Prime Day

July is full of very important days. Independence Day, mine and my wife’s birthdays, free Slurpee day, free Chic-fil-a day, and probably more. And now, Amazon Prime Day. I realize that this isn’t a new holiday. In fact, it started in 2015. But this is the year that it hit me what has happening, and I had a visceral reaction. A negative one.

Here are some facts from Amazon Prime Day in 2021.

- $1.9 billion dollars were spent by customers. Billion. With a B.

- Most popular item: Fire TV Stick 4k with Alexa Voice Remote

- Customers bought (Amazon says they “saved”) on buying 600k backpacks, 1 million laptops and 220k Crayola products.

Let me tell you why I care about this. In my mind, Prime Day is the essence of consumerism. And consumerism is not compatible with the Kingdom of God, where people are treated fairly and possessions don’t possess people.

The Bezos crew, off to space. Credit: https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/jeff-bezos-space-flight-07-20-21/h_18cd45be2dd95b74cd7e4f6dc670dbef

I have an Amazon Prime membership. I got one back in the day when a college email address gave you a discount for a membership. And Amazon saves me all the time. Dish soap, laundry detergent, those last second Christmas presents. I get the value. I’m not fully anti-Amazon. I know good-hearted Christians who work for Amazon.

But Amazon Prime Day hits different for me. It feels to me like an excuse for a company to use their powerful platform to convince customers that they are doing them a favor in order to get them to buy more stuff. It all started as a birthday celebration for Amazon’s 20th. They celebrated with sales and deals. It’s all about their 3rd party sellers, they say. Yeah, like Crayola and the Fire Stick…which is made by Amazon.

My issue exists on three levels.

First of all, the logical part of my brain can’t stand this kind of marketing. I didn’t wake up today planning on buying an iRobot Roomba. But when I went to buy dish soap, I found out that there is a Prime Day Deal on one. Did you know I could save up to $500 on one?! That’s money in the bank! But no…it’s not. It’s spending several hundreds of dollars that I wouldn’t have otherwise.

Now don’t get my wrong. I will buy 3 ice creams to get 2 free. (true story…on multiple, multiple occasions). And I will take that 41% off of diapers. I love a good BOGO. But let’s be careful here. Were you planning on buying a Keurig or did you see it and feel compelled? This might be covetousness. (More to come on that) Saying that you are “saving” $300 doesn’t matter if you spend $300. You spent $300.

Just a casual $250. Credit: https://www.amazon.com/iRobot-Roomba-675-Connectivity-Carpets/dp/B07DL4QY5V

Second, and this is where the spiritual implications kick in more heavily, Amazon (I’m talking about the greater company, not individual employees) is not simply for the consumer. Amazon is for profit. I don’t know Jeff Bezos. Or Zuckerberg. Or any of these people who run the tech giants of the day. But don’t be fooled – they are about profit. Know how I know? They are #3 in the S&P 500. That means they are very, very successful.

Think about this in light of the ethics we see when the Bible describes life in the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is the kind of place where people don’t charge interest on loans. (Ex. 22:25) It’s the kind of place where people share possessions and give to others when they see a need. (see the end of Acts 2) The Old Testament (and New) seeks to set up a community where no one is poor. (Deut. 15:4) If you do charge interest, if should be for the benefit of the poor. (Proverbs 28:8) The kingdom of God is the kind of place where we are not concerned about wealth accumulation. It is the kind of place where we have our eyes on those around us and consider our possessions as belonging to everyone. This is the nature of Zacchaeus’ life change: “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay it back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8)

“The kingdom of God is the kind of place where we are not concerned about wealth accumulation. It is the kind of place where we have our eyes on those around us and consider our possessions as belonging to everyone.”

I don’t expect Amazon to operate under the principles of kingdom ethics. It would be naïve of me to think they would. And I understand that business and individual ethics will necessarily be different; not every business ought to be a non-profit. But this doesn’t mean I ought not identify fallacies when I see them, because godly ethics promote the good of all. Anything else is person vs. person. Using a special day to get people to come to your website to see “deals” – call me crazy – feels like a ploy to get people to buy stuff they may not need. It doesn’t feel like a concern for the well being of those truly in need. Call me crazy.

This brings me to my third issue. The issue of money and possessions. The Bible is full of warnings about wealth: Heb. 13:5, Luke 12:33-34, Matthew 6:19-21, 1 Timothy 6:9-10. I’ll spell out a couple:

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1 John 2:16)

Some Christmas cheer. Credit: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/christmas-ideas/a24435133/stores-open-on-christmas-eve/

I know, I know, it’s the love of money that is the root of all evil. Money itself is fine. But don’t you find it to be true that your possessions possess you? Don’t you find that the more you have, the more energy you spend on maintaining the things you have. More mental, emotional and physical energy. Don’t you find that possessions more often than not are either neutral or pull you away from devotion to God? Don’t you find that the desire to have what others have makes you miserable and is never satisfied?

When we lived in Blacksburg, we lived in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with no yard. It had room for very little, so we got rid of a bunch of stuff to move in. Now, it wasn’t my favorite spot to live – it was tight with two kids. We had to work for toys not to consume our living space. But now I live in a 3-bedroom house with a finished basement and 5 bathrooms. I have an acre and a half to take care of. You know what I spend a lot more time doing? Cleaning. Trying to maintain the tractor so I can mow the grass. Worrying about rotten deck boards and unfinished house projects.

“Don’t you find it to be true that your possessions possess you?”

House projects and care for the yard have some value. I’ve gone through spiritual pruning as a result of my stress about these things. But at the end of the day, am I better off spiritually for having them?

You may not like what I’m saying, but we ought not write off Jesus’ warning to those who wanted to follow him. He warned of an upheaval of life. He warned of needing to sell possessions. Sure, it was different then. But the principle stands: wealth, possessions and covetousness and not minor issues. They are listed throughout the Canon as serious issues of the soul. American standards are far above the standard of wealth expectations.

So please don’t send this blog to Bezos in case he has a spot for me on his next trip to space. But do be careful not to be wrapped into consumerism. It’s far more serious than you may think. Don’t let possessions possess you.

Dear freshman me,