I Want More, and More, and More

Note: This is part of an ongoing series on teaching biblical stewardship to our children.    

 

My three-year-old daughter dresses herself in the morning. None of the clothes that my wife or I pick for her are right, so she goes through her drawers and chooses her own clothes. Lately, she has started to layer her clothes. What started as a cute thing, has turned ugly. Yesterday morning, my daughter came into the living room wearing a sweater shirt, over a dress, over two shirts. She also had a tutu over the bottom portion of the dress and pants on underneath. She’s not dressing for winter weather. I think she’s trying to get all of her possessions on her body before going to daycare. We have to negotiate the number of clothes she can wear to school almost daily. And she’s not just a fashionista. We have the same negotiations about how many toys she may take to her school’s “Share Toy” day. The school allows one. She tries to stuff her backpack with a couple extra share toys. Our son also tries to stuff his backpack with too much or with things he should not take to school.

            Is this just a childish phase? Will they grow out of it and move on to something else? Possibly. But, I think there may be a more insidious, underlying idolatry occurring here. I think my children are worshiping the idol of possessions. And as my wife and I are trying to instill values of stewardship into their lives, we will need to work through this idolatry of possessions.

            Some of you may think I am being extreme, or worrying over nothing. However, I can see the trouble in store if my kids do not have a healthy response to their possessions. Paul warns about the dangers of a love of money (or possessions). He writes to Timothy that, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is through the craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Further on, Paul writes “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

            Note, that Paul does not tell us that money is evil. Nor does he say that wealth is bad. But, he does caution us that we must be wary of a love of money and that those who are rich (and though my family is not wealthy, we are, compared to most of the world, secure), must understand the uncertainty of money and possessions. These are values that we are trying to teach our children. We frequently tell them that they are blessed financially in ways that so many others are not. We try to teach them that they have far more toys, or clothes, or food items than most kids in this world could ever dream of having. We try to teach the value of sharing. We have tried to teach that we should take care of those possessions we are blessed to have. We have tried to teach them that we can bless others by giving to them either some of our possessions, or money and resources as we are able. We have tried to teach them that Mom and Dad work diligently for our paychecks and that we must be wise and careful in how we spend these paychecks.

            With all of this teaching, we still have children who want more, who neglect what they have, and who do not see the blessings of God in their lives. But, lest you be quick to judge them as spoiled brats, let me ask you (and me): Do you want more? Do you neglect what you have? Do you see the blessings of God in your life? Has our consumer culture affected what you value?

            You see, I don’t just see my kids as the ones who want more. I have to look at myself in the mirror. When my teaching falls on deaf ears, I have to look at my own heart and determine if my teaching is not heard because my actions do not back up what my words proclaim. Am I double-minded, saying one thing but inwardly desiring something different? As I watch my children, I am learning so much about myself. The hard truth is that I too, sometimes, define myself by my possessions. As I am teaching my children, I must be reminded that I too need to lay a good foundation for the future, so that I may take hold of that which is truly life.

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