Stay Away from the Mall, Say Hallelujah!

On Sundays, I usually write a serious post on The Bible and Money to talk about money in a spiritual context. Today, we're going to try something a bit different, though this is a money piece and it does deal with a "church."

This article is from Money magazine and focuses on "Reverend Billy" who is the founder of the Church of Stop Shopping. Money says that, "His congregants are the shopping-afflicted. Talen and others who try to help people control their spending are striking a nerve and find themselves in high demand." Here are the key parts of this piece:

Reverend Billy Talen is a playwright who dreamed up the church as he watched Manhattan's storied theater district slowly become a mall.

"They're feeling a kind of knowing emptiness and they don't know why. So they keep buying more and more, trying to fill the hole in the soul. We say: Stop shopping and start living."

The message is registering. Talen's cross-country crusade attracts crowds everywhere, from the Mall of America to Times Square. He was recently filmed for a documentary that's set to be released later this year (possible title: What Would Jesus Buy?).

Please, please, please do NOT publish a book by that title. Ugggh!

Anyway, the article does have a couple pieces of useful information. The first are the "three practical shopping commandments":

• Thou shalt not shop alone. Bring a friend who can talk you out of making rash decisions.
• Thou shalt take a break. Each time you approach a checkout counter, pause awhile.
• Thou shalt be efficient. Limit the number of trips per week by planning ahead.

How about, "Thou shall exercise some self-control?" (See Galatians 5:22-23 and 2 Peter 1:5-6).

The second useful list -- for people who have a preoccupation with buying things -- is as follows:

1. Assess the problem.

2. Log time as well as money.

3. Change your tool kit.

4. Establish roadblocks.

This last list is actually a good set of guidelines -- ones that I would recommend myself. I particularly like #2. People who don't have time for this or don't have time for that often do find time to shop a lot. Look at how you spend your time and it could be related to how you spend your money.