Possessions: Idols and Religion

The Extremeist:

     Some may look at this Excess Depletion thing and admire it,...
They may feel the tension in their own lives and desire a similar change for the good.
     Some may look at it as an elongated spring cleaning and say, "Yeah, I will get around to doing that at my house sometime soon as well."
     And then others looking in may say, "What the heck are they doing. Why are they being so radical about this. They are just things. Do they not appreciate the things God has blessed them with? Not everything is trash, you know!"
I would agree with all 3 of these perspectives for the most part. The truth is, the pendulum can swing too far in almost any area of our lives. (with the exception of putting God first) In this case there are 3 places we can go.

Materialism: The state of mind or illness where we place such a high value on things (consciously or unconsciously) that we are constantly striving to add new things to our lives in an effort to find fulfillment. We make accumulation of wealth, professional success and achievements a substitute for God position in our lives as Lord and King. Christian or non- Christian these "things" become idols and chasing after them becomes their religion.

Asceticism: The Ascetic takes things to the opposite extreme and rejects all material things, placing them in the unspiritual category. He casts out all material or pleasurable things as rubbish that are separating him from a true spiritual life. In an effort to gain "true spiritual life" he is making the rejection of material blessings his idol and now the rejection of the material becomes his religion.

To quote Randy Alcorn, "Our Lord lived simply but he was not an ascetic."

Christ following: I am learning and believe that the Christ Follower should hold loosely enough to material things so that he is willing to let them go of them as the Lord leads him. Or even to cast them away from him if they are causing him to stumble. But we must also value material blessings enough where we recognizes them as gifts from God to be used as tools for his Kingdom.

Back in December, I had the realization that my material blessing and desires for success were causing me to stumble. They were hindering my ability to discern and obey God's direction. They had clogged up my life where I had limited capacity to be moved by His inspirations. So we began the Excess Depletion Project in response to this verse,..

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. - Hebrews 12:1

My greatest desire is to be fully aware of and involved in "The Race" God has marked out for me. I am striving to live in a state of mind where I refuse to allow the "things" and "patterns of this world" entangle me and trip me up in my walk with my Lord. As I dug deep, I could have made an idol out of the rejection of material things. I could easily have made a religion out of this part of my journey. But, by the grace of God, prayer and study of His word, He is giving me new clarity and understanding.

So,... as I am still at a place where I believe God is calling me to throw off those things that have been entangling me, I recognize there may be a time when he tells me "Okay my son, stop! Now go and use the tools I have given you to do the work I am trusting you with." But isn't he calling us to that RIGHT NOW anyway. So we must find the balance. I love Him, His truth is pure and His ways are  inspiring. That's why, even though I may stumble and fall at times, I will stop at nothing to keep Him on the throne of my life and strive to make doing His work my religion.
- Jason K