Using Things And Loving People

Now that we’ve returned to the U.S. after living 22 years on a little desert island in the southern Caribbean, people often ask us what has been the hardest adjustment. There have been a lot of adjustments, but I think one of the biggest has been dealing with the abundance of goods and services available. Maybe you have to be away from it for a while to recognize it. I can still remember the amazement I felt when we were able to make a short visit back to the U.S. after our first year of living "overseas."
We flew from our little island, and in a matter of hours, we were in a supermarket in Chicago, Illinois. I remember thinking, "I remember this!" It was clean. It even smelled clean. There were aisles, bright lights, a whole row of shelves of breakfast cereals, every kind of fresh fruit and vegetable beside an unimaginable choice of canned and frozen foods.

I remember watching Vicki standing in front of a display of shampoo, trying to make a selection. There was shampoo for oily hair, dry hair, fine hair, flyaway hair, and hard-to-manage hair. There was shampoo to enhance your hair color - no matter what color it was. There was shampoo with aloe, shampoo with egg, shampoo with conditioner, and shampoo for dandruff. Not only that, hut there were seven different brands of each, and each brand came in travel size, person-al size, medium size, family size, economy size, and giant economy size. I tried to help, but it was overwhelming. We left that night without buying shampoo. We just couldn’t make a selection.

One of the biggest problems we have in the USA is that we have so much that we can no longer tell the difference between a want and a need. As a nation, we have gotten to the point we want things we don’t need, and we need things we don’t want. To make matters worse, there is advertising on radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, billboards, buses... and it is all intended to create more desire for more things. Advertising no longer just lets you know what goods or services are available. It can actually make us want things we didn’t know about and that we don’t need. You don’t believe me? Check your neighbor’s garage, closet, and attic - and the storage building in the back yard. Then, if you are brave enough, check your own. One of the greatest blessings that God gave us when we returned to the U.S. was an apartment that was just big enough for the family - but left no room for extra things. I hated it, but it was good for me.

What fuels this tremendous goods, services, and advertising market? Excess money. Excess money? Yes, excess money! What else do you call it when you can afford to spend money on things you don’t need’? Is there anything wrong with that? Well, not really. It isn’t wrong to have a nice house and to have it tastefully decorated. Having a yard full of weeds is certainly not a good testimony, but a nice lawn with colorful flowers can certainly be attractive and a compliment to your family conduct. A good computer can be a real asset in communication with your family, friends, and missionaries. It can help keep your financial records and definitely helps in writing magazine articles or radio scripts. Good music enhances our work and soothes our spirits. How about a refrigerator with ice in the door? How about a better car?

Are they wrong? No, not at all - unless you put them before God. No, not unless your hope for the future and enjoyment of the present is more dependent on them than on the grace of God. No, not unless your love and appreciation for them are greater than your love and appreciation of God. No, not unless you are using your resources for yourself when God is prompting you to share them with others. Are they needs? Well, could you exist without them?

Dare we take this discussion one step further? Do we really know what it means to sacrifice? I’m sure there are some who have really known sacrifice. I think my parents did, but I don’t. Giving up soft drinks for a week or even a month is not sacrifice. Not going out to eat so we can give to missions is not sacrifice. Delaying the replacement of a second car is not sacrifice. We make pledges in faith promise missions conferences, but do we ever really sacrifice?

In the book of James, chapter 5, God condemns the rich, not because they are wealthy, but because of their abuse of their wealth and their abuse of their fellow men. They had excessive savings for retirement (v3), they took advantage of their workers (v4), they lived wastefully (v5), and they perverted judgment (v6). They loved their wealth more than they loved people - and more than they loved God.

Is it wrong to be wealthy? No, but we need to recognize that God is the source of our wealth, and we need to use what He gives us in the way that He would have us use it (Deut. 8:18). There was a song about it a few years ago. It talked about loving things and using people. So, wily does God give us more than we need? He gives it to us so we can use things and love people. Someone once said the only important things in life are God and people and getting the two together. Has God given you more than you need? How are you using it? Are you hoarding it for the future? Are you using it to meet the needs of others? Are you using it for your enjoyment while you can? Are you giving to God and His work? Are you even asking yourself how God would want you to use it? Are you so busy trying to figure out how to get more that you haven’t even thought of it? Are you loving things and using people, or are you using things to show your love for people? What will eternity reveal?

Several years ago, we were traveling with our family. We had just spent a night with a wonderful pastor and his wife in their very modest, but comfortable home. Granted, their home was built for one family, so our whole family, four of us, spent the night in their daughter’s bedroom. We had great fellowship with this fine couple. The very next night, we were with another couple who took great joy in sharing their beautiful home. Our two daughters were in a separate room, and Vicki and I spent the night in the “guest room.” It was breathtaking! A beautiful Jefferson bed, his & hers bathrooms, his & hers closets, a balcony all around full of shelves of books. Our daughters were about 6 & 8 years old. When they saw it, they were overwhelmed. Vicki tried to bring them back to earth by explaining that God couldn’t trust just anybody with such nice things. The innocent reply came back, “I think He could trust me!”

Can He trust you? The best way to anticipate the future is to review the past. Maybe a little of that ‘‘excess money’’ can be put to work sharing the Gospel around the world.

We are truly a blessed people, and I trust that as BBN is a blessing to you, God will burden your heart to share the tremendous financial burden we carry each month.

Dennis Cast