Vol. 37, No. 7 _ July 2006

Mark Tabb begins his book, Living with Less, with these words:

Let me get right to the point: The only way to get more out of life is to choose less. Less stuff.  Less activity. Less wanting more. Less of you.

I apologize if this seems a little abrupt. Believe me, I s earched for a d ifferent way to kick this off. I wanted to ease into the heavy stuff to make it more palatable and less offensive. Still, more than once, I found myself hitting the Delete button on a touching story because "touching" and "heart-warming" didn’t quite fit.

I also thought it might be easier if some famed contemplative hit you with the bad news. Maybe Saint Augustine wouldn’t insult you while telling you all your priorities are wrong, that you’ve wasted your life in your pursuit of comfort and material goods. Perhaps you wouldn’t be angry if C. S. Lewis told you the frustration that fills your life will never go away until you slow down and begin saying no to yourself and your children. And if Mr. Rogers confronted you with your need to crawl out of the center of your universe and assume a lifestyle of humility. who could argue?

So I searched my library for just the right quote from my favorite authors. One or two came close, but I thought it better just to come right out and say what you and I need to hear: The key to making life matter is to choose to live with less.

Give stuff away.

Simplify your lifestyle.

Deflate your opinion of yourself.

Choose less because less is more.

(Mark Tabb, Living with Less, Broadman and Holman, 2006, ix-x).

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. - Prov. 30:8

For several years now, an increasing number of evangelical Christians, as well as a growing number of Americans in general, have been writing about, testifying to, and highly recommending to others a simple lifestyle. Even so, those who are endorsing a simple lifestyle are a minority, especially among evangelical believers. Indeed, it is rather embarrassing that living a simple lifestyle is more popular among non-believers than it is among believers. This is in spite of the fact that it seems like every other Christian book being written deals in one way or another with living a simple lifestyle and not storing up for oneself treasures on earth. The fact that most American Christians, evangelicals included, are not listening, is perhaps because our materialistic culture and sinful nature have defined us more than we might think.

I have no doubt some of my friends will think I wrote the following. But it also comes from Mark Tabb’s Living with Less:

We live in a culture of accumulation. Therefore, the best way to escape its grip is to do just the opposite. Rather than buying more and more, begin de-accumulating. Give things away. Cleaning out the mountain of clothes and other things you no longer use is a good place to start, but don’t stop there. Discover the joy of giving gifts from things that you still use. One of the greatest gifts I ever received was a set of books that was no longer available in hardcover. A close friend gave me his set as a going-away present when my family moved to California. When he handed them to me, I asked, "Won’t you still read these? How can you give them away?" His response still rings in my ears more than fifteen years later: "I would rather give them to you." That’s the spirit of de-accumulation.

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