Keep Repeating – A Lexus SC is Just a Car
theophilus October 22nd, 2007
Should we constantly remind ourselves that a house is just a house and a car is just a car? When should we legitimately want more and better material goods and when should we be content with what we have?
I often ponder these questions as I look around our home. We intended to be here about 7 years and we are coming up on year #8. And the thing is, we are happy with our home. It isn’t as big and have as many bells and whistles as the home I thought we would own by now. But, the things is – we are very happy and content here. The same goes for my car. It’s nice, dependable, comfortable – but not state-of-the-art. But, I’m happy with it. I still find myself drooling over that Lexus SC, but nevertheless I am content with my car.
My inner discussions concerning my material goods came to mind when I read in yesterday’s Cincinnati Enquirer a front-page article about the high number of home foreclosures in the Greater Cincinnati area. The article especially notes the large number of high-priced homes.
What especially struck me was the front page photo of one of the houses that has recently foreclosed. The house was bought by Wells Fargo in foreclosure for $420,000 and is now listed at $510,000. When it was foreclosed, the owners owed three-quarters of a million dollars ($746,639) on their home. The amount was so high because they took out a 30-year adjustable rate mortgage and the adjustable interest rate had risen to 13%. When interest rates were low, adjustable rate mortgages (ARM’s) were popular because one could qualify for a bigger house than with a conventional mortgage. Now that interest rates are higher, those with these ARM’s are suffering big-time.
Now, we don’t know the circumstances of this or any other foreclosure. It could be a divorce, illness, layoff, lost business (many of those facing foreclosure were in the real estate business in some capacity). But, I figure a good number of the foreclosures were for folks that over-reached in their pursuit of what they believed should be the American Dream – a big house, a great car, a vacation home, season tickets, etc.
In reading today’s gospel (Luke 12), we are given a parable about the rich man who kept storing up his increasing riches. Christ then teaches us that after the rich man boasted - “I shall say to myself, ‘Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!’” - God warned him – “‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?’ Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”
Don’t get me wrong – I believe deeply in our capitalist system, that we are the great nation we are because of our economic and political system. I believe we are a great asset to the world because of what we offer economically and politically. I also believe you can have riches and still enter the Kingdom of God. I believe you can be both rich in a temporal sense and an eternal sense.
But, at what point is enough enough? At what point, do we overreach in a material sense?
If we are not overextended financially and are taking care of our charitable responsibilities, material consumption isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, dollars spent on a material good flow through to feed the owners and employees of the retailers, wholesalers, suppliers, and manufacturers of the product. I think we often forget that there are jobs associated with material consumption.
However, if we are overextending ourselves or ignoring the needs of others, then we’ve reached the point that Christ is trying to warn against in today’s gospel. We’re attempting to store up riches regardless of whether our “riches” are an illusion or whether we neglect the simple fact that we can’t take anything with us.
And, maybe it’s just too easy for me right now to express these sentiments because, quite frankly, our children are young and we cannot afford a bigger house or a bigger car. We live a nice, comfortable life – better than 95% of the world – and we are very grateful to God for what he has given to us. If and when, my salary gets bigger, our net worth increases, and our familial obligations stabilize, I might be tempted to think differently. But, for now, I’m just glad I can have this conversation with God so that in the event he so blesses us with increased riches, we are prepared to make the right choices.
I guess I hope that I can always look at any home as just a home and any car as just a car - and be content and happy with whatever goods God blesses us with in a material sense.
And I guess that I just hope that I’m never faced with a mortgage that is a quarter-of-a-million dollars more than what my house is worth. WOW!!
Photo: “Le Chateau de Vaux le Vicomte”, Eric Pouhier, May 2006, License
