How Much is Enough?

Stuff Logo NewHow much is enough? The author of Proverbs 30 offers interesting reflection–“Two things I ask of you; do not deny them to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God” (Proverbs 30:8).

In other words, this obscure author (his name is Agur, son of Jakeh, but that’s about all I know) is crying out for enough. He doesn’t want too much because he knows that having great wealth tempts us into idolatry, assuming that one is no longer in need of anything or anyone including God. Likewise being caught in the cycle of abject poverty can lead one to a cynical place where mention of God’s goodness seems as believable as having a good night’s rest under an overpass.

C.S. Lewis describes Hell as a place in which one can have too much and not enough at the same time. In Hell you can have anything you can dream up. So, if I want a 100 inch big screen tv, I can have it. The problem is, the guy living next to me can have my tv too should he wish it. Eventually quarreling becomes so terrible that humanity becomes increasingly isolated. Stuff becomes our master. Hell is a place where we can have anything we want, but the stuff of which we dream leaves us lonely, isolated, and depressed. Of course . . . this is fiction . . . right?

How do I know if I have enough? The author of Proverbs 30 offers a clue. He begins by asking for God to “Remove far from me falsehood and lying.” In other words whether we have too much or whether we are in want, the point is to reflect truth: the truth that God makes it rain on the just and unjust, the truth that you cannot serve both God and money, the truth that valuing profit over people is far from God’s heart, the truth that the master invited the poor, the blind, and the lame to the table because the elite were too busy (Luke 14:21), the truth that Christ’s Resurrection changed the rules of the world and we are no longer slaves to the mammon of human hands.

How much is enough? When truth is proclaimed you will know.