An Oasis

           The world is cynical. It seems filled with people who are bitterly distrustful of those in authority, their neighbours, and even their heroes. They are sneering and contemptuous of anything or anyone too earnest, too dedicated, or too naïve to follow them in mocking the noble and pure aspirations of the generations before them. There almost seems to be a pervasive desire, to not only avoid striving to be all we can, but to actively seek to be less than we are. I may elaborate on these ideas in a latter post, but for now I will assume that we agree the world is very much characterised by cynicism and detached irony.

Last week I wrote about our goal, as a family, to glorify God and present an accurate image of Him to those around us. It sometimes feels as though everything in the world exists to discourage our pursuit. That is, of course, an exaggeration, but there is no escaping the many messages we encounter every day that try to dissuade us from our objective of glorifying God.

This is the context of the next statement on our wall:

We desire our home to be an inspiring oasis of thanksgiving, joy and contentment.

                Thanksgiving is a cornerstone of the Christian life. How much of our anger and frustration would melt away if we were thankful? Unfortunately, as a family we have an inflated sense of what we deserve. We have been blessed in many ways so we begin to act as though it’s because of our righteousness or merit we have been given a warm home and good food and material things. Everyone should be able to live in a free country of ample opportunity like Canada, but we so easily fall in to the error of thinking that there is something intrinsic to our character that has made us more deserving of our blessings than others. So, despite the inevitable setbacks and frustrations in our lives, we want to give thanks in all things (I Thess. 5:18).

                Of course, when our lives characterised by gratitude, we can’t help but feel joyful for the things we have been given. When our home lacks clutter; when it has been carefully planned and our possessions have been selectively chosen, we will be surround by things that truly bring us joy. Being able to reach for any book on our shelves and know it will be a source of comfort or challenge or inspiration is a cause for joy. Having possessions that serve us and our needs and our goals instead of demanding time and attention because of a sense of duty or obligation is a source of joy and something we are striving for in our home.

                Finally, with thanksgiving and joy comes contentment. Contentment is at odds with the consumerist promptings of our culture and the impulses of our hearts, but it is what will ultimately lead to a satisfying family life. We hope that, with the Apostle Paul, we can truly say we have learned to be content with little and with much (Phil 4:11). We hope to strive, not for more or different things, but for God’s glory and a home that helps us fulfill our calling.

                We believe our home can be a refuge from the world for us, by embracing and reflecting counter cultural values and priorities. In a culture of selfishness and criticism, we want to be thankful to God. In a society that seems to take pride in nihilism, we want to present the joy of the Lord. In an environment that encourages consumerism and the promise of one more thing to make us happy, we want to cultivate an attitude of contentment. In all these areas, we want our home to offer a respite from the pressures of the world around us and inspire us to be all that God intends us to be.

Glorifying God

Clutter in our home is a spiritual issue, not primarily a practical or physical one. Uncontrolled clutter is suggestive of a number of spiritual concerns, two of which were identified in last week’s post. I talked about two spiritual shortcomings that are revealed by clutter, but a more significant cost to clutter is the impediment to full obedience it can be. God has called us all to glorify Him (I Cor 10:31) and enjoy Him forever (Rev. 21:3,4). We want to rest in perfect peace, but it’s difficult to do when we can’t find our Bibles or we are tripping over last month’s newspapers on our way to our armchair. Not only so, clutter can invert our purpose. Instead of our home being a place that enables us to serve God in the manner He has called us, we serve our home despite how God has called us. We serve our home by the constant maintenance that’s required to keep it in a sloppy, cluttered mess.

                But how do we keep God’s purpose uppermost in our minds as we live each day in our homes with all the distracting voices offered by the world around us?

The Marsh family has written our aspirations for our family and our home and placed them on the walls of our house as a continual reminder of what purpose we serve:

As a family we want to glorify God in Jesus Christ in all of life, presenting an accurate portrait of the Godhead to the world around us.

                We know God has plans for each of us as individuals, but we also recognize that He has called us to fulfill His plans within the context of our family. We further know that other people are one of the main mechanisms God uses to mould us and transform us into the image of Jesus so not only are the other people in our family helpful in fulfilling our calling; they are necessary.

                We are a Christian family and so we not only want to glorify God, but also Jesus Christ His son. We want all of our lives: our home, our leisure, our interactions to glorify and reveal all three aspects of the Trinity. This is characterized by singleness of purpose, a harmony of goals and submission to the greater good by all of us. We want to maintain our individuality, but also have a family identity that allows us to flourish as individuals in a loving, supportive environment. Our hope is that we will reflect the mutual love and purpose that is evident in the Godhead.

                These are high and challenging aspirations but we are all committed to seeing them realized in our family. They inspire us when we are feeling defeated or questioning the purpose of maintaining a clutter-free home. Too easily we get caught up in keeping clutter at bay and a neat house for its own sake instead keeping it that way to help us serve God and obey His purposes for us. The tangible reminder on the walls of our home is a great help in our journey to a more stream-lined home.

Why So Much Clutter?

Getting rid of clutter seems to be a consistent problem with North Americans. There are at least ten magazines on the rack right now claiming to hold the secret to getting rid of clutter. I have read some books on the subject and in discussion with other people have been interested to hear some of the strategies they have adopted to deal with it. While I will be covering some of the approaches that help with clutter in subsequent entries, what has most interested me is the way people concentrate on the physical, practical aspects and avoid the spiritual facets of the problem.

When we first began more effectively dealing with clutter in our house, it was because of concern for the spiritual dimension of the issue.

It seemed to me that there were only two reasons there was clutter in our home: we had too many things and not enough space to store them all, which suggested an unhealthy attachment to material things, which was a spiritual issue. Alternatively, everything did have a place and we chose to leave things strewn for multiple reasons, which suggested a lack of gratitude for the things we`d been blessed with, which was a spiritual issue.

Either way, there were some spiritual matters that needed to be addressed before we could consistently overcome the clutter in our home. Beginning to view it as a spiritual issue, rather than one of “mere” house-keeping has made all the difference in how we approach clutter.