Over the last few months, I’ve been mulling over the idea of eliminating everything I own that serves no purpose. This of course is a lot of stuff.
If I’m to uphold the idea of living with purpose, then that means by extension that I don’t do things without purpose. At the very least, I shouldn’t partake in things that are detrimental to my purpose.
But what about things that are just fun? Can you live “with a purpose” without every single thing you do affected by it? Does your purpose interact with your recreation time? Should you even have recreation time to begin with?
So with great trepidation, let us descend into the depths of the question: Is it okay for devoted, purpose-driven Christians to own stuff for having fun?
The simple answer, of course, is “it depends.” God is not opposed to people having fun. God is, however, opposed to people being self-centered and putting other things before Him.
I don’t think most Christians want to deliberately disobey God. But we are very good at making excuses for doing things we like, even when we know it’s wrong.
And what’s more, there is a never-ending stream of people who will tell you how you can’t have fun, or at the very least, try to tell you how you’re allowed to enjoy yourself.
I don’t want to be either one of those people: not a killjoy, and not making excuses. I want the truth. What does God expect of me?
Well, when we look at God’s word, we see that God wants us to think about Him more than anything else. Maybe even to the exclusion of everything else. And what exactly is wrong with thinking about God 24/7? Is that wrong? Of course not.
What would happen if you or I would completely dedicate our lives to learning about Jesus, praying, reading, and spending time with God? What would that look like? How would that impact the people around us? How would (as Bruce Wilkinson would say) abiding in Christ change our outlook on everything?
Personally, I mostly limit my entertainment to things I share with other people. Having fun is something that’s really good for connecting with friends and building relationships. In that respect, it’s very helpful. But I try to spend very little time entertaining myself. Granted, sometimes I will just sit down alone and play a video game or something just for fun. But most of the time, it’s with someone else.
I haven’t addressed the concept of possessions, though. And that’s definitely a big part of the minimalism lifestyle. But really, other than freeing up space, what does getting rid of things do for us?
Everything you own requires a place to store it. And some things, like houses and cars, require maintenance, taxes, payments, and attention. Some things, like cell phones and computers, require tons of your attention. They’re literally designed to grab your attention every chance they get. It’s not about convenience- it’s about using your attention and brainpower as a product.
Ultimately, minimalism is about minimizing your distraction of thoughts until they’re in a manageable state. As long as your mind is flying all over the place, you can’t control it. As long as you can’t concentrate, you can’t focus on what’s really important. And what is most important, as believers in Christ?
Simply put, our relationship with God is the single most important thing we have. Nothing else will ever be more important than that.
“But what about curing cancer, or feeding the poor?”
Those are all things that God can do without our help, if you want to be honest. But the one thing God can’t (or won’t) do is force us to obey him. We either do what He asks, or we don’t… and then we deal with the consequences.
The idea of stripping away everything that wasn’t from God isn’t a new idea. Francis of Assisi was one of the more famous believers who took a vow of poverty, and started his namesake, the order of Franciscan Monks.
And the truth is, it does work. Minimizing your possessions helps declutter your mind. There’s plenty of posts here about the idea of minimalism, but the basic idea remains the same: have less, so you can do more with what you have left. That includes your mental capacity!
Is Minimalism the answer? Is it worth getting rid of most of your entertainment and stuff in order to get things done?
Well, that depends on how badly you want to get things done. If you’re fine with getting 50% of your to-do list done, then no, you don’t have to give up anything. If you don’t have any issues with getting everything you want accomplished, then you’re probably good.
If you want to actually accomplish everything your purpose requires, though- and you’re struggling to see how it’s going to happen- you may need to prune yourself down to only what’s essential. In my case, I’ve already headed down that road.