a free e-zine from Alternatives for Simple Living
#3 -- 2003
Christian Simplicity -- A Virtue Come of Age
Contents
Christian Simplicity -- A Virtue Come of Age
by Gene Sager, Palomar College, San Marcos, California
Introduction
Helping the Poor
The Monastic Way
Protecting and Respecting Creation
Purity of Heart
Notes
Introduction
Christian theologian Douglas John Hall sent shock waves out through many Christian groups in the 1990’s when he sounded this alarm:
"…the Christian faith, the official “cult”of the majority, stands accused of being the primary spiritual sponsor of technocratic humanity’s plunder of the Earth."1
Looking primarily at the United States, where over 80% of the people identify
themselves as Christian, Hall and others see a nation which uses more energy
than any other and is the major polluter in terms of greenhouse gases. Since
energy is derived from limited stores of nonrenewable resources on which
all humanity depends, Hall uses strong words: “plunder of the earth.”
My thesis is that Christian simplicity is a virtue come of age, especially for Christians in the United States. I will explore how a simpler life can provide solutions to the environmental crisis. Also a simpler life will allow us to carry out our Christian obligation to provide for the poor. Equally important are quality of life issues such as contentment, spiritual growth, and family issues. St. Francis spoke of Sweet Sister Simplicity who sits next to Wisdom. I believe we desperately need the blessings of simplicity in this age. Indeed, a thoughtful reading of the New Testament may show the simple life is the preferred Christian lifestyle for any age.
The Bible is not the only source for developing Christian values. Christians draw on prayer, meditation, reason, and personal experience for insights into the Christian walk. We also make use of knowledge from biology, psychology, and all the sciences. God guides God's people in multifarious waysthe Old Testament book of Numbers records how God used an animal, Balaam’s ass, to teach a lesson to one of his prophets. (Numbers 22)
Helping the Poor
If Christians are obligated to minister to the poor, then this obligation bears upon the virtue of simplicity in several ways. Christians should leave a fair share of the energy and resources of the Earth for others, especially the poor. More than that, we should actually seek out the poor and give to them from our own wealth. To help the poor, then, we would have to live more simply ourselves.
One of the clearest teachings of Jesus on this matter is presented with a parable about sheep and goats (Matthew 25:31-46). Jesus states unequivocally that at the Last Judgment He will grant salvation to those who have ministered to the poor, and He will deny salvation to those who have not. He specifies that we must feed the hungry, cloth the naked, and visit the sick. There is no indication that He is speaking of spiritual hunger or sickness, and there is no mention of evangelizing these needy people. Therefore, followers of Jesus are commanded to provide material sustenance to the poor. He tells us if we do this, we will be serving Him. It is from such teachings that Mother Teresa of Calcutta gained the insight that the destitute street people are Jesus “in disguise.”Thus our love of Jesus and service to the poor are fused into a single act.
Jesus warns against neglect of the poor by telling the story of a rich man and the homeless man, Lazarus (Luke 16: 19-31). The rich man knows about this sick beggar at his gate but offers no help. Jesus says Lazarus went to heaven but the rich man went to hell. Informed by such teachings of Jesus, Christian theologian Ronald Sider warns us about what he sees as gross neglect:
"By any objective criterion, the 6% of the world’s people who live in the United States are an incredibly rich aristocracy living among a vast, hungry proletariat."2
Sider argues that it is our Christian obligation to live more simply and use some of our wealth to help the poor.
I think we should not try to theologize these teachings or water them down by mixing them into the perennial issue of works vs. faith. The New Testament says we are saved by faith, not works. Feeding the poor is an action, a work. But for one who has faith in Jesus, for one who is a follower of Jesus –the response to His teachings is simple: If he teaches us to minister to the poor, we must do so.
One criticism of charity is that giveaways fail to address the major economic and political structures that create and perpetuate poverty. The point is well taken but it does not mitigate the obligation we have to work for the elimination of poverty. Whether we give food directly to the poor or work for job training programs through government or independent organizations, it is our obligation. Our efforts might even take the form of lobbying for laws to control the practices of huge corporations. In any case, our obligation is to make an effort, even by embracing a level of voluntary poverty so that others will not be forced into involuntary poverty.
The New Testament abounds with passages like those we just looked into. Jesus sometimes spiritualizes the teaching by dividing value networks into two types –pursuit of the Kingdom of God and pursuit of mammon (wealth). Life forces us to make a radical decision between the two: God and mammon (Matthew 6 and Luke 12). It comes to an either/or decision as to where our basic commitment lies. A commitment is an internal matter, but it also takes external forms in actions –in the way we spend our time and our money. It forces us to search our souls and ask hard questions about whether we indulge ourselves in material ways instead of increasing and deepening our experience of the more wholesome actions and enjoyments in life.
Jesus’exchange with a rich young man and the subsequent discussion with the disciples, presents the same lessons (Matthew 19:16ff.). But this passage has been used to argue against my claim that the New Testament gives a general warning against material wealth and waste. Jesus tells the man to sell all he has and give to the poor, and He says it is very difficult for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. But Jesus does use the phrase, “If thou wilt be perfect…”Some have interpreted this to mean that He was challenging the man to become a special model for the church –a monk , or bishop, or in any case a saintly figure. Not everyone is called to practice this voluntary poverty.
We cannot be certain whether Jesus was in this passage speaking of a special vocation. What is certain is that Jesus and his followers usually presented the obligation to help the poor without any riders or qualifiers or conditions. Every follower of Jesus must face the either/or and chose in favor of the Kingdomfor Jesus and the early church, this meant feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, etc. We will look at numerous other New Testament passages which confirm this.
Another attempt to get around the warning against riches and the obligation to give to the poor is based on the phrase, “…with God all things are possible.”After the rich young man leaves, the disciples ask in shock, “Who then can be saved?”They wonder if people of “normal”income or a wealthy person can be saved. Can a rich person be saved? Jesus responds, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”(Matthew 19:26) Some Christians have taken this to mean that the rich, even the very rich can be savedand people have rationalized this point to imply that a Christian need not heed the general warnings against riches and the warnings about neglecting the poor. Further, some have argued that the whole point about riches is that one shouldn’t be obsessed with themit’s OK to be rich, as long as you don’t crave and hoard riches.
These interpretations miss the mark. It is true that all things are possible with God, but when we look into what the New Testament says about the specifics of the Christian walk, and when we examine our own experience, we find that wealth jeopardizes our spiritual life. Jesus tells us (Luke 6:21 and Matthew 6:19) that where our treasure is, there also will be our heart. If we have considerable wealth, our heart or our way of feeling and thinking will align itself with the material, worldly ways –not with God’s ways. In the same sermon, Jesus presents the either/or: God or mammon. Once we walk the mammon road, we are drawn down that route.
The force of the worldly ways of excess production and consumption is very great. In spiritual terms, this means we develop habits of mind which are material or economic, not moral and spiritual, and we become unable to stand humbly before God. It becomes more and more difficult to repent. The rich may know intellectually that too much pride is wrong, but it is more difficult for the rich to actually shed their pride (1st Timothy 6:17).
Again in the Gospel of Luke (12:16ff.) Jesus explains how the rich man, because he is rich, can use his wealth to amass more wealth. But he is foolish to be spending his time and energy and wealth in this way, says Jesus, for this diverts him from spiritual life. This theme recurs throughout the Bible: wealth is an obstacle to the spiritual life.
To return to the notion that the rich may be saved because all things are possible with God. The truth of the matter is that the salvation of the rich is possible but unlikely. The rich cannot but be strongly influenced by their wealtheven if they do not become “obsessed,”the Bible and life experience teaches us that wealth blocks or clogs our spiritual life. But of course this is not to say that those who are not wealthy are guaranteed salvation. The point is just this: wealth is a hindrance to spiritual life.
One of the most telling insights in the New Testament is that the ways of the world are topsy-turvy. In the world, the rich are seen as great, but Christian teaching says they are lowly: “The rich man is in a low condition for he will pass away like the flower of the grass.”(James 1:10) Actually the either/or is not a fork on the roadit is a radical divide, and the two directions are total opposites. In the topsy-turvy world, the values are speed/wealth/popular/sexy, and in God’s kingdom, the values are slow/simple/humble/chaste.
Putting the New Testament teachings together, the message is clear: Christians are to seek the Kingdom, for there is where our salvation and happiness lie. Seeking the Kingdom entails, among other things, ministering to the poor and living a modest life. Riches will lead us away from God and true well-being. The virtue of simplicity is necessary for accomplishing these goals and is a main feature of the Christian lifestyle.
My students press me for a Christian definition of “rich”that will clearly divide the rich and non-rich for purposes of applying Christian teachings. The New Testament doesn’t give us such a definition, and certainly no numerical divider would make sense (e.g., over $70,000 annual income is “rich”). But we can ask ourselves questions like, “Do I need this cool $200 jacket when I have two serviceable jackets in the closet at home? Do I need a health spa membership or can I do my exercises at home? Do I need a luxury car? Do I need to use an electric clothes dryer in Southern California?”We make hundreds of decisions like these and wealth management experts like Dominguez and Robin have shown that most Americans follow the well-trodden worldly path of “convenience”and expense without careful consideration. 3 These are the ways of the rich.
I am surprised, especially surprised when students from Christian households readily justify worldliness and rich ways with thoughtless phrases like, “If you have the money, then spend it. Get a Jaguar if you want to. It’s your money.”
The Monastic Way
For many people, the idea of the simple life is associated with monasticism. The monk or nun has few if any possession, no spouse, no worldly involvements. This would seem to be the simplest lifestyle of all, and the life of the monk or nun does come to mind when we think if simplicity.
Although the monastic life is externally simple, it involves serious inner conflicts which necessarily cause turbulence. For most people, the vow of celibacy cannot be carried out without causing many types of internal conflict. This is because the sex drive is one of the most basic and powerful drives. It is clearly more powerful than the desire for wealth or success. The sex drive is more akin to the need for food and shelter than to the desire for money or power or worldly status. Biology is more basic then economic, social or political matters.
We need to pause here to consider the significance of biological processes. In some ways, our American culture places undue emphasis on physics, economics, and technology while failing to recognize the importance of biology. Although most educated Americans now have been taught the concept of an ecosystem, our behavior (application of the concept) still falls short. Developers, if they replace greenery, often plant the cheaper (dollars and cents) trees, not the ones that make ecological sense. Another example of economics over biology is the individual fast lane lifestyle itself: making money takes precedence over rest, spousal relations, and other domestic activities.
Celibacy is the attempt to deny the most fundamental biological drive and therefore the monastic life is not really simple for most people. Celibacy causes serious complications which disrupt inner life, and these complications will not go away. There are a very few individuals who are able to practice celibacy and maintain inward peace, but this is a very small minority in the Christian community. It is an option for a very select few.
One lesson we learn from this discussion is that simplicity must be defined as a balancing and harmonizing of outer and inner aspects of our lives. If the external life of schedules, driving, jobs, and activities is overextended, the inner life loses its focus and its power. On the other hand if the inner life is turbulent, then no amount of external simplicity will yield the experience of the simple life.
In contrast to the image people have of the monastic life, the life of the householder (married, with children) would seem to be very complicated. Can the householder live a simple life externally or internally? Spouses may have personality clashes, periods of depression, and financial problems. Raising children in a Christian home has always been difficult, and perhaps it is more of a challenge today then ever before. We shall see that the practice of simplicity can help us meet these challenges, but family members may disagree about what simplicity is and how to practice it. How many “comforts”and “conveniences”should we allow ourselves? Can teenage children be expected to be “out of sync”with the indulgent normal kids?
Christian tradition offers a rich store of teachings and methods for coping with familial problems, but the parents need not feel overwhelmed by a complicated set of rules and techniques. The simple, single guiding principle is love. Informed and inspired by the scriptures, the support of a Christian community, and regular prayer, the householder lives through love. Sometimes good communication, tolerance, and patience cannot resolve differences. Compromise and civility will be necessary. But when “I love you”is not just a greeting or cover –when these words are uttered in the household where people really try to practice the Christian virtues –the words carry enormous power and they simplify the atmosphere. The words mean that even if we disagree, even if sometimes we have lost our cool, despite everything, I will continue to care for you and do the best I can.
To the extent the family can agree on ways to live more simply, less income will be required and more time will be available for quality time together. Simpler living can open up time for better communication. “Downshifting”takes the pressure off and helps people de-stress. Stated in plain fashion, the matter is breathtakingly simple. Christians know that family is more important than income. Christians know that time for meditation and prayer is more important than a big house or luxury car.
My son rightly urges me to remind my readers that simpler living is not an all-or-nothing thing. Especially in America, where almost every product and activity seems to involve a complex production process (“processed food”is but one example) we cannot return to a primitive lifestyle. But the point is to achieve a significant level of simplicity, and that we certainly can do.
Protecting and Respecting Creation
Tony Campolo, a leading evangelical writer recently criticized his own camp of conservative Christians, charging them with envirophobia.
"We, 'Bible-believing, born-again, Spirit-filled Christians' more than any others seem to have turned deaf ears to the pleas to save God’s creation from what has to be called sinful exploitation."4
Campolo’s book is titled How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshipping Nature. The fear of worshipping nature is a concern that comes from a strong dualistic interpretation of the Bible. The God of the Jews was not a nature God, and the Jews found their identity partly through their rejection of nature worship. Nature and God are radically distinct, and many Christians extend this distinction into a worldview which puts nature, matter and body on one pole and God, spirit, and soul on the other pole. On this view, nature and the body are lowly and of lesser value whereas God and the soul are sacred realities of the highest value. This means that nature is not sacred and rather low in the hierarchy. So Judaism and Christianity have not placed a high value on the protection of nature.
But today many Christians like Campolo realize that neither the Bible nor common sense will justify the large-scale harm that human beings have caused, both to nature and to other people through the abuse of nature. One of the major solutions to the environmental crisis is the practice of simplicity—e.g., less production and less consumption. As we have seen, a simpler life can also bring benefits in terms of family relationships and individual spirituality.
What does the Bible say about our relationship to nature? Genesis 1:26 gives humans “dominion”(Hebrew: radah) over all creationthe term is associated with the rule of a king. But we should not assume that God was referring to an autocratic, cruel king. Why not assume that God was charging humans with the responsibility to oversee and use the natural world exercising the virtues of wisdom, compassion, and simplicity? Why not assume God was using the concept of a good king, a person with high spiritual values? Many of God’s specific laws indicate careful guardianship of nature and natural beings. Even when besieging an enemy city, the fruit trees are to be spared (Deut. 20:19). Muzzling of corn-treading oxen is forbidden (Deut. 25:4). Animals are to rest on the Sabbath (Ex. 23:12). Plowing with an ox and ass is prohibited in Deut. 22:10 because the weaker will suffer. Deut. 22:6 disallows taking the mother and the young from the nest because of the feelings of the mother. According to the rabbis, one of the seven divine laws to be followed by all (Jews and gentiles) is the prohibition of cruelty to animals.5 In Leviticus 25, God commands the people to let their fields rest (lie fallow) every seventh years.
The famous passage in Genesis (1:28) where God tells Adam and Eve to increase and multiply and subdue the earth must be understood in the context of the whole body of commandments. Clearly, “subdue”allows us to clear land and control animal populations so that we can grow crops in the amounts necessary for food. But actions like the destruction of rainforests and species extinction -- these are separate issues. The Biblical view is that we are to use but not abuse nature. Nature is not sacred, but it is very good (Ex. 1:21 and l:31). The creation is a gift from God and it shows his artful ability and his glory. "The heavens are telling the glory of Godand the firmament proclaims His handiwork."(Psalm 19:1) In more contemporary terms, Christian preacher Peter Illyn has said, “See the river and that mountain over there…that’s God’s art.”6
Christians are to protect and respect nature (creation) for two closely related reasons: (1) We should protect nature because all people need natural resources and a clean earth (clean air and clean water, etc.). Overuse and pollution of nature causes harm to people. Christians are commanded to love all people, so, for example, air pollution which causes children to suffer from asthma and emphysema is a violation of God’s commandment. Protecting nature as a part of loving other people is analogous to proper behavior at a banquet. If I take more than my share, others are deprived. If I leave my trash on the table, I ruin the banquet for the other guests. (2) A respectful attitude and responsible behavior in relation to creation expresses respect for God. God’s beautiful, amazing gift expresses His glory. Using too much of the natural resources or uglifying nature is abusing a gift from God. Respecting creation as God’s glorious gift can be a very immediate, fulfilling experience. For a Christian (and for many other religious people), appreciation of nature can be a profound religious experience. Disregarding this gift, or acting in an environmentally unfriendly way is showing disrespect for God. Hence the Greek Orthodox patriarch, Bartholomew I has said that a crime against nature is a sin against God. 7
It is abundantly clear, then, that Christians are obligated to protect and respect nature. For American Christians, one of the main ways to carry out this obligation is to live more simply. Perhaps we don’t realize how much energy and resources we use. If the whole world lived as we do, we would need four planets like earth to support our indulgent lifestyles.8 Of the three R’s -- reduce, reuse, and recycle -- simplicity relates most clearly to the first R, and it is a virtue which most Americans have ignored for several decades.
Purity of Heart
Christian simplicity benefits the environment, the family, and the individual,
as we have seen. But the best-kept secret among modern Christians is that
the greatest benefit is to the individual. This benefit is both in the externals
of life and in terms of inner or psychological ways as well. Let us look
in closing at a few of the internal benefits of the virtue of simplicity.
We mentioned earlier that the virtue of simplicity involves an internal purity of love. Based on an absolute commitment, Christian love simplifies the situation since it is not conditioned on whether the beloved responds in a certain way. Love may seek different ways to express the caring, but the commitment itself is uncomplicated. No calculation, no second thoughts, none of the anxiety that accompanies an indecisive stance.
Another form of internal simplicity may be called the purity of faith or purity of heart. The Letter of James gives us a sense of it: "Religion pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to give aid to the orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep unspotted from this world."(James 1:27)
Keeping ourselves unspotted from this world is a way of living “in but not of the world.”We have things to do in this worldindeed we are obligated to help the needy and protect creation, especially in this present age. But we cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in the events of this world and allow our happiness to depend on the outcomes. If we become anxious about the state of the world and if we rest our happiness on the fruits of our actions (our success), then we are “spotted by the world.”Perhaps others have no recourse, no solace but the success they achieve by their good actions. But Christians have recourse to and find comfort in God. Part of the simplicity of the Christian inner life is that we know the outcomes are not up to us. It is not by our wits and our incredible abilities but by our faith that we find joy in this life and the next. Purity of heart is to do our best and rest our faith in God.
Christian simplicity, then, is a virtue come of age because never before have Christians faced an environmental crisis of this scale nor have Christian lived in such a wealthy nation as the USA. Facing these challenges requires us to apply the virtue of simplicity both outwardly and inwardly. May we steer a course that is in but not of the world.
Notes
1. Douglas John Hall, The Steward: A Biblical Symbol Come of Age (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publ. Co.), 1990, p. 188.
2. Ronald Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press), 1977, p.45-46.
3. Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, Your Money or Your Life (Penguin Books), 1992.
4. Tony Campolo, How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshipping Nature Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers), 1992, p. 3.
5. Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 56a.
6. Utne Reader (July-August, 2001), p. 52.
7. Utne Reader (July-August, 2001).
8. New American Dream Website
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