Saturday, September 25, 2010

a different side of stewardship

i've often said i'm a minimalist at heart, who learned how to be a hoarder.

in decorating/design/architecture magazines, the ones that call out to me are clean, clear, and sometimes almost spartan.

but i live like a hoarder. my mum was a hoarder. and getting rid of anything led/leads to a guilt fest. mum taught me to be responsible and take care of my things - a good steward. and i'm not blaming her for my current condition; but she had a LOT of fear and guilt regarding ownership of things, and it affects a child raised in that environment immensely.

and today's world is one that proclaims, 'take care of our world! reduce, reuse, recycle! if you fail to steward the planet perfectly, you have a mammoth carbon footprint and are contributing to the death of the planet... the you are evil! repent and recycle!' ...i heard mark driscoll once term it 'justification by recycling'.

of course it feeds every fear i inherited from mum of failing to be a good steward before God... which makes hoarding even more difficult a rut to get out of. when my mum died, she left a house full of garbage bags full of minutely collected and sorted 'valuables', which, sure it could all be sold, she planned to be part of the inheritance she left to provide for her one and only child. when the executors went through the house, almost all of it had to be thrown out.

please, Lord, break this fear of not being a good steward before You.... i do not want to end the race like that.

recently i heard an powerful teaching on Hebrews 12 that has impacted me in many ways in one day since hearing it. and part of that impact is how God used it to bring to bear a whole new perspective of stewardship to me.
Hebrews12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
let. us. lay. aside. every. weight.

and. run. the. race.

if it's a weight that hinders me in this race, it is *not* stewardship to hang on to it; in fact, just the opposite.

whoa.

further on...
Hebrews 12:12-12 Therefore ... make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.
i am definitely lame; i walk with a decided limp in this faith-walk. spiritually, mentally, emotionally lame, and in need of healing.

so that i may truly run, and not just hobble. spiritually arthritic.

walking through clutter, the stress of dealing with it, and the resultant 'spacing out' where i'm walking around and stepping over stuff without realizing it.... definitely puts me further out of joint, and interferes with the process of healing.

it *is* stewardship to make straight paths for my feet.... literally.

much to chew on and digest.

chewing my spiritual cud. moo.

~lynnie
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2 comments:

  1. Darci8:46 p.m.

    Very good point. I watched an ep of Hoarders today and it makes me clean. Because we don't have much stuff, and my hunny is allergic to the thought of getting more. I'm the need some stuff to be comfortable kinda person. But I am liking not having to clean around my stuff :)

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  2. Lynnie Ha8:55 p.m.

    you could go halfsies. get some masking tape and measure halfway between floor and ceiling, and tape all the way around the room.

    your comfy clutter, as much as you want, above the line.

    his clean, spartan, clear floor vacuum-cleaning heaven below the line.

    think hubby would go for it? :D

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