How many things do you have? How many do you actually need?
One of the greatest dangers for any Christian is being subsumed by his culture. Every person is a member of his culture and this membership shapes the way he thinks and lives. Often there is no harm in this, but when the culture espouses something counter to the Gospel, then it becomes quite dangerous. Here in America, Christians must fight against many anti-Christian trends in the culture, especially those which are anti-life. But there is another cultural force which I believe can be even more dangerous because it is less obvious: materialism.
Our culture is so prosperous that our standard of what it means to be poor has radically changed over the past century. Someone who felt financially well-off a hundred years ago would be considered dirt-poor today. By just about any historical standard, the vast majority of modern Americans are rich. Yet Christ time and time again warned that the rich will have a very difficult time in obtaining salvation. In fact, there is one particular parable Christ told that applies to most of us today:
“Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.”Then he told them a parable.
“There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest.
He asked himself, ‘What shall I do,
for I do not have space to store my harvest?’
And he said, ‘This is what I shall do:
I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones.
There I shall store all my grain and other goods
and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you,
you have so many good things stored up for many years,
rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’
But God said to him,
‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you;
and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’
Thus will it be for all who store up treasure for themselves
but are not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12:15-21)
I would argue that the primary problem most of us have today is not making a lot of money (by historical standards), but in having a lot of possessions. In other words, what do we buy with our money? Are our houses filled to the brim with our things? Is our security found in the Lord or in our possessions?
There is one man who is trying to detach himself from the things of this world in an admirable way: Dave Bruno, who has started the 100 Thing Challenge:
The 100 Thing Challenge has been my little way to personalize my efforts to fight American-style consumerism…
The goal of the 100 Thing Challenge is to break free from the confining habits of American-style consumerism. A lot [of] people around the world feel “stuck in stuff.” They feel like their closets and garages are too full of things that don’t really make their lives much better. But how to get unstuck?
Reduce (get rid of some of your stuff)
Refuse (to get more new stuff)
Rejigger (your priorities)
I totally believe that living without abundance of personal possessions for an extended period of time is the first step we ought to take in order to realize that we don’t need ever-more stuff. If you do this — if you will give up your stuff for a while — I am sure you’ll never go back. You’ll spend the rest of your life creating a more valuable life, instead of wasting your money and time on stuff. You will be glad. And best of all, the people around you will be blessed by your efforts to prioritize more meaningful pursuits.
Dave decided to live with only 100 “things,” which includes ALL his possessions: clothes, gadgets, books, etc. I think this is a great idea and one everyone could try. It doesn’t have to be exactly 100 things, but I’m willing to bet each of us could look through our possessions and realize that many are not needed. And going forward, I’m sure there are a large number of things we want to buy that are not really needed. In doing so, we might end up putting more faith in the Lord instead of our possessions to make us happy and fulfilled.
So, how many things do you have? How many do you actually need?
Be sure to be led by the virtue of prudence and, Godwilingly, give your unneeded things to the poor.
How much do I really need? Very subjective. In American society we are taught from the beginning that we must work hard and be good and live a healthy, happy life. In our Catholic religion Christ encourages us to give up the things of the world and follow him. This is a strange dichotomy of needs. On the one hand I need to feel accomplished, I need to be accepted, I need to enjoy the world around me. On the other hand I need the love of Christ.I give a large portion of my time and money to the needy. Yet I still have way more than enough to take a vacation, buy a car, go to a movie, have new clothes. Where am I on the path to salvation I ask?
Each & every Catholic needs to put themselves in the shoes of the rich young man who Jesus loved but who didn’t love Jesus enough to let go of all his ‘stuff’. Sad.
I just discovered the “Plain Catholics” movement in the USA. Just google them. They follow Church teaching 100% but have resolved to live ‘plain’…I love it!
RE:Plain Catholics
I’d rather live by prudence than turn prudence into a 19th-Century lifestyle.
@Nick 8/12 12:26am
That’s the point.
American consumerism and the need to feel financially secure is all part of the devil’s plan. Not your father’s teaching or your grandfather’s teaching. I was raised to reach certain goals, go to college, go to graduate school, get the best job possible, get the best car possible. Expectant pressure from wife, in-laws, friends, etc to not be the poor and needy.
Which is NOT what Jesus tells us to do. Now we’re all stuck. And we’ll all continue to perpetuate the American “Way”. Which to me… is the Devil’s “Way.”
You want an example? Look at the Amish. Self supporting, environmentally friendly, community builders, no crime, no rape, no murder. They’re taught the value of taking care of animals from birth to slaughter, of growing their own food. They also don’t have the majority of problems modern societies have, and they don’t have to “campaign” against processed foods, consumerism, etc.
Good one Eric!
But there is blessing in the material world, if used correctly. Material goods are not evil in-and-of themselves. The Church never taught that. Jesus never taught that we must be poor. The rich man’s life in Luke 12 was demanded of him because he was greedy.
Consider that trucks deliver food to supermarkets all over America and planes allow us to visit relatives and experience beutiful places which God has created. Computers allow us to browse the magesterial documents of the Church online and we can acquire ancient works of the Church fathers with free shipping and overnight delivery. iPods bring Mozart, Vivaldi and Scott Hahn MP3′s to my workout and having a nice dining room and kitchen brings friends and family into my home.
My many photographs throughout my house are memories, most especially of my daughter who died in 1996. Lamps make us more productive, so that we can work into the night. Tools allow me to fix my car so that I don’t have to pay a shop and can better afford to send my Children to Catholic School.
I have way more than 100 books, most of them Catholic, which I lend out constantly. Are these evil?
Material goods are not evil by themselves. Just because someone has some nice things, doens’t automatically mean that they are evil.
-Tim-
Re Amish:
I admire the Amish, but it is not true that they have no crime, rape, etc. There have been a couple of publicized cases of child molestation, as well.
One would expect a lower rate of crime among the Amish simply because criminals (and often the mentally ill) are simply thrown out of the community. The rest of society can’t do that.
I disposed of about 90% of the possessions I accumulated over 45 years when I went to seminary. It was one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done; I never realized how beholden I was to my “stuff”, because it happens a little at a time.
Due to unfortunate family circumstances, I am no longer studying for priesthood, but as I rebuild my life I will not be acquiring nearly as much stuff this time around.
OK, but if people stop buying stuff, others will lose their jobs. So what do we do about that?
Tim,
Be careful not to set up a straw-man. No one (at least no one here) is saying that material goods are evil (after all, they are called “goods”). Having possessions is not immoral in itself, but possessions have the danger of possessing us, instead of the other way around. And the more we possess, the greater danger we are in.
I know in my own life I can easily place material goods in front of the greatest Good, which is God. Using my possessions to draw closer to God and to serve Him is of course a great thing, but I must always be on my guard not to let them become idols which separate me from His will.
Kathy,
If our economy is set up on a house of cards that will fall apart because I don’t continually buy the latest gadget, the largest house and the nicest car, then it is not really a strong economy in the first place and will eventually fall anyway.
Our primary responsibility is to get to heaven, not to help our economy.
Re: Plain Catholics
Nick, you obviously read their website. If you click on the “how to get started” link, it lists very common sense suggestions for beginning to align our lifestyles with our Catholic faith. Look around any parish in the USA on a Sunday morning & its easy to see that, in fact, what has happened is that we’ve aligned our faith to fit into our lifestyle.
No one, least of all Plain Catholics, are trying to say that you have to revert to the “19th century”. Those are your words, not mine. Will’s point is well taken in that, for way too long, we’ve (read: Bishops, priests, laity) have equated the “American” way with the Catholic way. That’s not an equation I can live with anymore.
There are five people in my household. So I get to have 500 things? Woo hoo!
A big problem with this for me and for everyone else on this list, I’d bet, is how many BOOKS we’d be allowed to have. I NEED my books. LOL
This is one of those issues where we must use balance. I’d bet my family has less “stuff” than most people because we’re rather frugal. However, the stuff I have has value. By that, I mean that I have plastic divided trays that we use for picnics, pitch-in dinners, etc., that keep us from buying disposables. I take apart and keep pieces from worn out furniture, etc., so that I have an ample supply of scrap wood on hand for small projects. I’m seriously considering making a bunch of cloth napkins so that I won’t have to buy paper napkins anymore. We used scrap wood to rebuild the front of our shed, caulked the seams, and painted it all. It looks great and didn’t cost more than the screws, caulk, and a $5 gallon of “oops” paint that I bought at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. You get my drift.
It’s not so much a number to reach as it is a mindset. Look at everything you have and ask, do I really need this? If not, Freecycle it.
We have a saying written on the message board on our refrigerator, right above the shopping list. It is our financial family motto: Buy what you need. Want what you have. Applying that motto saves us from buying things on a whim.
Great discussion. I belong to a group called ‘Flylady’ (not just for women!) which has the mission of decluttering life, whether it’s ‘stuff’ packed into closets or emotional baggage we carry for whatever reason.
It gives permission to its members to gradually let go of the things that hold us back. Think about this: Do you spend so much time tending to ‘stuff’, acquiring or doing ‘stuff’ that you do not have time to pray? To have good times with your family and friends?
How many hours do you work in a week to pay off financial ‘stuff’? I’m not talking about mortgages here (although that could be ‘stuff’ for some people) but about credit card bills for things that we may no longer even possess!
For those who have trouble letting go on their own, or are hampered by lack of organizational skills, http://www.flylady.com has a lot of answers!
And it’s free.