Hello everyone,
it has been a long time since my last post, we got robbed, and our modem went with everything else... The police tracked down one of our burglars, and amongst the stuff they had was our modem, so I am back online again....
We are still waiting for our insurance company to come through with a payment; these things seem to be extremely slow...
It is amazing the effects that this has had on my thinking. The robbery itself was of course a shock; it knocked the kids around a bit, though they bounced back pretty well. Fortunately for us, our robbers were quite considerate in the way they went through our property, there was no needless damage or vandalism, and even though they went through draws and stuff, the contents that they did not take were left behind in the draws neatly. I guess that Naomi and I sort of felt that burglary was probably par for the course in moving into this neighbourhood, so once the initial shock wore off, we got over it pretty quickly (the sense of invasion, violation, loss of security etc).
When your property is stolen like that, you are really forced to evaluate how attached you are to material possessions, how much you are a slave to the god of mammon. When we decided to join UNOH and leave the middle class rat race, to join a poor community and take a vow of poverty ourselves, I believe that we took a step in the right direction. There was a real sense that God had released us from the love of money, keeping up with the Joneses just did not seem to hold any importance for us. Looking at things from the other side of the fence, it seems that the love of money is prevalent in the western church… the consumerist mentality of church growth teachings fit hand in hand with the seeking of comfort and safety that characterises middle class society; as a result materialism is embraced or at best ignored within these churches.
Anyway, I have strayed from my point… after leaving my previous lifestyle, I often felt that we still had too many comforts, certainly once we moved our stuff into our small unit that we now call home, it did scream to us “Middle Class”. I felt that we had not gone far enough… actions speak louder than words (or in this case thoughts) however… and I never really did anything about it, so I guess to some extent I was still a slave to materialism. The robbery however proved to me how little attachment I did have to my possessions, as the actual loss of most my stuff has not really affected me (there were a few personal items that really hurt to loose, like my wedding ring).
The biggest problem in this line of thought however is that we had insurance, a wise move really, at least some would say that… however I know that some of my carefree attitude to the robbery was probably do to this, so at this stage of my life I don’t know how free I am from materialism. I am also faced with the problem of deciding what to replace that was stolen, due to the nature of insurance I will have to purchase new items that will make me look more prosperous than I did before. Some things are quite important to me to replace, like a new camera, others I don’t think I will replace if I have the choice, like the playstation (our lives are better without that). Still, I am haunted with the thoughts of what are the best things I can get with the payout… I am starting to understand what Jesus was really talking about when he mentioned the camel and the eye of the needle, and I am truly thankful that it is not through our power that this is possible, but that it is purely up to God to sort the issue of mammon out in each of our lives…
Peter
Anyway, I have strayed from my point… after leaving my previous lifestyle, I often felt that we still had too many comforts, certainly once we moved our stuff into our small unit that we now call home, it did scream to us “Middle Class”. I felt that we had not gone far enough… actions speak louder than words (or in this case thoughts) however… and I never really did anything about it, so I guess to some extent I was still a slave to materialism. The robbery however proved to me how little attachment I did have to my possessions, as the actual loss of most my stuff has not really affected me (there were a few personal items that really hurt to loose, like my wedding ring).
The biggest problem in this line of thought however is that we had insurance, a wise move really, at least some would say that… however I know that some of my carefree attitude to the robbery was probably do to this, so at this stage of my life I don’t know how free I am from materialism. I am also faced with the problem of deciding what to replace that was stolen, due to the nature of insurance I will have to purchase new items that will make me look more prosperous than I did before. Some things are quite important to me to replace, like a new camera, others I don’t think I will replace if I have the choice, like the playstation (our lives are better without that). Still, I am haunted with the thoughts of what are the best things I can get with the payout… I am starting to understand what Jesus was really talking about when he mentioned the camel and the eye of the needle, and I am truly thankful that it is not through our power that this is possible, but that it is purely up to God to sort the issue of mammon out in each of our lives…
Peter
1 comment:
Well Peter it is great to have you back on line. Your thoughts that challenge have been missed.
This thought of materialism is one of a heart attitude. It is about where Jesus sits in our hearts compared to the things that we have or desire to have. This is common within Christianity and Jesus teaching. Where do we put God, before/in the middle/last.
Regards
Matthew
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