Copyright 2017 by Shea Oakley<\/p>\n
Many thoughtful believers in the First World struggle to various degrees with the connection they feel to their sometimes expensive material possessions. They may repeatedly ask themselves questions like, \u201cAm I enjoying this thing I just purchased for myself more than I enjoy things of the Spirit or \u201cDo I want to spend more time enjoying it than I want to spend time seeking God?\u201d This is particularly true if the material item in question is\u00a0particularly pleasurable to use or even to contemplate using.<\/p>\n
What the object actually is can widely vary. It could be anything from a new car to a beautiful antique to a top-of-the-line home theater system. What all these things have in common is their ability to elicit delight in their use (or even, in the case of the antique, delight just in visually beholding it.)<\/p>\n
In the 21st<\/sup> Century West even those of us\u00a0of modest means\u00a0most often have the buying power to acquire at least one of these kinds of things. In doing so, we have moved beyond the need for the kind of pure utilitarianism governing both the purchasing and use of possessions that was prevalent in previous generations not born into the consumer culture we find ourselves living in today. At one time, not so very long ago in terms of history, it was enough to have the very basic necessities of life. In fact for the majority of people it had to be enough. This is no longer the case in the developed world today.<\/p>\n Christians of the past were, in general, not tempted towards feelings of guilt by having a small bed to sleep in or a simple oven\u00a0in which to cook. These things \u201cperished with use\u201d as the scriptures said. They were not superfluous objects but tools. Today we have all these necessities and quite a bit more that is anything but necessary, at least as far as sustaining our physical lives. Therein lays the problem.<\/p>\n We also know from scripture that we are to love and seek our God above all things. This can become hard to do\u00a0if our possessions feel like they are drawing us away from Him. I must confess that I can, for instance, spend hours detailing an old classic car I happen to own while the idea of spending the same amount of time at church or reading the Bible simply does not produce the same desire. Of course, I only do this detailing job occasionally. Lately though I\u2019ve noticed that another expensive collectible item I recently purchased is on my mind a lot. I\u2019ve found myself daydreaming about it, even falling asleep at night with images of this thing flashing through my mind. The degree to which it has had a hold on my attention I find troubling.<\/p>\n I do not know if there is a direct correlation between how much time I have recently spent doing this daydreaming and how much time I spend devoted to the things of God. I do not think it has necessarily been taking away from my devotional discipline. What it certainly has not been doing is adding to it, and the very intensity of my desire to enjoy this particular possession disturbs me in contrast to my desire to spend the time I do with Him.<\/p>\n I share this personal example because I suspect that it will resonate with many readers. This is one of the temptations that come with the reality of relative affluence in a consumer society. In one way it is new in that the rise of said society is a very recent and unique development in human history. On the other hand it is merely a new variant of an age-old problem for Christians, namely putting anything before the Lord in our affections. In that sense there is nothing really new under the sun.<\/p>\n Does this mean that we should put away anything that we might find ourselves deeply enjoying? No, for God is not a killjoy. If the thing in question is not inherently sinful it may not be something of which we must divest ourselves. However, if we want to keep that material \u201clove-object\u201d we do need to be\u00a0intentionally serious about keeping our seeking of the Lord, and His will for our lives, in the forefront. If we find that our possessions are too often short-circuiting that, despite our best efforts, those possessions may need to be put aside.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Copyright 2017 by Shea Oakley Many thoughtful believers in the First World struggle to various degrees with the connection they feel to their sometimes expensive material possessions. They may repeatedly ask themselves questions like, \u201cAm I enjoying this thing I just purchased for myself more than I enjoy things of the Spirit or \u201cDo I… <\/p>\n