This would be well received at my church. I really liked it until the water agenda appeared. At that point it seemed to drift away from worshipping the Savior in the manger to 'give to our cause'. While the cause is a good one, I thought it shifted the focus away from Jesus and remembering why He came (just as a point of reference, it was to die on the cross for my sin and to give me abundant life).

I tire somewhat of the evangelical obsession with taking the materialism out of Christmas. Of all the problems with American culture, I'm not sure holiday gift giving is the issue we should focus on. The end goal is obviously worthy: encouraging giving toward causes that can really make a difference in the world. I'm just not sure this line of argument is the most effective way to go about it.

This video isn't really as shocking as UrL presents it, but I think the video is a little off target. I love the idea of giving gifts to one another, especially our family members, so I don't think we should take issue with the idea of giving material items. Instead, we should shun all the silly, arbitrary parts of Christmas, like sending Christmas cards (which are expensive and narcissistic). Advent Conspiracy misses the point, because why can't you give gifts to your family AND give to ministries? It's a little too guilt-trippy for me.

That video was AWESOME! Whoever did it did a great job. I agree with the above post that the single focus on clean water misses the point of doing something (anything) other than consuming during the holiday season.

Very clever video!
I hope things are changing slightly. Within our own family (in Northern Ireland) we have been giving 'ethical gifts' for a few years now and a few of our friends do likewise e.g. money to drill wells, purchase seeds and tools etc. Not sure how some of our church congregation would take to the video. Many churchgoers (and good people at that) do tend to get stuck in 'tradition'. On saying that, here is a Thought from our church from last Christmas ... http://www.grovebaptist.co.uk/thought/xmas07.htm
It shares some of the themes promoted in this video.

Let's not take the Christ out of Christmas!

What a well-made video.

@kyle I understand where you're coming from. It seems like today there is a line being drawn between blatant materialism and abstinence. There isn't really a fine line between the two; more like a fissure. That being said, it's very hard to press on a movement that says "Quit materialism, cold turkey."

A couple weeks ago I wrote an article on this very issue and proposed the idea of a "tithe tax." Check it out. I think that a method like this might be a more successful strategy toward fostering attitudes of generosity without the guilt trip.

What do you think?

I agree with Kyle and Sarah. This video seems thoughtful, but it really isn't.

They obviously realize that "Christmas" is a very big deal to consumers. But it is an equally big deal to retailers and those they employ.

One year I made this kind of a pitch from the pulpit. Don't buy stuff, forget the mall, give your money to charity, etc. After service a few of the people in our congregation challenged me on this. They reminded me that this is how some people make a living - by doing retail. And without the Christmas buying season most retailers would not survive and many people would be out of work. And many of those people are at middle to lower middle to poor income levels.

Think about it. We buy alot of stuff at Christmas (I don't like it, but we do). This keeps Wal-mart, K-Mart, Target and myriad other retailers in business. They keep many people who otherwise could not get other jobs in jobs. They also buy from other manufactuers around the world that keep other people in jobs. Yeah, you can talk all day long about the bad conditions of these workers and it definitely is a problem. But without these jobs they have nothing. On and on it goes.

So it is not as simple as Advent Conspiracy makes it. It seems kind of simple minded and not very thoughtful if you ask me.

Scott,

Good points. But I have to push back (for the sake of argument).

First, I doubt Wal-Mart would go under if a single church--or even a network of churches--reduced their Christmas spending for a year.

Second, we have to be darn careful not to sanctify our spending. Do we buy Christmas presents because we want to help the working poor who run the registers? Doubt it. When I ask for Christmas gifts, I have no one but myself in mind. The pro-retail argument sounds as thinly pious as the pro-saving argument to me.

Finally, if our economy is based on buying crap we don't need, maybe we Christians don't need to worry ourselves with sustaining it. Just a thought.

J. Joyce,

Great push-back. And I largely agree with your counterpoints. The system is broken, consumerism has run wild, and it does seem to often miss the point of Christmas.

But this is currently the system we have. I think changing it is going to require more than just an Advent Conspiracy.

With that said, I appreciate what they are attempting to do and may God bless them for it.

I came across the video while visiting one of our denomination's larger churches in the Portland, OR area in early November. I brought it back to the congregation that I pastor in Cambridge, MA and began showing it about a month ago. Since then, the philosophy behind Advent Conspiracy has informed much of our community's engagement with the 2008 Christmas season. I would say conservatively that a majority of the congregation has shifted their respective approach to both how they are spending their money, and what they are prioritizing during the holidays. Our folks can be a pretty critical bunch, but we found that AC rang true with what many were already feeling/doing about Christmas. It gained traction quickly, and has maintained momentum leading up to the final week of Christmas.

I must have been at the same service as R. Schlecht. I happened to be visiting Image Dei in Portland when they showed this (I think it was the Sunday prior to Halloween).

I was impressed then and still am.

I don't take the Advent Conspiracy message to be one of "no spending" or guilt. I do find it a refreshing alternative to the seemingly irresistible gravitational pull of consumerism that affects me this time of year.

As for showing this video in our church, I don't imagine for a second that this would cause any kind of negative stir. To the contrary, it would be embraced by leaders and laity alike.

Thanks for sharing it.

Yeah my church is pushing this during the Christmas season. It has been very positive so far. There are a number of great videos about this out there. I have a post with a couple of them:

http://manofdepravity.com/2008/12/05/advent-conspiracy-for-me/

I appreciate the exchange between Scott and J. Joyce. And I like the video.

However, I've got kids. They wouldn't understand it very well if I said, this year we're buying water for people instead of giving you a present. I'd hate for generosity to be mistaken for coal in their stockings.

Also, I think it is good for kids to anticipate presents. Then we parents can step in and say, "The feeling of excitement and anticipation you feel about this toy is the feeling of excitement and anticipation that God wants you to feel about Jesus becoming part of your life."

So we give to charities, yes. And we give to our kids too. Both are important for different reasons.

our faith community is pretty deep into the Advent Conspiracy this year. one of the things i greatly appreciate is the call to live more faithfully into the narrative of Scripture.

we had the opportunity to share our story (on the front page no less) with the Post Gazette - http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08350/935283-52.stm - here in Pittsburgh. i have to confess there was some initial confusion. some people thought we were completely unplugging the experience of Christmas - no gifts, no trees, no carols... our experience with the Advent Conspiracy has been more of a both/and. we have established an Advent Conspiracy Fund and as people spend less we are inviting them to give more to three specific mission partners: a local ministry with the homeless and addicted; a team that is going to the Gulf Coast to do hurricane relief work, and a partnership with a village in Ethiopia. hopefully rather than quilting people, we are extending an invitation to respond to the epic narrative of God's coming to earth in Jesus Christ to rescue, save, deliver, and restore.

i love tolkien's question: "i wonder what sort of tale we have fallen into?"