It was very quickly obvious to me the connection between Christianity and Minimalism. I realize not everyone in the Minimalism community will appreciate that statement, but it is what it is. In fact, it seems most minimalists end up trending Zen Buddhist which is obviously quite the opposite of Christianity.
But I’m not here to pick a religion fight
I am here to talk about a blog post that I printed out a while back and have in front of me on my
wall. In fact, I’ve printed it out and given it so several friends as well. With proper credit due of course. :) The post I’m talking about is from the BecomingMinimalist.com blog, a post titled ‘What is Minimalism?’
As I’ve been looking at it often above my computer screen while I work, something interesting occurred to me. I could replace the word ‘Minimalism’ in each of the headers with the word, ‘Christianity,’ and it made perfect sense. Pasted below are the headers from the ‘What is Minimalism?’ blog post:
MINIMALISM IS INTENTIONALITY.
MINIMALISM IS FREEDOM FROM THE PASSION TO POSSESS.
MINIMALISM IS FREEDOM FROM MODERN MANIA.
MINIMALISM IS FREEDOM FROM DUPLICITY.
MINIMALISM IS COUNTER-CULTURAL.
MINIMALISM IS NOT EXTERNAL, BUT INTERNAL.
MINIMALISM IS COMPLETELY ACHIEVABLE.
Now go back through them and replace ‘Minimalism’ with ‘Christianity’ and you start to see why I see Minimalism molds perfects with Christianity. In fact, the more I read about Minimalism and continue to read the Bible, I’m pretty convinced that the vast majority of us Christians are spinning our wheels in the race to collect stuff, and this takes our focus away from doing real, meaningful things for the cause of Christ. It’s worse than that actually. ‘Takes our focus away’ is quite an understatement. Chasing stuff diverts our purpose for life for many people. Clearly there is nothing wrong with having things. But when our purpose is to collect more things, that’s where we got off track.
Let me contrast two scenarios for you
There is an individual living in his apartment, driving his paid off car, cooking in one of his few pans, and has plenty of time to spend with his Creator and act on the callings of the Creator.
Then there is the other individual, working 12 hour days to pay for his house he rarely gets to enjoy, while driving to it and from it in his exceedingly nice car, also requiring a large monthly injection of income. He has no time for anything but to sleep, eat, and work.
Now you can see where I am going with this over-simplified example, and most of us will be somewhere in the middle. But imagine yourself closer to the first person, less encumbered by things and chasing more things. He has the opportunity to chase what really matters in life.
I’m positive you have all heard the anecdote about the man on his death bed, thinking back through his life. He’s not thinking, ‘Man, I wish I would have worked more hours and bought a nicer car.’ Nope, he’s thinking, ‘If I had it to do all over again I would have spent more time with my kids growing up. More time with my parents before they passed. More time with the people I love.”
It’s all about relationships
With each other and with our Creator. So where did we get this idea that we need so much stuff? Regardless, don’t you think you would be better off getting rid of a few things, maybe downsizing that house and paying it off? Getting a reliable car at half the price of the one you have now? Working eight hours a day or less and enjoying your family?
Just sayin’
Ecclesiastes 1:11 “No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.”
We are kind of remembered for a couple of generations. Our kids and our grand kids. And then no more. How many generation back do you remember of your family? Where you came from. For most of us, it’s not far.
So what are you putting your efforts in that are going to last longer than you? Things that matter, I hope. In this world and beyond what we can see.
