humility, again

God has been dealing with me about some things through this sermon on humility. Among other things, It got me wondering, is humility even possible in a capitalist society? What would it look like? If capitalism is just a giant competition for resources, then where will we learn about humility in a world that stresses success, -not to mention glamour and cool? The billions we spend on sports and apparel probably aren't going to teach us much about this aspect of Jesus. And perhaps churches aren't as well. I am staggered at the amount of Christian spam I receive; every program is the best, every conference the most Spirit-infused. But the commoditization of "virtue-experience" seems to negate the virtue of humility doesn't it? Don't believe the answer is simply a moral capitalism, either.

I wonder too, how much of the humility dichotomy we think of is actually a product of our consumer culture. We tend to see humility as the battle between the desire to be the superman ,successful and powerful and the silent, passive, even exploited humble one. But is this dichotomy a produced one? Both ends of that spectrum can be "full-of-self." True selflessness seems to bypass these manufactured desires and focus on a larger goal outside of the self, not necessarily in competition with the self. If you love God then doing what is needful for the Kingdom of God, helping out wherever you can, is both humble and filling. It just fills you with something besides self.