I was very struck by a question I was asked recently… What is enough – and when do you know you have enough? The question is almost impossible to answer well, for our broad experience is that when we acquire more of something, we still want just that little bit extra. And if it comes our way, we are often still not satisfied and are very reluctant to say that we have enough. There seems to be an insatiable desire for more money; additional time; extra status; increased leisure; and, of course, ever more things. For example, do we really need the 118 items of clothing in the wardrobe of the average adult in the UK? And do we really use all the mugs and plates in our kitchens?

Rather co-incidentally, as I was asked that question, my wife and I had already started the process of ‘decluttering’ our home. And it really has been quite a relief to be doing so. We have brought things to a local charity shop; handed other items on to friends and family; taken what is no longer needed to be recycled and inevitably discarded some items that had simply come to the end of their useful lives.

Jesus lived in a community which was much less affluent than our own, and that makes his words in Luke 12 speak powerfully to our increasingly materialistic age…. ‘He said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.’ And in saying these words we are told that Jesus did not even have somewhere to lay his head. (Matthew 8.20)

So often his warning is ignored as we give into the temptation to buy even more things. And it is getting ever easier to do so. BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) finance, such as Klarna, allows customers to pay in a few instalments and is growing at around 60% every year.

A lifestyle of ‘more’ is always incredibly attractive. Having ‘more’ paints a picture of success, and even happiness; it also helps our self-esteem and our status amongst our friends and family. And the marketing of ‘more’ is well captured in the oft quoted phrase ‘retail therapy’, where shopping and well-being are clearly linked. All of this helps explain why people so rarely acknowledge they are greedy.

The dangers of sin lurking in greed cannot be missed in Scripture. In Ephesians 5 we are told that greed really is sinful, and the Apostle Peter talks openly about false teachers who are ‘experts in greed’. (2 Peter 2.14) In Mark 7, Jesus himself links greed with sexual immorality and other examples of a very wayward lifestyle. Paul reinforces Christ’s teaching on a number of occasions by also ranking greed alongside sexual immorality: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3.5)

The Bible does not teach that it is a virtue to live in poverty or in dire straits. Those who have more are specifically called to share willingly with those who have less, and Matthew 25 makes it abundantly clear that how we have done this will be exposed on judgement day. The Apostle Paul beautifully captured the privilege of generosity rather than greed when he told his young friend Timothy to ‘be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.’

It can be quite hard to say, ‘I do have enough,’ yet equally hard to share what God has provided with other people, whose need is so much greater than our own. Helping stock up the foodbank is much needed but cannot be the totality of our sharing. 

I have found my spirit quite troubled through writing this article and wrestling with the question in my own life ‘What is enough? Is there is anything for which I am greedy, and if so, why? Is repentance needed in some area?’ Answering those questions is a work in progress, but I really am convinced that enough really is enough, and that decluttering really is good for the soul as well as for the home!

Please note that the statements and views expressed in this article of those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Contemporary Christianity.