By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
Luke 9:25
One would think that after two major moves that my family would have successfully purged so much of what we’ve accumulated over the years. There’s something deep that happens when you are forced to completely pack up all of what you have to put into a truck and then unpack it again to find new places for everything. From the Bay Area came14 years in Chicagoland, 11 years in Sacro-tomato, and now 7 years in Renton, home of the second-place Seahawks and the plant that normally cranks out 52 737 MAX’s/month.
You would think that we would have been an easy early adopter to Marie Kondo before she became a thing. Instead, prompted by our second of three birdies leaving the nest, we more recently began instituting the Kondo-way on our house minus the thanking of everything. FYI, you might find some really good stuff at the Goodwill on Sunset in Renton! We’ve committed to purge and scale down.
I just watched the Netflix documentary Minimalism. In the film it speaks of the correlation of physical/mental/emotional health and the accumulation of stuff. Earlier this year the NY Times article “The Unbearable Heaviness of Clutter” points to a growing body of studies that show that clutter significantly contributes to negative health affects. Is this why Swedes are some of the healthiest people on the planet? After you visit IKEA and get yourself more organized, read other studies like the one by Tim Kasser from Knox College who states in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology that there is a clear “link between materialism – or valuing money and possessions – and poor physical health.” Our accumulations are making us sick; on multiple levels.
As Mary and I have purged like we’ve never purged before, the truth of the matter is that we continue to get a flow of boxes Amazon Primed, stuff I probably don’t really need from AliExpress (but it’s so cheap!), and other mail order packages that gives that adrenaline shot when we see them waiting for us like an eager pup on our porch.
There was something about the film that resonated so deeply with me. It felt inspired. As I’ve reflected on that, I know it touched deeply, because it’s how we are hardwired to be – what God intends for us. His commands and guidelines in scripture help us to understand what is best for us. And it seems clear that God wants us to be more like minimalists rather than grand accumulators. We continue to ignore and break a few commandments too frequently don’t we? …not keeping the sabbath…envying stuff…having other gods before God…and showing too much worth to inanimate objects.
As we go into the seasons of Thanksgiving and Advent, I encourage you to take some time to stop, reflect, and premeditate the holidays. How can you deliberately slow down, simplify, not be caught up in more stuff, connect with loved ones and strangers, share the good news of Jesus in word and deed…? Premeditate a deliberateness to not feed the greed or chase the pace that’s shrinking your soul.
So many verses encouraging the simplicity that comes with following Jesus. Don’t skip them!
Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
Proverbs 30:7-9
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind…Better one handful with tranquility, than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
Ecclesiastes 4:4, 6
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.
Luke 12:15
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Colossians 3:1-2
Stay warm, Friends. Follow Jesus. I pray that you have a wonderful beginning to the holiday season. And as Jesus said, What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? I pray that you will find and own your very self, your true self, as a follower of Him.