Simplicity is not always so simple

I lead evening prayers once a week in my community. We focus on one aspect of our rule of life and I choose to give a short reflection on each concept. Today’s concept? simplicity, which is defined as “living one’s life without excess, in a commitment to a modest use of resource that resists greed and consumerism.” 

I’ll be honest, I have more experiences of Christian communities and congregations refusing to acknowledge simplicity at all or claiming to value it but in practice living in ways that directly contradict simplicity. 

For instance, there are church-based volunteer programs that claim that one of their goals is for participants to live simply in solidarity with the poor. Yet this idea becomes a bit ironic and hypocritical when the larger denomination or sect of Christianity has wealth and are using said wealth to advance problematic legislation.  For instance, how is it fair for volunteers to live on a couple hundred dollars a month while the larger denomination sponsors anti-democratic and anti-reproductive legislation?

Or how about churches with multi-million dollar endowments yet their staff struggle to pay their bills? In the two aforementioned examples, the concept of simplicity applied only to certain groups of people, while those in ecclesiastical power ignored the concept or just provided lip service to it. 

I believe that in order to truly live into the concept of simplicity, one cannot just say, “yeah capitalism is bad, and buying lots of things is bad.” But the concept needs to go further and deeper into who we are. A commitment to simplicity needs to transform us from the inside out. 

The definition of simplicity that is used in this rule of life talks about pushing back against greed, and yes, it is true that greed is a valid driver of overconsumption. But I argue that an even bigger drive is fear.  In the example of churches supporting anti-democratic legislation, I would argue that part of the impetus is fear.  Fear that the majority of citizens don’t agree with their stances on morality and legality. Fear that as the Church continues to hemorrhage members and money, their political not to mention religious relevance will diminish. 

And in some wealthy church they keep its endowment tightly bound because they are afraid: their numbers may be dwindling. They are afraid that in the future they will be without people and money. And at the very least, they could hold onto the money if they couldn’t hold onto the people. 

And I think we see this fear on both smaller and larger scales in our everyday lives: whether it's in our congregations, our city, our school, etc.  Fear that in order to take care of myself and my family, I need to make sure that those in my circle have more than everyone else.. Fear that there aren’t enough resources for everyone (there could be enough if not for hoarding). Fear that my economic stability relies on the economic instability of others. 

In order to truly embrace the notion of simplicity, we, as individuals, as part of the larger universal Christian Church, as members of a first-world country, we need to confront our fears and we need to ask ourselves what it means to trust in God.  Embracing simplicity is not just about giving up material goods, but it is also about trusting in God.  Trusting that we don’t need to take from others in order for our needs to be met. Trusting that even if church membership and thus finances continue to fall that gospel will still be lived out, even in new and nontraditional ways. Trusting that we don’t need to lose our humanity, and reject the humanity of others, in order to survive. 

Choosing to embrace simplicity is choosing to trust in God and reject the fearful living that capitalism thrives on.

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Image: woman glancing at the ocean. Text: Embracing simplicity is not just about giving up material goods, but it is also about trusting in God.