Oooooohhhh!!! Shiny!!!!
There is about the human creature a mental simplicity akin to that of a child. We all seem to suffer from it in one degree or another. It’s the The “Ooooohhh!!!! Shiny!!!! Syndrome”
As a child we tended to be attracted to the pretty doodads our mothers hung over our cribs. As they bounced and swayed our little child’s eyes followed them around and we’d laugh and coo and giggle and wiggle and try to grab them. And all that was needed to distract us was another new and shiny object on the horizon.
As people grow and mature this tendency to be attracted to the “new and shiny” doesn’t seem to go away. I recall seeing friends who would chase after any new person of the opposite sex. And there’s the tendency to always want the latest clothing; the most recent version of a certain vehicle; the newest and fastest computer; the latest video game or TV screen or (fill in the blank). One would think that with a roof over one’s head and food on the table and clothing to protect us from the elements that we’d be satisfied. A quick trip to about any yard sale in the US should quickly divest you of that idea. Strewn around the garage or front yard or patio you see piles of clothing – many items of which still carry their original store tags, they’d never been worn. Various fad exercise machines or kitchen gadgets are strewn around. The kids have all sorted through their toys to get rid of last year’s junk in order to make room for the latest and greates. No, folks are not satisfied with what they have. The “Ooooohhh!!!! Shiny!!!! Syndrome” is alive and well.
If it were just the physical things of this world that we treated this way it would be one thing. But there is also the “Ooooohhh!!!! Shiny!!!! Syndrome” which stalks the Christian community. What ever fad is sweeping religious TV programming is certain to take center stage in many churches. Folks are eager for “a fresh anointing” and looking for “new revelation” – all the while they have not even allowed the Holy Spirit to fill them nor have they learned the meaning of God’s Word as revealed in the Bible. Truly many have “itching ears” and are searching for something to astonish and amaze them. This tendency is nothing new – the Apostle Paul wrote about it to Timothy. “1 Before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, I solemnly charge you: 2 proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, keep a clear head about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:1-5
Today this theme was touched on in the bi-weekly pastors’ meeting. The funny thing was – right after it was addressed from God’s Word we were treated to an invitation to get sucked into the “Ooooohhh!!!! Shiny!!!!” culture. Apparently no one but myself noticed the irony.
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