Years of Accumulation

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

We downsized about a year and a half ago. At that time we purged as much stuff as we thought possible. Right now it feels like every inch of our storage space is taken and I need to find some room for some more stuff because we are rearranging to make more room for hanging clothes. Old storage space is being transformed into new closet space.

I have never thought of myself as someone who owns a lot of things but I definitely do. I really don’t like to shop so I deceive myself into thinking that I don’t have as much as others. The truth is that I never go on day-long shopping sprees. I stop by the mall, which is close and convenient, get what I need/want and I go home. The good side of this is that it allows little time and opportunity for impulse buying. Somehow that has not translated into not accumulating stuff!

I got reminded of what Jesus thinks of worldly belongings as I read the account in Luke where Jesus is teaching His disciples and they get interrupted. Luke tells us what happened in Luke 12: 13-21; “Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” But He (Jesus) said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” And He said to them (His disciples), “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” 12:13-21

This man was experiencing a huge harvest, enough to feed him for years while he just relaxes, eats and makes merry! Jesus said that the man was a fool because when he realized what a harvest he had his only thoughts were of himself. It sounds like he could have stored some of that and been generous with some and God would have honored that. It was because he was considering his life according to “the abundance of his possessions” and not being “rich toward God” that he was condemned.

So, which one of us – at least in the United States does not have way more than we need to get by? Who among us has not spent too much time and money accumulating and then organizing our stuff? Americans so love their stuff that there’s been a whole industry of storage units created so we don’t have to give any of it up. We just put it in storage. Is it so we can have pride in how much we own?

Am I – are we- condemned by God for this accumulation of possessions? I haven’t had to tear down any storehouses to build one big enough or even rent something extra to hold it all. But, I have had to spend a lot of time going through, organizing, and making space for stuff that I may or may not need as I go through the rest of my life.

I guess what we have to determine is what our hearts are like toward God. Are we holding onto our stuff because we don’t trust God to provide? Are there things we really are done with that someone else may be able to use? Do I keep rearranging to keep it because of some security in the things rather than looking to God to provide my security?

Are we looking to the abundance of our possessions as some blessing from God, i.e., are we listening to a prosperity gospel? The most important question we can answer regarding our stuff is, “are we laying up treasure for ourselves so that we are not rich toward God?” Beware, the Bible warns us, “For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–is not from the Father but is from the world.” 1 John 2:16

I guess what I’m coming to understand is that we would all be better off if the riches we accumulate were spiritual riches, making us rich toward God and not the worldly stuff that distracts us from that goal.