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New and Better

August 22nd, 31e by Brett Wagner

“Our culture is thoroughly saturated with advertising.  Each day we’re barraged with appeals for our attention.  And every appeal claims in some way that it offers something new or better. Or both. 

There’s nothing wrong with being new or better.  Our problem is that we have come to see these two adjectives as synonymous - as if anything new is always better, and if something is better it must be new.”

Taken from “The Cross Centered Life” by CJ Mahaney

What do you think? Do you agree with this statement?  Have you expereinced this to some degree in your life?  How strong is the temptation to throw out the “old” to replace it with the new?

-brett

2 Responses to “New and Better”

  1. nicole Says:
    August 26th, 2007 at 7:12 pm

    That statement is true. This culture teaches us to think that way. ‘New is better’, has been drilled into our heads through media and many other influences. We have been tought that if we don’t have the newest car or newest iPod, we just arent cool enough. And we all fall pray to that idea. I personally do that a lot with cars my family drives. My sisters car is really old, I mean, like run down, barely running kind of old. And I constantly complain about it instead of thanking God for even having the car. If we didn’t have it, we’d be in a huge mess. The car is a blessing, but I tend to forget that.

    So what Mahaney says is true, we do tend to see ‘new’ and ‘better’ as synonymous. Even when we shouldnt.

  2. annie Says:
    August 30th, 2007 at 8:19 pm

    I know what you mean about forgeting my blessings and focusing on the negative. I’m totally feeling your “no-air” pain, mine just went out and it is so easy to get angry and frusturated over a car… but you nailed it, without it I would be in a “huge mess”:-) Just having a car is a blessing and I want to choose to focus on the blessing of what I do have rather than on the ‘new and better’ I think I want or need. Thanks for reminding me;)

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