Do I Really “Need” This? (Part 1/3)

I believe “needs” can be divided into two simple categories; 1) Survival needs such as food, water, clothing, and shelter, and 2) everything else. Survival needs are required live regardless of your social status, geography, political party preference, or nationality. These needs are no respecters of persons or position, and without them you and I would eventually die. So what about everything else we often refer to as needs? Are they really needs at all? Does God care about them too? Where is the distinction between my wants as a person and my needs? These are legitimate questions and I will be dedicating the next three posts to this topic.

 

“Are they really needs at all?”

Beyond the basic survival needs that we as humans all share, there are situations that people face individually that need to be addressed in some way. If you have no regard for the law and couldn’t care less about the consequences of your actions, then you might be fine with stealing food or clothing or even shelter (might be a little hard to pull this off without many people noticing though) to supply for your own needs.

 

However, if you choose to be a law abiding citizen then you will need a better method for obtaining the basic needs in life. For most people this is called a JOB. You know, that old fashioned thing where if you work, you get paid? I know, it’s a radical concept for a few people just waking up from the 1970’s that are still under the delusion that life is a free ride and governments were established for the sole purpose of enabling their poor lifestyle habits. For the rest of us, a job enables us to create the financial means we need to meet the basic needs of our family. If we are smart enough not to spend every penny that comes in and instead put a little away consistently for our future, then down the road 40 or 50 years when our bodies don’t have as much steam left in them, we’ll have something to financially sustain us (I know, another amazing concept!).

 

Where most people get hung up is during the middle stage of our life, when our lifestyles and focus gets off track. Perhaps I should back up here. If you are a Christ follower, someone that isn’t a mere hearer of the Word (The Bible), but is a doer of the Word (James 1:22), then our focus is supposed to be one that is constantly looking for ways to share God’s love with others. Our lifestyle is supposed to emulate that of Jesus while he walked the earth. Too many people get the job, start the life they envisioned for themselves by trying to keep up with the Jones next door, and completely forget their primary purpose of being on this planet, which is to live a life that emulates Christ. Instead, they seek only to satisfy their own desires, wants, and needs, and give little to no regard to those living all around them. Of course, it’s not always a complete disregard for others or one-upping our neighbors that gets us into financial trouble. Often it’s simply doing things out of order, like buying those clothes, that plasma HDTV, or going to that nice private school, without really having the money to pay for them. We use debt instead of cash to support the lifestyle(s) we want even though we don’t have the tangible, financial means to do so. Then months, or years, later we wake up to the realization that we are drowning in our financial river of mistakes and we need help!

 

Is there any help for us whenever we find we need it? Is God really interested in helping us get out of our own financial messes? I’ll explore the answer to this in my next post.

 

(Here are the links to a few other posts related to this topic including “My Flag is Higher” and “A Spending Culture“)

 

Faith & Finances Dialogue

The following was my response to comment made to a post from several months back that I thought would be good to revisit. Click here to see the original post of Financial Faith: By Faith.

You are correct that basic provision for needs is different from financial prosperity, and it is also relative to where in the world you abide and work and worship. For instance, in many third-world nations you’d be considered very financially prosperous if you owned a vehicle to drive or if you had twice the average SF’s of farmland to work with. In nations such as America, Canada, or many European countries, financial prosperity often is gauged by the “surplus” that you mentioned. It isn’t the numerical amount that defines prosperity, but the portion in comparison to your needs.

“Needs”, as you defined them, would be limited to items that are only needed for survival. You could also use the word “necessities” to illustrate the point that depending on your geography in the world will greatly determine what your necessities are. For instance, a nomad living in the Sarah Desert has little need for heat, but has a great need for water, while a family living on a river in Siberia has less of a need for water, but a great need for heat. Is the person in Siberia praying for heat just as important to God as the nomad praying for water in the desert? Are the necessities of a family living in a country of great abundance and opportunity any less important to God than a family living in a desolate and war-torn land?

According to scripture they are one in the same regardless of their geographical position or the implied “needs” they desired met. “I have received full payment and even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus” (Ph. 4:18-19, NIV). In this passage Paul writes that he received more than he needs required, and that the gift was pleasing to the Lord. It goes on to say that the Lord will supply ALL of our needs. The scriptures show us time and time again that God is looking at the heart of the giver and the receiver and weighs the motives of each, and based on the heart and motives He sees comes the reward.

Finally, the issue of focusing on the needs of others over our own is constant message throughout scripture. All true Christ followers should be looking for ways each day to help those less fortunate than ourselves. God even says that we are to be “give generously” to those in need (Deut. 15:7-11, NIV). So if God’s people are blessed in numerous ways including financially, doesn’t it stand to reason that we are in a better position to be the type of generous giver that God expects us to be? And if God expects us to be generous givers to those in need doesn’t it line up with His Word to be blessed with all of our needs met and living in a position to be a blessing to those in need all around us?

I’ll leave the discussion with this point to think on. Christ looks at the heart of all individuals to determine who He can trust with spiritual and physical gifts alike, and because of this, He is the best judge to determine into whose lives a surplus of financial blessing will best be utilized for His eternal good. That being the case, I’ll continue to live in such a way that He would count me trustworthy of that blessing, and to equip me with the wisdom in how to give generously each day.