#firstworldproblems, they actually are killing us

Nice. An email from my Starbucks Rewards team – “Congratulations! The next one’s on us” – Let’s see, 6:28pm. If I leave now I can grab a drink and still make my meeting at 7 – “Welcome to Starbucks. What can we make for you with today?” – One…uh…iced grande…Sorry, iced half-caf grande one pump vanilla breve iced coffee with milk – “Alright, one iced half-caf grande one pump vanilla breve iced coffee with milk. And you wanted that one pump vanilla in addition to the classic syrup?” – Oh, sorry, I meant instead of – “Alright so…” – Oh, and I forgot to say, light ice. Really sorry – “Ohhh kaayyy, so, I have an iced half-caf grande one pump vanilla (instead of classic) breve light ice iced coffee with milk?” – That’s right – “Ok, sir, I’ll see you at the first window…Hi there. That’ll be $2.30” – K. My card is on my phone – “Alright. Here’s your receipt. Your drink will be right up” – Oh. Crap. I forgot I had a reward for a free drink – “Ohhh kaayyy. No problem. I can undo that, if I can just see your phone again.” – Aww. You know what? The app booted me for some reason. Just need to sign in – (Try the usual numeral and letter password) – “We’re sorry. Invalid username/password. Please try again. Forgot username? Forgot password?” – (Try the usual numeral and letter with one cap password) – “We’re sorry. Invalid username/password…” – (Try the usual numeral and letter with one cap and one symbol password) – “We’re sorry…” – You know what? I might just need to pull around and come inside. I don’t want to hold up the line – “Ok, sir” – (Pull around. Park. Click “Forgot password.” Open new tab. Open yahoo.com) – “Bieber’s Bad Hair Day.” “WWE SummerSlam 2014: What We Learned” – Man, I have got to switch to an new email provider (Try to click email icon on mobile app. Accidentally hit “Man Fakes Own Death to Avoid Upcoming Wedding.” Click back. Click email icon.) – “Would you like to upgrade your yahoo mobile app?” – (Click “later”) – “Username” – (Type email address) – “Password” – (Type usual numeral and letter with one cap and one symbol password) – “Is this a new device that you are using? Would you like us to send a verification code to the phone number ending in 4345? Or another email address?” – (Click “phone number ending in 4345.” Wait. Check emails. Refresh. Wait. Open new tab. Click bookmark: ESPNFC. Click story about Luis Saurez, “I Will Not Bite Again.” Chuckle. Share on Facebook.) – “Username” – (Type old Hotmail address) – “Password” – (Type usual numeral and letter with one symbol password. Open text messages.) – “Your verification code is 30510” – (Open yahoo tab. Type 30510. Open email from “Starbucks support team.” Click “Reset password” link) – “We’re sorry. This link has expired.” – (Open Starbucks App. Repeat process to resend password. Open Yahoo tab. Refresh…Refresh…Refresh. Open email from “Starbucks support team.” Click “Reset Password Link.” Type usual numeral and letter password.) – “We’re sorry. You cannot use a password that has already been associated with this account.” – Are you kidding me!? It was my username that was wrong! Whatever (walk inside). Hi I was just in the drive through. I ordered the iced coffee with the breve and the vanilla. I’ll just pay in cash if that’s alright. – “Ok. Sir. We’ll make you a new one.” – Actually. I’m on my way to a meeting, if you already have the other one sitting around. – “Ohhh kaayyy.” – Thank you. Sorry (Grab drink. Run out to car. Start to back up. See white Explorer in the way). Oh, C’mon! Who is this clown? MOVE! (Sigh) I’m gonna be so late…

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Yes. Very astute. Point taken. “First world problems” tend to be far less dire than those of other parts of the world.

Given our frequency of heart disease and expenditures on anti-anxiety and blood pressure medications, though, it wouldn't be strictly accurate to call them harmless.

And if you’ve actually engaged with the very poor in other parts of the world, you’ve probably started to have some unorthodox thoughts about this sort of thing. One of them is this: whatever else it may be to fight for your own and your kids’ survival on a daily basis, as so many people are forced to around the world, it is dignified. Yes, it’s brutally hard. No, it's not right. I wouldn’t wish that level of deprivation on anyone. But it’s also real. It’s noble.

I’m not calling a bad thing good. I’m saying that there is a certain dignity in actually being able to name the problem that oppresses you: hunger or disease, for instance.

How, on the other hand, do we name the “sickness unto death” that still seems to be feeding on addiction, tearing up marriages, increasing teen suicide rates and wreaking all kinds of havoc right hear in suburbia? What are we supposed to do with the daily indignities of living in a device driven technosphere where we’re all mostly comfortable and mildly annoyed? How do we even begin to address a situation where our collective blood pressure is through the roof and no one can really say why? Why so much road rage on our highways? Why so little civility? Why don’t we know the names of the people two houses down? Why do we find it so hard just being neighborly and kind with one another when there are no urgent creature concerns pressing on us?

Do we even have the categories to interpret that sort of slow death?

I want to suggest some ways that disciples of Jesus and the communities they form ought to be pioneers in providing an alternative to the terminal disease called suburbia:

1.     Take the problems of your middle class neighbor seriously, and don’t create a false choice between addressing their concerns and caring for the poor. If their stated concern doesn’t seem deadly serious (e.g. “The contractor is taking too long installing my granite countertops,” “Billy wants to quit band,” etc.), you can bet that the anxiety they’re deriving from it is plenty serious. Listen well enough to figure out what’s going on beneath the stated concern.

2.     Put the devices down and slowly back away. You would think that if Sally Smith had previously spent hours doing the laundry before the dawn of the washing machine, then she would have loads of free time now that most of the work is being done for her. But the decades have not been that good to Sally. The data is clear: she has far less time and satisfaction with a day’s work now than ever. Why? It’s time we began to lead a conversation about some values other than convenience.

3.     Quit worshipping “busy.” “Busy” is an idolatrous status symbol in our society. I heard a story of a student who studied abroad here for a semester. When she returned to her home country, a friend asked her how you would respond to the question “How are you doing?” in English. She replied, “Oh, busy.” The lilies of the field aren’t “busy” and yet God clothes them in a splendor unknown to Solomon himself. We’re one of the only organizations in the world where the memos we get from the top are always saying, “work less.” I believe that we and the Jewish faithful have the only worldview where a day of rest is seen as the pinnacle of creation. Unlearning the destructive cultural norm of busyness needs to begin with us.

4.     Begin conversations with strangers by saying, “Tell me about yourself” rather than “What do you do?” A society that measures people based on their rank and earning power is a stranger to the Gospel. We don’t mean to do this in the church. But it’s ingrained in our casual speech. Let’s rank people by their status in the kingdom of God and nothing else.

What other ways can you think of?