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Too Many Choices

Psychologist Barry Schwartz, author of the 2004 book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, says that one thing that over-complicates life in modern society is the multitude of choices we have.  

For example: 

In his grocery store alone there are 285 varieties of cookies, 75 iced teas, 230 soups, 40 toothpastes, 275 cereals, 175 salad dressings. 

If you go to the electronics store in search of a stereo, and take into account the various speakers, CD players, tuners, amplifiers, and other components you can choose from, there are 6.5 million different stereo systems you can construct! 

Schwartz talks about the time he went to pick out some jeans. The clerk wanted to know if he wanted: slimfit, easy fit, relaxed fit; button fly or zipper fly; stone washed or acid washed; distressed; boot cut; tapered?  Schwartz said, "I want the kind that used to be the only kind." 

And it’s not just consumer choices:  

Because of technology, we have the ability to work every hour of the day from anywhere on the planet, and so we continually face the choice of whether to work or not. 

There are many more lifestyle choices, such as when to marry and how many kids to have.

Many are coming up with their own morals. Schwartz calls attention to a cartoon that pictures a couple of blank stone tablets, a chisel, and the caption: The Ten Commandments Do-It-Yourself Kit.

Schwartz’s point is that some choice is good, but too much is overwhelming, and he believes it’s one of the reasons for the widespread depression in our culture.  Too much choice has two negative results:

Paralysis.  Faced with too many choices, some people find it difficult to choose at all.

Dissatisfaction. With so many choices, it’s easy to imagine you could have made a better one.  "I could have had a better stereo!"  "I could have picked a better husband."  It’s a recipe for unhappiness. *

There are so many choices to make!  Yet Joshua challenged the people of Israel (and us!) with one fundamental choice:

"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." – Joshua 24:15

There are many gods in our land that we can choose to serve.  But there is only one true living God.  He created us in His image (Genesis 1:26-27).  Even though that image has been marred by our sins (Romans 3:23), He still loves us and wants to save us from sin (1 Timothy 2:4).

Because of His great love for us, God sent His One and Only Son into the world to give His life on the cross to redeem us from sin (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:7) and to give us the gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23).

God will save those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sin in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7).

The choice is clear: there is only one God.  Won’t YOU make the choice to serve Him?

-- David A. Sargent

* Reference: Barry Schwartz, "The Paradox of Choice," ted.com (from a speech given in July 2005 in Oxford, England)  in www.illustrationsforsermons.com