 Stuff
We live in a material world. Back in the 80’s Madonna boldly confessed that she was a material girl, and she was not the only one. We are people who love our stuff. We spend money we don’t have, to buy things we don’t need, to impress people we don’t know or like. I know that is a bit jaded but physical things can become idols for the very reason that they are so tangible. It is easy to place too much importance on the things that we experience through our five senses to the neglect of things that we can’t see or touch. However, we must also be careful that we as spiritual people do not overreact to this and conclude that the physical world is unimportant. Paul says that we are not meant to be “unclothed” meaning without bodies but rather clothed (2 Corinthians 5:2-4). Jesus has a physical body right now and he always will. Even after the current heavens and earth have passed away God’s word will not pass away (Mark 13:30-31). He will create a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13). Possessions But it is not only our physical bodies that matter, it is also our possessions in this life. The Bible has a lot to say about greed, idolatry, covetousness, and envy. Yet, throughout both the Old and New Testaments, the individual rights of people to possess things and own property is repeatedly upheld. Even in Acts when Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit and forfeited their lives, Peter states that the land and the proceeds were their own property and under their control (Acts 5:1-12). They did not die for only donating a portion of the sale, but rather for lying about it. Propriety is serious business in the Bible, and when King David is going to sacrifice to God to save the people from the ravages of his own sin, he is not willing to offer to God something that cost him nothing (1 Chronicles 21:18-27). Economy Societally, our economy depends on individuals owning property. I don’t simply mean under the capitalist system that we have in America. Even where socialist or communistic systems have been or are being tried they must allow for some kind of private ownership of something. Imagine if you don't own anything, not even the clothing you are wearing. If every person had an equal right to everything then the tuffiest bully on the playground would have whatever they wanted. In this case, the tuffest bully is the government and you and I would have nothing. To lose the right to have personal possessions and property is to lose freedom. I don’t mean that having things makes you free, but rather that having the right to own things is necessary to true freedom. Ownership I believe that God has ordered our existence in this way so that we can understand that His relationship to all things,especially humanity and the elect, is one not only of love and faithfulness but of sovereignty and ownership. All of humanity belongs to God by way of His right of creation. Inventors own the property rights to the things that they create, and in the same way God has every right to do with His creation as He sees fit. He is the potter and has the right to mold the clay into the vessel He choses (Jeremiah 18:1-12; Romans 9:19-23). However, God also has a special right of ownership of His people. Paul tells the Corinthians to remember that they have been bought at a price and do not belong to themselves (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Paul also reminds Titus that Christians are a people for Christ’s own possession (Titus 2:11-14). Therefore God has a right to us and a claim on us that is legitimate. We are then responsible before God, as his treasured possession, to live for Him and serve Him with our whole lives.
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