Easter Workshop 1981
LIFESTYLE -John K. Newsome
What is an appropriate lifestyle for the Christian?
SIMPLICITY The discipline of simplicity sets us free from the crippling anxiety about “things.” The opposite is idolatry.
A. Biblical Foundations
a) Matthew 6: 25-33 “…seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be yours as well.” When our first concern is the Kingdom of God then we have found that other things which can often clutter up our lives fall into their rightful place.
b) The Bible’s attitude to economic issues. No exploitation of the poor, or accumulation of economic wealth. Slavery to riches is idolatry. Ps. 62: 10, Prov. 11: 28.
Jesus on serving God and mammon. Luke 16:13, cf. also Matt. 6: 19-21, Matt 19: 16-22, Luke 12: 16-21. 1 Tim. 6: 9, 17-19, Heb. 13:5, James 4:1-2. God is concerned that we should have enough and enjoy what we have, but simplicity is necessary also that we can enjoy our possessions without letting them destroy us.
B. Other concerns suggest that a simple lifestyle is appropriate
a) Two-thirds of the world’s population possess only one third of the world’s wealth. Many have not the necessities for anything like an adequate standard of living. We consume far more than our fair share. A simpler lifestyle is necessary for ecological reasons.
C. Simplicity must not become a binding law
The Christian life is joy and celebration, not drudgery. Simplicity is supposed to enhance our joy, not kill it. The simple lifestyle ought to be the result of an inward attitude to mind and spirit. It is the natural consequence of feeling at peace and at one with God and not feeling you have to justify yourself in the world’s terms. If you slavishly try to live a simple lifestyle without the inward reality it will be drudgery, and you will fail. But similarly it’s no good professing the inward reality if this shows no outward effects in your life.
D. Inward simplicity, i.e. freedom from anxiety, is characterized by:
a) Receiving what we have as a gift from God.
b) Knowing that it is God’s business and not ours to care for what we have, though we must be responsible stewards.
c) Making our goods available to others – this frees us from possessive attachment.
E. Outward simplicity is characterized by
a) Buying things for their usefulness rather than their status.
b) Rejecting anything that is producing an addiction in you.
c) Using cars less often, public transport more.
d) Growing some of your own food if possible.
e) Eating more vegetable and grain products, less meat and processed food. (A cow eats 21 lbs of vegetable protein for every 1 lb of meat protein it provides.) Dried beans and lentils are an excellent source of protein.
f) Re-using what can possibly be re-used.
g) Developing habits of giving things away.
h) Refusing to be duped by the propaganda of modern gadgetry. It breaks down in the end, and it wastes valuable resources of energy.
i) Learning to enjoy things without feeling the need to own them.
j) Developing a deep sense for creation, being “at one” with the world.
k) Trying not to get into debt.
l) Speaking plainly and honestly.
m) Finding time for silence and withdrawal from the world; cultivate the interior life. Learn to rest in God, be free from anxiety; be more concerned with who you are, not what you do, and don’t define the former in terms of the latter.
n) Do nothing that will breed the oppression of others. Inform yourself more thoroughly about issues of world poverty and justice. Maybe join an organization like World Development Movement.
o) Don’t be faddy about any of the above. They are guidelines, not laws.
