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Bringing Heaven Down To Earth
Connecting This Life to the Next
by Nathan L.K. Bierma

Chapter 2
On Purpose: Meaning in Crisis

• Synopsis
• Discussion Questions
• Quotation Citations
• Further Reading

Synopsis
Many North American Christians are seduced and deceived by the dance of consumption and its false promise of meaning, trying to find solace in the material rather than the immaterial. Young generations are growing up with the pervasive postmodern sense of nihilism--a despair of any ultimate, authoritative meaning and a disorienting distrust of institutions and traditional narratives. By reading apocalyptic prophecy for an awakening rather than for predictions, we begin to form a vibrant vision of the present and the future that gives our lives meaning.

Discussion Questions
• The chapter says, "Materialism trains us on the moment, the passing desire, the good which will soon be gone (when we want something else)." How do you find this to be true in your own life--your buying and your possessions?

• How can unhealthy materialism lead us to behavior that is the opposite of servanthood?

• The chapter quotes Steven Garber as asking, "Why do you get up in the morning?” How would you answer that?

• What imagery comes to your mind when you think of the book of Revelation?

Quotation Citations
• Garber, Steven. The Fabric of Faithfulness. InterVarsity Press, 1996. p. 15.
• Pahl, Jon. Shopping Malls and Other Sacred Spaces: Putting God in Place. Brazos Press, 2003. On "hopes and dreams," p. 66. On the use of light and fountains, pp. 70 ff.
• Smith, Gordon T. Courage and Calling: Embracing Your God-Given Potential. InterVarsity Press, 1999. p. 20.

Further Reading
Cohen, Lizabeth. A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America. Knopf.