“How do we live in a consumer culture without being consumed?” I heard this question in a sermon, and I think it speaks deeply to God’s people in this affluent culture. The word in the question that is scary to me is “consumed”. If we are not careful, the things we think we need will own us by consuming our spendable income and our time.
Jesus answered a man’s request in Luke 12:13-21 that begins to address this issue.
13 Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then He said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
16 And He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
As a child my mother had a saying that really gets to the answer to the question how much is enough. If I would say to her, “I need this thing”. She would reply, “Do you need it or want it?” Determining needs from wants is important. We are a steward of all that God gives us. How to determine the answer to those type of questions is best answered by our Lord. Our Lord knows the future. Only He knows if we “need” something to accomplish His will.
What should the man in the parable have done with his abundance? Did he need all the surplus grain, or did he only want to keep it to make his life easier? However, what he thought he needed to make his future secure would be given to others because he was going to die.
In Ecclesiastes Solomon with all his wealth and power wrestled with the same question. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2:18-19,
18 I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. 19 And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun.
Our Lord is sovereign. If we are His stewards of what He gives us in this world, we need to determine the needs and wants in our life. I am not saying a “want” is a bad thing, however going back to the original question, how much is enough for us and how much are we given to help others in actual need?
In Luke 6:38 Jesus said,
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
Our Lord knows our needs. In the middle of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus made these statements,
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 6:26
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they are?
To me it boils down to what you believe your purpose in this life is. I have never found lasting happiness in “things”. They are new and exciting for a while, but soon they are just more stuff we need to take care of. People are the only things we will spend eternity with. Let’s store up our treasures in heaven.
Christian Life Coach 