Pastor’s Corner

Are you materialistic?

Pastor Tim Collins

Have you paid attention to how much stuff your neighbor has in his/her garage? Not in the envious sort of way that eyeballs their possessions with want and dreams of owning the same thing. I’m talking about the shear mass of clutter that fills their garage. Sometimes they are so full, even though it’s designed for an automobile the family car will not fit.  For that matter even a child’s peddle car might be too immense to fit. For some, this may not be your neighbors garage, but perhaps I am describing yours. It’s not just garages which are full either.  Have you noticed the number of self storage units in the valley? Most of them are full and sometimes have a waiting list.

In an article at Slate.com written by Tom Vanderbilt from 2005 he states the following: “One in 11 American households, according to a recent survey, owns self-storage space—an increase of some 75 percent from 1995. Most operators of self-storage facilities report 90 percent occupancy, with average stints among its renters of 15 months. Last year alone saw a 24 percent spike in the number of self-storage units on the market.” Interestingly enough, over the same time period, the average square feet of home space went from 1,660 to 2,400. Is it just a coincidence that as our houses grew we still needed more space to store stuff?  Not if you consider that over that same eight year time span the personal consumption expenditures averaged 3.9 percent which was almost double what the enterprising free world was spending at the time at 2.2 percent.

Honestly, we have too much stuff.  Although this may be good for yard sales, storage unit owners and television show like storage wars, it’s ultimately not a good thing.  That junk is actually a distraction to the things most important to life.  We become so consumed with our consumable products we miss out on family, friends and especially God.

What I am trying to say is, don’t let your pursuit of stuff interfere with your relationships. Don’t let them be distractions or thieves of time.  Not all things are bad to own but owning all things is bad.