I wonder what the board room at Netflix is like today? After announcing a new pricing plan that raises rates 60% for anyone who wants both streaming online and dvds in the mail, the reaction has been less than enthusiastic. As of today, there almost 60,000 comments (and netflix is deleting hundred's by the hour) on the facebook page about the price change, most of which are very negative in tone.
Last night I checked out the page and spent a few minutes reading a few of these comments. I chuckled at some of the creative stabs at Netflix and their rate hike. I also checked Google news and the articles covering the backlash. On person commented that they had a four dvds at a time plan with online streaming that was going from 24.99 to 34.99 and had decided it was cheaper to buy the movies. I love movies, but who watches that many movies?
My wife and I discussed it as we are Netflix users. We'll probably drop having one dvd mailed to us. We're confident that life will go on since currently a movie will sit on the counter for days. But as I laid in bed last night and thought about it more, I really started to get angry. No, I wasn't angry at Netflix or "corporate greed" as one disgruntled customer put it. I was frustrated that 60,000 + people could be so angry about an issue that has no lasting value to our world. I shifted my thoughts to more important issues, and as my frustration built, I kept my wife up a little later when I started asking her what we could do to help children who were victims of abuse. Why is it that people can be so upset about meaningless issues in sports, pop culture and entertainment and practically ignore significant issues such as poverty and child abuse? I should know the answer to that question since I have been guilty of obsessing over the meaningless minutia in our world. When I lived in Springfield, MO, I wrote a letter to the editor of the News Leader about why Pete Rose shouldn't be allowed into the Hall of Fame. And they printed it. With my picture. Yikes. So I know that it's easy to get caught up in the less important issues and lose site of the big picture.
But we do this with countless big issues staring us in the face. What would happen if we transferred the energy we wasted into areas of life that mattered? If we stopped getting angry and motivated by the things that people won't be talking about one year from now? Instead, we could focus on issues that could really make a difference. For example, did you know that every 10 seconds a report of child abuse is made in this country? And that almost five children every day die from some type of child abuse (more than 3 out of 4 are under the age of four). Now that's something to get outraged about. That is what is keeping me up at night recently.
What if 60,000 people a day did something to prevent or raise awareness about child abuse (other than those already doing it)? What if 60,000 people a day started tackling poverty? God created us with the capacity to serve Him and serve others. And when we begin to discover and enlarge this capacity, God can use us to do great things for others. This is what Bill Hybles wrote about in his book, "Holy Discontent." The journey of following Christ should lead us to find that one aspect of our broken world that when we see it, touch it and hear about it, you are so troubled by it that you must get in the game and do something about it.
But our Adversary would like nothing better than for our redemptive energy to be wasted. For us to never uncover our "Holy Discontent." That's why we are tempted to go through the motions and get wrapped up into the petty things in life. All the fun, yet less than meaningful stuff in our lives are not worth hours on the computer or long rants on radio shows. Find a real problem and fix it. Choose a real cause and embrace it. Get involved in your local church and live out your faith!
I may sound outraged, but honestly, this is the stuff that saddens me. I Corinthians 2:9 reminds us that "No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no eye has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." The reality that there is so much more for people to experience in an active relationship with God makes it very difficult to see people wasting their energy on the mundane and meaningless. And after reflecting on the 60,000 posts and what really makes me angry, I find myself thankful for the 4-6 hours I won't be wasting because of Netflix's new plan. So, thank you Netflix for saving me time and energy. Time and energy that will be spent better elsewhere. And to the 60,000 people who commented, as the saying goes, there are indeed "greater tragedies in life." Find one.
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