Living Simply - a personal challenge, part 2

Lord, what shall this man (or woman) do?

I am not going to tell you what you should do about what you have been reading over the past several days. What I am going to do, is say what I have been challenged to do; how my lifestyle ought to change to take account of Jesus’ example and commands. The more I study, the more I realise how little I give, how little I sacrifice. I have been reminded time and time again – Jesus gave everything. The list that follows is not what I am doing already; these are issues that I have been challenged about and are mostly things I am not already doing. As I said, this is a personal testimony of the challenge this study has been for me and simply goes to show how far short of the ideal I fall, how little I am committed to the words of Jesus to sell all and give to the poor.

Start with the simple things:

1.      Take care of what I have. If I am careless with my possessions, then I will need to replace them that much more quickly.

2.      Get rid of surplus items – clothes that don’t fit; appliances I don’t use, books I don’t read, duplicates of anything (and there are several).

Then move on to those things that are harder:

1. The great giveaway.

Do I have two coats? Give one to him who has no coat. It is relatively easy to give away things that don’t fit, things that are ‘out of style’, things I don’t wear any more. It is much harder to give away something that ‘might come in useful one day’. Talking of coats, I looked in the wardrobe the other day. I have a raincoat, a long overcoat, a three quarter length overcoat (getting threadbare now), a fur coat, two sheepskin coats (both inherited), not to mention numerous short jackets. Do I really need all those? Of course this doesn’t apply just to literal coats. I have more than enough of other things too, clothes, books, ‘stuff’. It is high time I gave them to those who can use them, those who have a real need of them.

On the subject of clothes – do I actually need more clothes? Haven’t I got enough – and more besides? I need to be careful not to buy things I don’t need, or clothes I might wear once only.

2. Downsize.

Downsizing can come in several forms. It might mean leaving a big house to live in a smaller one (which is how most people interpret downsizing). But it can also mean reducing the number and quantity of possessions we have. Do I really need four sets of dinner plates? Do I need five saws and half a dozen hammers? Maybe when I used to do lots of DIY I did, but now I do less DIY, why do I keep them?

It means decluttering, plain and simple. I love books. I have thousands of them. Some I bought, or had given when I was homeschooling the children. My children are now 30 and 26 – I hardly think those books are necessary now. Yet I find it so hard to give them up. As I have grown and changed, I have bought more books on different subjects. Rather than having one on each subject, I buy several, to get different points of view. I have more books than I have shelf space for – and my house is large enough for me to have a dedicated study/library.

Which reminds me – do I really need a house this large? I used to foster; I don’t any more. Three of the five bedrooms are empty except when the children come home to visit, which really isn’t that often (certainly not as often as I would prefer).

3. Spend less.

What can I cut back on? Food bills? Heating? Lighting? Magazines? Clothing? Obviously I need to eat, but do I need salmon and steak? Can’t tuna and mince be just as nutritious? Can I wear another sweater instead of turning the heating on? In view of what I said earlier about the amount of clothing I have, then obviously yes I can! Do I need that new issue of ‘Ideal Home’ magazine? If I buy it, will it not simply serve to increase envy at what others have, or make me want to have newer and better things in my house? I need to learn not to buy just because I can afford something. It is also important to consider where buying that item will lead and what impact it will have on my family, my community and the world at large (just like the Amish do – so that’s why they don’t have modern conveniences!). I have already cut down on the number of trips to the shops. I no longer go window shopping. Yet I still manage to buy things I don’t need – that new issue of the Christmas magazine I bought last week, for instance. I have saved all the issues for years – why did I think I needed this one? Of course, there will be times when I do need something. So I also need to shop carefully, not paying over the odds because it’s more convenient to use shop A than shop B, making sure I get the best quality balanced against the cost. My mother always bought us Clark’s shoes, because she (rightly) figured it was worth spending £10 on a pair of shoes that lasted, than three pairs of shoes at £5 in the same time period.

4. Grow your own.

This is an area where I really fail – and let God down in the process. I have a large garden – approximately ¾ acre of garden. And much of it is overgrown and neglected. I am challenged anew by writing this that I must try to use the garden to the benefit of my family and others. I can grow things that I can give away to those in need. I can save money on vegetables and give that money away. And incidentally, I can maintain good health by eating fresh vegetables that haven’t left a huge carbon footprint behind them by being shipped from half way around the world. Do I really need strawberries out of season? Let’s face it, when they have come vast distances and been stored for who knows how long, they are pretty tasteless anyway, not to mention of dubious nutritional value.

5. Don’t buy more food than you can eat before it spoils.

This is another area where I am particularly at fault. As I write, there is a cabbage in my pantry that has been there several – not days – weeks! It is now brown and past salvaging. It is not the first cabbage that has met this fate in my house, I am ashamed to say. As I mentioned yesterday – when there are so many starving for lack of food, diseased for lack of fresh vegetables and vitamin deficiency due to inadequate diet, how dare I buy foods I don’t use, leave them to rot and then throw them away? Just how dare I?

6. Use leftovers.

The same applies to leftovers. If I do make more than enough for one meal, then throwing it away is really not an option. I am much better at this now than I used to be. I found that food made on Monday, put in the fridge overnight, really doesn’t cause disease and death when I eat it on Tuesday, or even Wednesday! I am also better at gauging quantities, so there are fewer leftovers to worry about. But there is still room for improvement.

Do I scrape the last of the jam from the jar, or do I just throw it out as not worth bothering with? I am reminded of a story I once heard of a child in India. She sat by the roadside and when a traveller threw a banana skin into the rubbish, she ran to retrieve it. Then she sat patiently by the side of the road peeling the white part from the skin and feeding it to her little brother. Is that last scrape of jam really not worth the effort now?

In fact, I should address the whole issue of food more completely. Do I need three big meals a day? Do I need three cooked meals a day? What should constitute a ‘main’ meal anyway? When some have only bread, how can I justify having bread, butter, cheese, salad, soup, all at one meal? Now don’t get me wrong. God has placed me in a situation where food is abundant and I don’t have to get ill through not having enough. But there is a limit – I can make myself just as ill by eating too much, or eating the wrong kinds of foods. God wants me to be balanced; He also wants me to be healthy – how much use can I be to others if I don’t take care of my health? So not too many calories, not too much red meat, not too much fat, or sugar. That’s the way to go!

7. Cosmetics/bubble bath etc.

Clean water and basic soap – do I need more to keep my body clean? Do I really need to add coloured, perfumed, chemical laden additives to my bath? I have several bottles of bubble bath already in the house (bought during a time when they were on offer, so I bought a few of them). I now use it once in a while. I am using up what I already have before buying more. Do I really need to replace them when they are gone?

Cosmetics – why do I need to colour my face? Or hide the wrinkles? Or make myself appear younger than I am? Do I want people to see a fake me, or the real me? Does makeup enhance the ‘inner beauty’ that God requires, or mask it? I have a lot of makeup at home, because I inherited it from my mother – all her personal belongings came to me. It is a struggle for me to throw them out or give them away, because they remind me of her. They are not being used, so they take up room in my home and add to the general clutter. One day I really must get round to doing something about it, but maybe not yet; it is still too hard.

8. Coffee/cordials

I mentioned these yesterday. If I must buy coffee, I really should ensure it is ‘fair-trade’. Can I do without it? Yes, I don’t need to drink coffee. But not too long ago, I was actually addicted to coffee. If I stopped drinking it for any reason, I had headaches of migraine proportions. So I gave up ordinary coffee and now only drink decaffeinated. Now I find I react to caffeine in a negative way – with symptoms similar to a heart attack. That ‘buzz’ we get from drinking coffee is because it is a stimulant. It makes the heartbeat more rapid and causes the adrenalin to flow more freely. What I was addicted to was the adrenalin rush. Does God want me to be dependent on such things?

I can maybe justify buying fair-trade coffee, but can I justify buying cordials or fizzy drinks? They are detrimental to our health and laden with chemicals. God has blessed us in the UK with clean water coming right into our homes, almost without interruption, we can turn on a tap and out comes clean water. Can I therefore justify adding harmful chemicals to my clean water and polluting it before I drink it, knowing that there are others in the world who walk miles to fetch a pot of dirty water from polluted rivers, water that will give them all manner of diseases and sometimes will even kill them.

9. Walk/take the bus/stay at home!

Not too long ago, we had two cars. As we are into confession time, we actually recently had eight cars – and only two of us living here. Six of them were off road. Three have been ‘cannibalised’ to repair the ones we were driving. Now we have around five cars in the drive – three in pieces, one needing repair and one we drive. None of the cars in pieces have any spares on them that would repair any of the other cars. I am not proud of this. It is simply more clutter.

Until very recently, we were unemployed. That put travel into perspective. My husband has a bus pass, so he sues that if he needs to go into town for anything. It is only three miles to town, so if I need to go, can I walk instead of driving?  I used to go to a town a little further away (12 miles) for my shopping, now I shop locally. I don’t go out just because I want a change of scenery any more; I find I actually prefer to stay at home.

My change in this regard came about from necessity. But it made me realise that there are those in the world, in our own country even, who do not have the luxury of a car (and it is a luxury). Unfortunately, it is a luxury we can’t do without or my husband would not be able to get to the work he now has, and we would not be able to get to church.

10. Technology.

How much technology do we really need in our homes? My husband works with computers, so it makes sense that we have one – but do we need three PCs, two laptops and a number of now obsolete computers in storage? Does it need to be on all day?

And what of other technologies, such as the bread maker, the mixer, the dishwasher, the dryer? Do I need all those things? I could wash up by hand after every meal. I then wouldn’t need so many plates. I currently have enough plates so in theory I wouldn’t have to wash up for around 6 days! I have enough saucepans that I could cook for three days without washing a pan. I have enough bake ware to open a bakery shop. Could I make my bread by hand? I have an ice-cream maker I have never used. What a waste! What poor use of the world's resources!

We only have one TV (well, we have two, but one doesn’t work). During the summer, we were away quite a lot; we watched virtually no TV at all for three months. When we came home, I though it would be great if we could continue the ‘no TV’ policy. Alas it was not to be! If it was up to me, I would get rid of it altogether. It not only prevents conversation, it brings all kinds of filth into the home. Even ‘good’ programmes can contain swearing, or sex scenes, or talk of things that are in opposition to God’s revealed word, the Bible. Just think of all the time it would free up for other more profitable activities if the TV was no longer in our home. Time spent reading good books, listening to music, out and about helping the needy (our church has something of a mission to the homeless, thanks to the work of one of our elders), or visiting other families, especially those who get few visitors.

11. Heating and lighting.

The Amish heat and light one room at a time in their homes. They use kerosene lamps and have a woodstove for heating, because they have no electricity in their homes. And they like it that way. Why? Because it brings the family together. Who would want to sit in a dark and cold bedroom on their own when the rest of the family are together playing games? Yet we encourage our children (I mean in general, not we ourselves as our children no longer live at home) to be separate. They have TVs in their bedrooms and computers, iPods, CD players and on it goes. Perhaps I could take a leaf out of the Amish book and encourage being in one room, building a little togetherness.

12. Waste.

Do I care about what I throw away? Is there some way I can repurpose it? That worn out t-shirt, could it be turned into a window cloth? Is it actually worn out anyway, or have I just got tired of it? Those peelings, should I just dump them? Or can they be turned into compost to make my soil more fertile for growing vegetables? And without adding chemicals to the soil that pollute it? Do I recycle all I can, bearing in mind the cost of producing the item in the first place? Am I conscious of packaging that only ends up in landfill?

A million questions to which there is an answer - we are stewards of God's creation and of the things He gives us in our lives; we must use everything we have for His glory. Do I do that? Do I do it consistently?

The Christian life is not all about giving things away or doing good works. There is a balance to be had and I have not mentioned evangelism or our relationship with God in these articles. That is because it has not been the primary focus of what I have been saying. Other articles will address those issues. But I would just like to mention that for a truly Christian life, both the spiritual and the physical are needed. They go hand in hand and we should not concentrate so much on one that we neglect the other. Like the old song:

Love and marriage, love and marriage,

Go together like a horse and carriage.

This I tell ya, brother, you can't have one without the other.

Love and marriage, love and marriage,

It's an institute you can't disparage.

Ask the local gentry and they will say it's elementary.

Try, try, try to separate them, it's an illusion.

Try, try, try and you only come to this conclusion:

Love and marriage, love and marriage,

Go together like a horse and carriage.

Dad was told by mother you can't have one

You can't have none.

You can't have one without the other.

“Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10v31).

Living Simply – a personal challenge, part 1

This is the first of two articles, both of which will be published today.

Yesterday I wrote about what simple living means to me personally. But what it means is worthless, if it doesn’t bring about a change in attitude and result in a change of lifestyle. Words without actions are meaningless; ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2v26). What use is it if I sell my goods and keep the proceeds? What use is it to say to someone ‘be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body’ (James 2v16)?

I can read all the books I like about simple living, I can rant about the state of the world, I can even write to politicians to ask for change, but it is of no value if I don’t get up out of my comfortable chair and actually do something.

So what’s the answer?

Wanda Brunstetter is an author of Amish fiction. On her website, she has fifteen tips for living more simply, living more like the Amish.

1. The Amish don’t have TV, so turn off the TV and sit quietly; listen to the sounds of nature instead.
2. When the sun is shining (or it is at least not raining) hang the laundry outside to dry, instead of using the dryer.
3. Use public transport, or walk, or use a bicycle.
4. Spend more time reading books.
5. Spend more time with friends in person, chatting and enjoying each other’s company.
6. Cook at home and eat out less.
7. Make Christmas and birthday gifts instead of buying everything.
8. Grow your own vegetables.
9. Turn out the lights and have a simple meal by candlelight.
10. Get together with friends and family to do chores.
11. Join a volunteer project.
12. Have a set time each week for ‘family time’.
13. Buy fewer clothes and other unnecessary material things.
14. Slow down and relax.
15. Spend time in Bible reading and prayer each day.

Well, it’s a start! But what is wrong with ‘The Amish don’t have TV, so get rid of the TV’? Or at the very least don’t have a TV in every room – many of us have more than one TV in the house, thus contributing to family separation rather than togetherness.

What about, instead of ‘eat out less’ don’t eat out at all, or only on rare occasions? Can we really justify spending a week’s worth of housekeeping on a single meal in a restaurant? Especially when people are starving elsewhere – even in our own country.

A special time for ‘family time’? The Amish are family centred all day every day, not just once a week when they have a ‘get together’. They nurture family; they build community; and they do it without spending lots of money or consuming more than they need.

Voluntary Poverty/Voluntary Simplicity

I have already mentioned Ronald Sider. But he is not a man who just writes about living simply – he lives the life too. He has chosen to live in a poor area of Philadelphia, where many ‘respectable’ people would not dare to venture after dark. His decision to live a life connected to the poor has given him insights into what it really means to live in poverty and that has had an effect on his writing. His philosophy in his books is entirely more radical than Wanda Brunstetter’s fifteen points; he calls for ‘voluntary poverty’, where Christians give up what they have beyond their basic needs, in order to give to those who have little or nothing. He is by no means poor, but he has chosen a life of voluntary simplicity, or, to put it more radically, voluntary poverty. His basis for doing so is firmly rooted in the Bible.

Sider’s pithy definition of voluntary poverty is ‘living more simply so that others may simply live’. By choosing to live frugally, he is freeing up more of his resources to give to those in need. The Catholic Church is currently worth around $422bn. Was it ever Christ’s intention that the church should stockpile? I don’t believe it was – His mantra was ‘sell all – give’.

In her book, ‘Living More with Less’, Doris Longacre sets out to show how a Christian can experience that abundant living promised by Jesus, while not indulging ourselves at the expense of our neighbour. The book is filled with quotes and examples from people around the world who are seeking to live out a life they see mandated in the Bible.

Radical Christian Living

Jesus was a radical. He lived a life of poverty, preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God. He died so we could reach heaven, through faith in Him. He did not have to do that. Being God, He was already in heaven, which he voluntarily left for our sakes. He is the supreme example of voluntary poverty!

Christians live as if Jesus, our great example, lived in a palace; He died so we could have an abundant life here on earth; it is our God-given right to have as much of this world’s goods as we can amass – with plenty left over for ‘fun’. But maybe God is saying to us, as he said to the farmer who built new and bigger barns to store all his worldly gain, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you, then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ (Luke 12v20).

Another definition of voluntary poverty: “Simple living is a lifestyle characterized by consuming only that which is required to sustain life.” It is a lifestyle choice focused on reducing our own consumption, living with less ‘stuff’ in order to meet the needs of others.

While there is nothing inherently Christian about living simply, Christians will want to live simply to follow their Lord. In his book, ‘The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience’, Sider states, “With their mouths they claim that Jesus is Lord, but with their actions, they demonstrate allegiance to money, sex and self-fulfilment.” So many of us have so much, yet we still blame God for the things we don’t have. And I am as guilty of this as the next person. Take my house for instance – lovely house, didn’t cost a lot when we bought it. Yet I frequently complain because it isn’t in the kind of neighbourhood I would like. I have to remind myself frequently that some people don’t have houses at all – they live on the streets and scavenge in rubbish heaps for their food.

It’s what you do with what you save that matters – if you live simply in order to save more money for yourself, then that denies Christ.
 

Check back later today for part 2....

Living Simply - Confessions of a Hoarder

What does living simply mean for me personally?

I was once at a church during a time when there was a great famine in Ethiopia. Some members of the church obviously had some wealth – noticeable by the cars outside in the car park, for example, on a Sunday morning, which included BMWs and a Rolls Royce. The Rolls was quite elderly, but nevertheless it was a Rolls. That morning, the minister called upon the congregation to take up a collection to help alleviate the suffering of those in Ethiopia. They collected around £400, which, given the size of the congregation and the fact that several of the members were retired ands therefore living on pensions, didn't seem a bad sum. That same week, the member with the Rolls Royce spent several thousand pounds on replacing his Rolls with another, more up to date model. Whatever happened to sacrificial giving? John Wesley felt guilty for frittering away the Lord’s money on pictures for his wall, when he could have used it to better advantage helping a poor servant girl who had no coat. How much greater difference could the thousands spent on a mere car have made to those starving to death in Ethiopia?

But am I guiltless? I think it’s time for a confession.

While I was researching this article, I found I was challenged over and over regarding my affluent lifestyle. I read on one website that our idea of simplicity would seem like luxury even when compared with King Herod. Have we lost sight of what simplicity really means? Do we follow a simple lifestyle for our own ends, for personal benefit, rather than for the glory of God? Is our treasure in heaven, or is it in our possessions, of which I have many? Is our focus on God or on our bank balance? As I said previously, Jesus did not say ‘sell what you have and keep the proceeds’; He told us to give to the poor.

I have more possessions than I know what to do with. I often cannot find something I need and have to buy another (adding to the clutter) because I simply cannot do without the item in question. I spend hours (not all at one time) searching for things that ought to be found easily. In short, I have too much of everything.

Yet when I consider getting rid of my excess, I feel a sense of panic. All that stuff – it’s mine! I spent good money to get it. If I sell it, the money will also be mine!

It was then that I realised three things:

1. It came as a thunderbolt from the blue - my treasure is here on earth. No matter how much I talk about laying up treasure in heaven, as long as I feel the way I do about my possessions, my treasure is on earth. Jesus said, ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Matthew 6v21). It really is true, I cannot serve both God and mammon – trying to do both is deceiving myself; my loyalties are divided and when push comes to shove (sell your possessions), my possessions are winning out over God.
2. All the ‘stuff’ I have actually belongs to God; it isn’t mine at all. God enabled me to acquire it; God has allowed me to have it – on trust, to use for Him and furthering His Kingdom. How dare I claim it as mine! To think of them as mine, to think of them as I do, is to be enslaved by my possessions. I am serving mammon.
3. The more I have, the harder it is to any of it let go. I need a new definition of ‘need’. Just how much do I need and how much of what I have is simply because I wanted it?

What is a ‘need’?
We all know children who, when they want something, say ‘but I need it’. Are we adults so much different? Don’t we try to justify a want by re-categorising it as a need? For instance, there’s that nice cookery book in the bookshop. It has the perfect recipe for chicken chasseur that we are just dying to try. No other recipe will do – we must have that book, even if we never use it apart from that one recipe. We convince ourselves that it isn’t just a want, but a genuine need.

Let’s look at other things too, things that seem much more like real needs. Take cosmetics for instance. I ‘need’ to look nice for my husband; I need to look good for work, for my friends, for church. I have to look my best. Therefore, I need to put chemicals on my face to change my appearance, to hide the dark circles, to plump up the wrinkles, to make me look younger.

What about cake? I can save a bit by making cakes myself, but do I actually need cake – all those calories? All that sugar! In fact, when you put cake in the context of my neighbour not having bread, not having enough to eat, not eating anything at all for days at a time, then cake as a need comes into perspective.

What about coffee? What’s wrong with coffee, I hear you ask. Amongst other things, coffee contains chemicals that are really not good for us: acrylamide, caffeine, 2-ethylphenol, quinic acid. And anyway, what exactly is coffee? It has no nutritional real value, so why do I put it in my water? Plain and simple, it is flavouring and little more; not to mention it can be addictive (that ‘high’ one gets from the caffeine). How can I justify adding such things to the clean water God has supplied me with, when there are people in the world who have no clean drinking water at all and have to get their water from the river – water which they cannot do without, yet is poisoning and killing them? The same, I might add, applies to cordials, which have little or no real fruit content.

Stealing from God
'Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees,
Who write misforutne,
Which they have prescribed
To rob the needy of justice,
And to take what is right from the poor of my people,
That widows may be their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless'
Isaiah 10v1-2.

If I have too many possessions and there are those who have nothing, I am really stealing from them? From God? I buy something I don't really need and hoard it. It does me no good, I don’t use it and I keep it to no good end. All it does it clutter up my home, when the money I spent on it could have gone to rescue a child from slave labour somewhere (remember the boy who only needed £7.50 to free his ten year old sister from abject slavery?).

Does that apply to other things too? If I use my dishwasher when I could wash up by hand – is that also stealing from God? How much would I save anyway? My mother and grandmother had a saying: ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves’. You might say that saving the cost of using the dishwasher isn’t worth the pennies it might save, but all those pennies add up. Remember the youths who spend £21bn per year on sodas and soft drinks? I don’t doubt that each one of them individually thinks their particular coke or whatever isn’t going to make much difference.

Is eating more than my body can use stealing from God? Does it show a concern that there are others in the world who have nothing to eat, or have nothing nutritious. There are people who eat rice for breakfast and, if there is any left, they will have rice again for tea. Day in, day out. Yet we complain when we have the same meal two days running. Or twice in the same week.

Being cluttered also steals from God. It steals His time, when I am searching for something I can’t find. It steals His money when I have to buy another item because we cannot find the original. I have two pairs of scissors in the kitchen – why? I can’t use more than one at a time. I also have two potato peelers – and I complain about them because neither of them does the job the way I want. They do the job; just not to my satisfaction. Honestly, I should be thankful I have potatoes to peel and any peeler, let alone two!

Do I steal from the hungry by throwing away leftovers? Worse, do I buy food and then throw it away because it has spoiled? All that shows is I didn’t need it in the first place. What right do I have to throw away food or allow it to spoil? How dare I complain about the potato peeler, or throw away food when people are starving and don’t have the basic necessities of life. How dare I buy more food than I can use within a reasonable time. How DARE I?

So why do I not pray about it? Why do I not ask God to release me from my addiction to possessions? If the truth be known, it is because I am afraid of where it might lead. Do I really want to sell my possessions and give to the poor? Or are they altogether too precious to me – my ‘treasure on earth’?

Coming next: Living Simply - a personal challenge.

Simple Living in Amish Perspective

Simplicity is one of those words that seems to define Amishness. One reason people are so fascinated with them is because of their simple lifestyles. They seem to be in tune with nature and to nurture their families and communities by their way of living in harmony with all around them. But is this a view coloured by rose tinted spectacles? Yes, probably.

But there is no getting away from it, the Amish do live a simple life. What are their reasons for living like that and are their reasons compatible with what the Bible teaches about simplicity?

In the average Amish household, you won’t find modern electrical appliances or many labour saving devices; in fact, you won’t find electricity, full stop. You won’t find wall to wall carpeting either. They do things the ‘hard’ way. They don’t drive cars and they don’t have telephones in their homes. While there may be nothing inherently wicked or sinful about these items, not having them enhances their sense of community and family. Without such modern items as tractors for farming, there is a need for each member of the congregation to assist each other with their harvest. Now that cannot be a bad thing.

The Bible does not say anything whatsoever about washing machines, or motorised transport, or ipods. However, the church leaders have, over the years, devised a set of unwritten rules, known as the Ordnung. When some new invention is made, the leaders discuss it amongst themselves to determine whether such an item will have a positive benefit on their congregations, or whether it will militate against their community and their togetherness. While tractors for instance might make life easier, it also gives rise to the temptation to have larger farms, and thereby to accumulate more wealth, which goes against their intentions of simplicity. It is not that they do not accept modern conveniences, but they do weigh them against the benefit or otherwise to their communities.

There are not many Christians who would think twice about whether to buy a washing machine. It is simply not a ‘religious’ issue; yet the Amish consider that they cannot separate their religious life from the rest of their life. Their whole life revolves around their faith and that leads to their practical applications. If having a washing machine is perceived as a threat to their values, their family life and their community spirit, then the leaders do not allow washing machines.

‘Many years ago, Jim Reeves sang a song:

 ‘This world is not my home,

I’m just a-passing through
If heaven’s not my home,
Then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me,
From heaven’s open door,
And I can’t feel at home in this world any more’.

The Amish see themselves as pilgrims and strangers; the earth is not their home – heaven is and they are just passing through this world on their way to the next.

“As pilgrims on a path to heaven that meanders through a world of things, Amish people struggle with temptations as they try to keep their eyes on the heavenly prize. But those temptations hold less sway in a community that continually reminds its members that this world is not their home. Simplicity is “not the key to eternal life,” writes Sadie, a young Amish mother. “Yet we feel plainness is necessary evidence that we have set our affection on things eternal.”

From ‘Amish Spirituality: Hope, Faith and Practice’, by  Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher.

It goes hand in hand with the belief that they belong to a heavenly Kingdom, not to the kingdoms of this world. They seek to live a life of separation, in accordance with the Bible injunction to ‘be separate’. Therefore they do not see the need to accumulate possessions while here; they concentrate on laying up ‘treasure in heaven’ (Matthew 6v20). They are also keenly aware that they come into the world with nothing and they can take nothing out, so why have many possessions that only have to be behind, why spend money for things you cannot keep? Some of this comes from their origins. The Amish movement began in 16^th Century Europe where they suffered much persecution. They fled from Europe leaving everything behind to start a new life in America. One of the most read books in Amish homes is The Martyrs’ Mirror, telling stories of those times and keeping it fresh in their minds what their forebears endured. Accumulating possessions does not seem so attractive when seen against that kind of background.

The Amish also have a keen sense of who is their neighbour. They are prepared to ‘do good to all, especially those of the household of faith’ (Galatians 6v10). They refuse to eat cake when they know that others are starving and it is their power to help; they cannot in conscience live lives of luxury when others have nothing. And add to that the teachings of Jesus regarding trusting God for their daily needs and the dangers of accumulating wealth and possessions. In general, the average Amishman does not have superfluous items for his home, work or family. They live with what they need and no more – a lesson more of us who call ourselves Christians would do well to heed.

Quoting from ‘Amish Spirituality’ again:

"Overall, the Amish are surely less possessed by earthly possessions than most Americans. Their rejection of fashionable dress, motor vehicles, public-grid electricity, and electronic media is rare in an all-consuming world that often equates happiness with the purchase of material things.”

For the Amish, simple living means:

No electricity

No accumulation of ‘gadgets’ or unnecessary things
Having only what they need
Rejecting modern fashions
Making their own, whether that be jars of jam or clothes or furniture
Simple clothing, enough but not too much
A life that is hard work, but nevertheless fulfilling
Small family run farms and businesses
Growing their own fruit and vegetables
Preserving their produce
Less waste as they reuse, remake, recycle

While the mainstream western world is just beginning to realise that something needs to be done about the massive overuse and waste of finite resources, the Amish have been living like that since their inauguration.

These things address the lifestyle of the Amish, but is this all that is meant by having a social conscience? Is this all the Amish do – living separately from the world and not using too many of the world’s resources for their own ends? In addition to what they don’t do, there are ways the Amish do positive things to help others too.

When a member of their congregation has a disaster, their neighbours get together to help restore the loss. The Amish do not believe in insurance. In a society where medical treatment is paid for, this might seem irresponsible, but in the face of high medical or dental bills, the congregation assists each other to pay. They might even hold an auction, selling off handmade goods – from quilts to pies to furniture – to raise funds for the need of the moment.

Their good works are not confined to their own people either; they will help their non-Amish neighbour too, in the spirit of the Good Samaritan. They sign up as part time volunteer firemen in their communities; they assist with disaster relief; they will even travel great distances to help rebuild damaged communities after floods and storms.

Are we challenged by the lifestyle of the Amish? Or are we like so many others who see an idealised stress free life that is appealing, but without seeing the spiritual reasons behind it? Do we as Christians live as simply as we could? I have to confess that I don’t. Are we living in the spirit of the Bible’s command, ‘do good to all, especially to those of the household of faith’? Are we following the example of Jesus, or are we still accumulating possessions? Perhaps we need to look carefully to see where our treasure really is.

Social Conscience and the Christian, part 2.

 The Biblical Basis for living simply.
 
Following on from yesterday’s post, the answer to materialism, in addition to obeying Christ’s commands, is to follow the example of Christ. We are approaching Christmas and many will be out buying presents for their families and food for the festive season. A huge number will be overspending, on credit cards, and over indulging themselves and their families in this ‘festive’ season. Sadly, that will include many Christians too. In the US, Christians spend around $100bn on Christmas. People see Christmas as a time to indulge themselves, to have those things they want, rather than the things they just need. NO! Christmas is a time to remember God becoming a baby, who left the splendour of heaven to come to this earth, to be born in a stable amongst the dirty cattle and beasts, to grow up into manhood having nowhere to lay His head and eventually to die an excruciating death for things He had not done and to have His body laid in a borrowed tomb!
 
His example to us on earth is not likely to be one favoured by the economists of the day:

The Economics of Jesus:

“In the mind of many of today’s Christians, Jesus was an economic flop. Let us look at his management of finances:
1. He practiced community of goods it seems, and put the bag in the hands of a thief. He knew Judas’s heart when he assigned him the task.
2. He taught his disciples to pay taxes they did not owe. (Review the account where he told Peter to catch a fish and pull a coin out of his mouth.)
3. Since Peter had to go catch a fish to pay this tax, it seems he lived hand to mouth at times.
4. Since he agreed with John the Baptist’s teaching, “let him that has two coats give to him that has none”, it would have been his practice. It is doubtful that He had more than one set of outer garments.
5. He never asked for money that we can read of. He would have flunked the modern classes in the seminaries on raising finances.
6. He taught to give and loan without consideration as to whether it would bring a good financial return or not. In fact he taught that it would bring a blessing to share with those whom you know will not be able to repay.
7. He seem to think that money was not a part of the kingdom of God in the sense that he said to give to Caesar the things that belonged to him, and to give to God the things that belong to God. This was in reference to money. Since Caesar made the money, let him have it if he wants it.
Taken from The Deceitfulness of Riches http://www.elcristianismoprimitivo.com/deceitfulness_of_riches.htm.”

We need to repent of our dependence on material goods. We need, in the words of John the Baptist, to ‘bring forth works meet for repentance’ (Matthew 3v8). He didn’t leave us in the dark about what he meant by that either: ‘he who has two tunics, give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise’ (Luke 3v11)
 
“If you asked most people what the “fruit of repentance” is, you would get a different picture than what John shared. John told the people that “fruit of repentance” is distributing one’s extra material goods. If so, can most Christians say they actually have ever repented?” [Taken from http://www.elcristianismoprimitivo.com/pdf/our-world-and-our-wealth.pdf]. If giving my extra coat and food to the poor were the criterion for repentance, then I know many Christians who have not repented – and that includes me!
 
Zacchaeus showed this type of fruit when he met Jesus and said he would give back everything he stole and give ‘half of my goods to the poor’. Jesus responded. ‘This day has salvation come to your house’.
 
John Wesley had a different attitude from many Christians today. He earned the equivalent of $160,000 a year, yet lived on only £20,000 (equivalent in today’s terms). I read a snippet from him online while researching for this article. Unfortunately I failed to record where it came from, so I am unable to post the link. However, I think it was from the same link as the previous quote:
 
“Wesley had just finished buying some pictures for his room when one of the chambermaids came to his door. It was a winter day and he noticed that she had only a thin linen gown to wear for protection against the cold. He reached into his pocket to give her some money for a coat, and found he had little left.

It struck him that the Lord was not pleased with how he had spent his money. He asked himself, “Will thy Master say, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful steward’? Thou hast adorned thy walls with the money that might have screened this poor creature from the cold’!

O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?”

 
I think the modern expression is ‘just because I can, doesn’t mean I should or ought to’. Paul said it this way ‘all things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful [or ‘profitable’]. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any’ (1 Corinthians 6v12). We might have the means to buy that sports car, that fifth pair of shoes, that expensive dress, or a luxury yacht, but it doesn’t mean we should. God gives us money because He trusts us to use it for His Kingdom. He doesn’t say ‘sell what you have and keep the proceeds for yourself; you never know when a little extra will come in handy, or when you might need to cheer yourself up by going on a spending spree’. No, He said, ‘sell what you have and give to the poor’.
 
The writer to the Hebrews said, ‘be content with such things as you have’ (Hebrews 13v5) and ‘having food and raiment, therewith be content’, because ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain’ (1 Timothy 6v6). Yet people prefer to take Matthew 6v33 ['and all these things shall be added unto you'] to mean they can have it all and not suffer any consequences, because clearly, if you have riches, you have God's blessing. Oh, the deceitfulness of wealth!
 
Jesus told a parable of a Samaritan who knew what it meant to give to others in need. The Jews hated the Samaritans; they would not even speak their name. So when Jesus asked who was neighbour to the man who was injured, the man replied ‘he who gave him the help he needed’, rather than saying ‘the Samaritan’.
 
In the modern world, just who is our neighbour? When disasters strike, do we help them, whoever they are? Jesus taught us to love our neighbour like ourselves. Do we allow ourselves to go hungry if we can possibly help it? Do we go outside in inadequate clothing? Then why should our neighbour? Jesus also taught us to love our enemies. Real, sacrificial giving shines through when the man across the road, who has been the bane of our life for months or years, is in need and we help him, not counting the cost.
 
Did you know that nearly half of the world’s population is living on less than $2 a day and struggles to feed themselves? Did you know that Christian youth in America alone spend $21bn on sodas and soft drinks every year? That amount could fill the stomachs of every starving child in the world. It would cost $3bn to save 500,000 people from blindness caused by Vitamin A deficiency; and Christians in the US alone spend £5bn on bottled water. Yet there are some in the world who do not have access to the clean water that we have flowing through our taps into our homes.

[Statistics from: http://www.elcristianismoprimitivo.com/pdf/our-world-and-our-wealth.pdf]

 
We are exhorted to work so we can feed ourselves and not be a burden to others. Not so we can amass wealth for ourselves, but the verse goes on ‘so that you may have something to give to he who is in need’. Why does God give some more than others? Is it so we can spend it upon our lusts, the things we want, the things we love? 2 Corinthians 8v14,15 has the answer: ‘so there may be equality’. How can there be equality if some have more than others? Because those who have more give to those who have less, and so there is equality. Do we live like that in our personal lives? Do we live like that in our church lives? Do our churches live like that? What difference do you think it would make to the world if all Christians gave everything away they didn’t actually need?

Social Conscience and the Christian, part 1

The Biblical Basis for Living Simply

Yesterday I spoke about Ronald Sider and the Christian’s response to his call for simplicity. Today, I want to discuss the Biblical basis for simple living. That is not to say a person of another faith or no faith cannot live simply; of course they can, but for the Christian, it is important to work out why we do what we do, so that we are ready to give an answer to anyone who asks us why we do it.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good:

And what does the Lord require of you

But to do justly,

To love mercy,

And to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6v8

Note the order of the exhortations in this verse. Doing justly and loving mercy come before walking humbly with God. It is my belief that if we do what is just, we will come to see more and more clearly the injustice around us; we will then understand mercy and have compassion on those who are struggling, whether it be with faith of physical need; when we love mercy, we will see how much mercy God has shown towards us and that will bring about walking humbly with God.

But, you might object, that verse is Old Testament, Old Covenant. We don’t have to live like that today, for we are under grace not law. It is all a matter of the heart – we need the right attitude, nothing more.

Really? Do you really think God has no more interest in the starving of this world than that they have their hearts right? Do you really think that Christians today only have to have a right attitude towards the starving and suffering, and not do anything to help? My guess is that if we have the right attitude, it cannot help but be manifested in the right actions too.

Let me remind you, the ‘rules for living’ we find in the New Testament are much harder to follow than those in the Old. Loving mercy, doing justice and so on are much easier than not hating, for example. Jesus told his audience that ‘you have heard that it was said of old, do not murder’ (that’s the easy bit), ‘but I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment’ (Matthew 5v22). Now not getting angry with one’s brother, that is much harder.

But surely that just proves that there are no hard and fast rules to obey in the New Testament, doesn’t it? We need to have our hearts right and God will accept us. In that case, what did Jesus mean when he said ‘He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me’ (John 14v21) and ‘you are my friends if you do whatever I command you’ (John 15v14) and ‘If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love’ (John 15v10)?

It seems to me that Christians spend more of their time and energy trying to talk their way out of doing as God requires. The church today is encumbered with materialism and we justify it by saying ‘see how God has blessed us’. But we do not realise that riches are a curse, not a blessing:

‘He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;

Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity…

There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun;

Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.’

(Ecclesiastes 5v10,13).

‘Give me neither poverty nor riches –

Feed me with the food allotted to me [ie sufficient for my needs];

Lest I be full and deny You,

And say, Who is the Lord?

Or lest I be poor and steal,

And profane the Name of my God’ (Proverbs 30v8,9)

Why are riches a curse? Because they get in the way of our relationship with God and our duty to our fellow men:

‘No-one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon’. (Matthew 6v24). The word translated ‘mammon’ refers to riches, wealth, money.

Is there an answer to materialism? I believe there is. In Luke 18, Jesus speaks with a young man who comes asking what he needs to do to be saved. Jesus didn’t tell him he needed to get his heart right, He didn’t tell him to ‘ask Jesus into his heart’, He didn’t even tell him he needed to believe. Jesus’ answer was altogether more practical. He said, ‘Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’ (Luke 18v22). The young man went away sorrowful, because he was very rich. On seeing the man sorrowful, Jesus said to His disciples that it was very hard for the rich to get into heaven; it would be easier for a camel to get through the eye of an needle than for a rich man to get to heaven. The disciples were astonished; they had thought that riches were a sign of God’s blessing, yet here was Jesus telling them that this young man’s riches were going to keep him out of heaven!

Oh, you protest, that was just for him. Jesus wasn’t telling us we ought to give up everything to follow Him. Again, we need to have our attitudes right when it comes to our possessions.

Really? Take a look at Luke 12v33. The context for this verse is Jesus teaching His disciples. Remember, Jesus told His disciples to make disciples of every nation ‘teaching them to observe everything I have told you’ (Matthew 28v20). So if Jesus taught His disciples the content of this verse, then it follows that He intended it to be for all Christians in all contexts. So what does the verse say?

‘Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags that do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Luke 12v33,34).

So now Jesus is not speaking to the rich young ruler, He is not speaking to an individual; He is speaking to His disciples whom he later tells to teach new converts to ‘observe all things that I have commanded you’.

The answer therefore to materialism in the church, is to obey the command of Christ. The answer to materialism in the life of the individual Christian is to obey the command of Christ.

To be continued.....

The Influence of Ronald Sider – my personal journey

Ronald Sider was a Mennonite. His views on certain things might not be what I would agree with today, but 30+ years ago, he was instrumental in my personal journey towards being ‘almost Amish’. How could that be? After all, I never met the man and have no idea (without looking it up) whether he is still living.

Ronald Sider was also an author. Soon after I was married, I came across a book in my local Christian bookstore, called ‘Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger’. It was written by Ronald Sider. In it, there was a short line which summed up the whole book: ‘Living simply, that others may simply live’. He explained  how doing our little bit as individuals can have a knock on effect on world poverty After all, if everyone said that their ‘bit’ was so insignificant that it would make no difference, then poverty would continue to increase worldwide.

It was through reading that book we started eating a vegetarian meal once a week. Sider’s reasoning said that a family of four can eat 1lb of beef at a single sitting, but they could not consume the amount of grain needed to create that 1lb of beef in a single meal. He gave facts and figures about how much grain it took to feed a beef animal – and it made perfect sense.

He also talked about something called ‘voluntary poverty’. He showed that Christians in the western world are extremely affluent compared with their counterparts in the developing world. He took into account the differences in cost of living and said that if Christians in the west chose to live simply, it would have a major effect on world poverty. He gave examples of what others had done to simplify their lives in order to meet the needs of those who had nothing.

This was the first time I had come across the word ‘Mennonite’. I had no idea who they were, but I found a leaflet about the Lausanne Covenant. On reading it, I knew that this was the kind of lifestyle I wanted to follow; I wanted to sign up to that Covenant, but I was about 20 years too late! But that could not stop me living a life that held that Christians should not just be theologians who know doctrine inside out, but that they should also have a social conscience; who believed that Jesus meant what He said when He told people to 'Sell your possessions and give to the poor' (Luke 12v33 NIV).

Back then I did two things. First, I tried, without success, to find out who the Mennonites were – I wanted to be part of a church that taught responsibility towards our neighbour as well as the other Christian doctrines of salvation; a church that encouraged right living as well as right knowing. Secondly, I determined to try to put into practise what I had learned. Again, I was not thoroughly successful. I sit here at my computer, surrounded by more books than I have shelf space for; I have many labour saving devices in my kitchen; I have plenty of comfort in the rest of my home. So am I failure as a Christian? Personally I believe I am. Jesus said ‘give to him that asks’ and ‘if you have two coats, give to him who has none’ (Luke 3v11). I have more than two coats; I even have two coats that are almost identical (due to inheriting them from relatives that died). For countless thousands of people, that is a luxury they could never attain to. So how can I justify having so much when others have so little? In short, I can’t justify it and I am guilty of having riches that easily distract me from living a true Christian life. Jesus said ‘if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out; if thy hand offend thee, cut it off’’ (Matthew 5v29,30). Most people do not believe He meant that literally, but He most certainly did mean we should rid ourselves of all encumbrances that prevent us from pursuing His Kingdom. Our possessions tie us to the kingdom of this world; to get rid of excess would free our minds, hearts and actions, not to mention all that wealth that is tied up in property and ‘things’, to serve Him better.

How much is too much? Have I a ‘junk room’ where things that I have no proper use for end up? Do I have possessions I don’t even remember owning? Is my home so cluttered that I can’t find things and end up buying a new one? Have I a bedroom that is permanently empty? Have I two coats, where one would do? Do I have so many clothes, it is hard to decide what to wear each day? Do I have a ‘healthy’ bank balance stashed away for a rainy day? Have I so much food that I am putting on weight?

As I see it, the Amish have it (mostly) right. They live in simple, uncluttered homes; they supply their family’s needs first and then the wider community and beyond; they buy only what they need and not what they might simply want. Family, Church and Community have a high priority in their lives. They dress simply, they live simply, they don’t accumulate possessions. They are free from the oppression of 'style', which causes people to buy new and 'better'. They heat and light one room in their homes, and they dont invest in expensive electronic gadgets that only serve to waste time and resources. Their work is simple too – farming or a family based business in most cases. They do not have high powered jobs with the aim of accumulating wealth. The money they do have, they use for the benefit of their community (barn-raisings are a good example and paying the medical bills of community members) and, when disaster strikes, they use their own funds to assist those in need in other places, Amish and non-Amish alike. In short, their lifestyle does not take from the poor and give to the rich (or keep for themselves), as so many of those who call themselves Christians do.

In asking those questions above, I am aware that when I point a finger away from myself, there are three fingers pointing right back at me (try it and you will see what I mean). So I am not trying to send my readers on a guilt trip. Rather, I am looking within – and what I see is not pretty. Remember the old school reports ‘could do better’? It’s time to start right now and do better in loving my neighbour, feeding the poor, seeking the lost.