Confessions of a Homeless Homebody...

Thought: There is no place like home. Thought: Home is where the heart is. Fact: This earth is not my home. I'm just passing through. Jesus said "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36) so why do we hold on to things so tightly?

The pursuit of materialism is described in scripture. Isaiah 55:2 says, "Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare."

Our world is consumed with the material. Some people even ask to be burried with their possessions. But it's like the old saying, "money can't buy happiness." The most common suicides are those of the wealthy. And sometimes as christians its really easy to get caught up in the material things. I see a blue v8 mustang convertible driving down the road and I instantly become a little envious. That has been my dream car for as long as I can remember. But something that I realized lately is that even if I were to get my car, I would only get to keep it for so long. I would not have that car for forever.

We live in a world that is consumed with consuming. But when you really break it down it's heartbreaking. They are looking to material things to satisfy. They are lost, hopelessly wandering the markets in search of anything that will fill that heart shaped hole. And they're not going to find it in the world. Because this world is only temporary. You can establish yourself here, but you're still not home yet.

It all comes to what you put your value in. If you choose to live as if this world is your home. As if this world is all you're going to get. Well, then what you're going to get is the destruction of this world. But if you remember that all the trials, sin, and wicked things of this world are only temporary, then you will be eagerly looking towards when you get to go home.

Paul realized this. In Philippians 3:7-8 he wrote, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." The call of Christ teaches us that our relation to this world has been built on an illusion. We thought the promises and the substance were real, but they aren't. We thought those material things would satisfy, but they can't. We thought they were treasures, but their "rubbish."

Here's a story I once read. Chris Heurtz is the head of Word Made Flesh Ministries in India and all around Asia. The ministry provides shelters for homeless people with aids or other infected diseases. In Calcutta 70% of the homeless population have tuberculosis. Most just lie on the street coughing up their lungs. Chris' ministry was to find those who had only hours or days to live and invite them in. Chris said, "One thing I begged not to do was taking out the garbage. The stench was almost unbearable. Can you imagine the disease, ragged clothing, and half-eaten food? I begged them not to ask me to do it. It haunted me forever after the first time I took out the garbage. As soon as we walked out the back door toward the dump, children came out of the alleys to get whatever was there. I yelled 'Don't eat this garbage! It's full of disease and death!' But they were so hungry they ate the garbage anyway because that's all they could find."

Disturbing image isn't it? But honestly, how far is the world from this spiritually? Material things are nothing but a dumpster. Yet the world is feasting on them. It's our jobs to show them there is purpose to life outside of success. To show them that only God can satisfy. And to make them realize not to get too caught up in the things of the world, because they are after all, only temporary.

Luke 12:15 "Then he said to them, 'Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.'"