The other day I asked a question to our Facebook group: “What’s your biggest challenge in home management?” I half-expected to hear concerns about frugality, and possibly menu planning/cooking. (Maybe there are women like me who get hung up on dinner because they forget to defrost the meat they planned on using?) However, I was surprised to have almost everyone who responded mention CLUTTER.

Which has me thinking about clutter.

When we were in the midst of moving last Spring (and contemplating a move to Africa as well), we had to deal with the clutter thing in a big way. We went through ALL of our possessions and seriously considered WHAT we needed, and WHAT WE NEEDED IT FOR. Needless to say, much of what we had was superfluous and ended up being sold, given away, or thrown away. (The latter option was the most painful, but when you’re moving to a house half the size of your current one–or smaller–what are you going to do?) However, I’m still not sure we “downsized” as much as we could have.

Since this de-cluttering experience of ours, the Lord has really been changing our hearts about the “things of the world” for which we all seem to have an affinity. What I’ve come to see is that, when it comes to “clutter,” we can’t just attack the “stuff” to get rid of it or not; instead, we really need to do what Marc calls a “Root Cause Analysis” and see what the real problem is when we’re surrounded with lots of “stuff” that fills our homes and our lives.

I think that the root cause is that we, as Americans, are spoiled. Even the least-well-off of us in middle America is frighteningly rich compared to someone in even another well-off area of the world, not to mention those in “third-world” countries. (If you don’t believe me, you will want to check out the book Material World by Peter Menzel. The photographic spread for the possessions of an “average” family in Texas took up two pages, versus less than a quarter-page for a family in Mali. The differences, not only in number of possessions but also quality and utility, are striking when you look at them graphically. Or, look at these photos to compare what we eat compared to people in other parts of the world. It’s disgusting, really.) I’m sure we pay some lip-service to this truth, but we’re typically not convicted enough to do anything about it. The world and the lusts of the flesh are too powerful.

Therein, I believe, lies the problem. Even as Christians, we pander to the world much more than we realize. We’re invited to taste, touch, buy on credit, stockpile, and fulfill our every desire. I’m not sure there’s even a definitive line between needs and wants any more, so much have we become accustomed to the full lifestyles that we enjoy.

Yet more and more, I’m being convicted about what we own, how we use it, what our home looks like, and even the activities we indulge in. I’m asking more questions like,

“Do I really need this?”
“Can I use something else I already have or do without it?”
“If we did not have ‘extra’ money, is this a purchase I would consider?”
“How much is too much?”
“Why do I ‘want’ this?”

And it’s that last question that has really exposed a part of me that I haven’t liked. I do not like the lurking covetousness that’s there, the selfish desires and the unwillingness to let go and give away things that I am attached to. And yet, although books like Intoxicated with Babylon by Steve Gallagher have really given me a different perspective, nothing says it better than the words of Scripture:

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.“ (James 4:4)

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

The hard truth is, I think we (and I do also mean “I” when I say “we”) all, at least on occasion, love the world more than we love God. We’re willing to sacrifice, but only so much. We’re willing to do some things, but only on our own terms. We follow our own plans and ask God to bless them instead of listening for His voice. And of course, His voice is very quiet as we allow it to be drowned out by the world and all with which it tempts us.

So, my “root cause analysis” on clutter is that we simply love the wrong things and aren’t willing to walk in the holiness that is God’s desire for us. We can deal with clutter (get rid of it, or perhaps just organize it better?) but the greater work that God wants to do is to purify our hearts. I, for one, am not perfect in this area, but…I’m listening.