after he and a friend tried to rob two men of consoles they waited 36 hours in line to buy, police said.

Nationwide, short supplies of the PS3 and strong demand led to long lines of buyers, some waiting for days outside stores. Once the doors opened Friday, they pushed and shoved their way to the shelves in several cities to get at the limited supply. Two people were arrested in Fresno, Calif., after a crowd trampled people in a parking lot.
It was about 3 a.m. when the two gunmen in Putnam, a town of about 9,000 residents in northeast Connecticut, confronted 15 to 20 people standing outside a Walmart store and demanded money, said State Police Lt. J. Paul Vance. "One of the patrons resisted. That patron was shot," Vance said. Vance said the gunmen fled after shooting Michael Penkala, 21, of Webster, Mass., in the chest and shoulder. Penkala was in stable condition at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, Mass., with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, Vance said. Police were searching for the suspects, both believed to be in their teens, Vance said. He said one was wearing a ski mask and brandishing a handgun, and the other had what appeared to be a shotgun.

About 30 miles away, another shopper was beaten and robbed of his new PlayStation 3 just minutes after he bought it at a store in Manchester, police said. The shopper told police five men surrounded and beat him as he left the Shoppes at Buckland Hills." (From The AP)

I don't know where to start? The cultural implications of this story are numbing. People standing in line, many camping out for days in cold weather and risking personal injury to spend hundreds of dollars on an electronic gadget that will be outdated within three years. Or, noting that both new game systems are now being offered on E-bay anywhere from $1,500-3,000! Not to mention those who offered to pay people hundreds of dollars for their place in line at retail stores offering limited supplies of the games. And the thugs who prey on these people is an all-time low for the criminal mind.

Has anyone stopped to consider that both of these games will be available in supply o' plenty after Christmas and most likely at a much lower price? Has anyone stopped to think about the value we are once again placing on stuff? No, I'm not bashing ownership of such a game system. I'm questioning our priorities and obsession with things. Wonder what the average family in Darfur, or the Sudan thinks about this insane violence over an affluent commercial obsession when they are just trying to survive one more day? And you gotta love the television commercials for the latest war or terrorism games for these new game systems. Now the average ten to twelve year-old American kid can electronically experience the violence that their child counterparts in Gaza, Iraq, or Lebanon are experiencing in the flesh! Bet the average Iraqi child would just like to go outside and play soccer without fear of being blown up.

It's nearly Advent folks, the Christmas season is upon us. I pray my checkbook entries and credit card receipts will honor God as much, if not more, than they honor my own selfish wants and desires. As people continue to lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas and pack out the malls corrupting what God had in mind when He gave the greatest gift ever given, perhaps those of us who call him, Lord, can simply exercise some grace toward those who don't get it. Perhaps we can do it in little ways by holding doors, giving up the preferred parking space to someone who really needs it, smiling in long lines and saying thank-you, or excuse me. Yes, we need to donate time, funds and items for worthwhile causes too. But as Christ-followers we really need to model grace this time of year because we have already received the greatest, most expensive and elaborate gift ever given, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh! And all the warehouses on earth filled with Ninetendo Wii's or PS3's can't even come close to the value of that gift!