Going through the eye of a needle
“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ”I tell you the truth, 28 it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven!“ Matt. 19.23
This story is well known to many of us. The rich young man approaches Jesus and is a genuine seeker. He really has done his best to live his life for God. But then Jesus hits him with the one thing that he cannot give up – his lavish lifestyle.
I feel that the recent changes in my life have given me a far greater insight into this than any biblical study alone could have done.
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Why? Let me explain.
My wife and I recently moved from a 3 bedroom house in London into 1 room in a shared house in Manchester with 3 other guys. As a consequence of this we had to sell about 90% of our stuff (arguably more). We only stored a few boxes, and the majority of what we have in our room now will be given away or sold again as we gear up to go travelling. So by the time January rolls around we would have sold nearly everything we own within about 6 months.
The shere frustration and hassle of selling all this stuff pretty much ensures that I don’t want to ever own this much stuff again. We didn’t even have very much stuff in our house. But a 3 bedroom house is a 3 bedroom house, and if there’s space then you’re going to fill it with something. But it was so hard selling stuff because everyone wants new stuff these days, and if you want to sell it second hand it’s going to have to be dirt cheap just to save you the hassle of disposal. What this amounted to was that we lost a lot of money, even on good stuff that we had only just brought (especially furniture). It was a real wrench.
So what am I getting to? What’s my point? When I got to Manchester, I realised that there was a fundamental change within me. When I went out in the city centre there were all these people carrying shopping bags full of stuff (as you would expect!). I looked at them and I didn’t want anything. I realised that there was nothing that I wanted. Even browsing in shops holds no appeal anymore because I am near 100% never going to buy anything. It is undoubtedly one of the most liberating experiences of my life. It’s better than never ever having had anything ever. I’ve had things and had nice stuff, and now I don’t, and I feel free. So free.
So when I look at this passage I don’t so much identify with the man but long for him to know the freedom that could have been his. How liberated he could have been to be the human being that he was meant to be and not enslaved to money and to having stuff and status.In our modern world, consumerism adds to this. I buy, therefore I am. It’s not just about having less stuff and living responsibly and frugally people, it’s also about liberating your soul.
After all, the less you have, the less you worry!
hmm,.. i dunno, i reckon that whatever you have you have has a connection to you, thats why the woman (in the bible) who gave her last few coins was gving everything, it never says what a pain it was for her, or what happened afterwards? it is true that when we invest in having and owning (to fill up what is missing inside) then its a pain to get rid of it, as we are essietnally getting rid of us, or at least what we perseive as us for we had put our security in it.
i think you have a point, but not sure its that easy to tie down
do the poor worry?
do those how have less have less stress?
dunno
It depends on people’s attachment to stuff.
The poor may worry because they cannot get hold of basic things to survive – food, drink, shelter, hygiene etc.
When most people talk about being poor in the western world they mean they cannot afford a Porsche or the latest games console, or they can’t go out and spend hundreds in a weekend on getting hammered.
People may stress about having little because they want more. But if you’ve had stuff and then have been looking for that cleansing from consumerist want then that’s a good place to be. Better to have and to give away I think than to have never had at all. And you definitely don’t want to lose</i? anything – that wouldn’t be a voluntary thing.
tis true…consumerism just fuels the need or gives the idea that we need more, and being generous or giving stuff away has a certain health feel to it, though you can only do it for so long before you run out of stuff