Couple years ago, Minhee and I made one of the hardest decisions we’ve made thus far in our marriage and in our calling as parents.
In our hope to honor a conviction of the Holy Spirit to give up a year’s salary, we had begun the two year process of saving, selling, and simplifying in 2007. Our goal was to come up with our then year’s wages of $68,000 – in order to launch a movement called One Day’s Wages. With only a few months left to come up with the total sum, we were a bit short and decided to sublet our home for couple months and asked some friends if we could stay with them on their couches or their guest room.
“One Bag”
Needless to say, it was a very humbling time.
Our instruction for ourselves and our children were very simple:
Each person gets one carry-on bag for their belongings.
I still remember crying the night I told our kids of our plans. This wasn’t what I had signed up for; This was by far more difficult that I had imagined; I felt I had failed my wife and children. I felt like a deadbeat. A failure.
Had I known, there is no way in Hades I would have agreed to this conviction.
But as I look back now, I’m incredibly grateful for this experience. We simplified our lives; Sold off belongings we didn’t need. For about 2 years, we agreed as a family not to buy anything beyond our necessities. When we stayed with friends, we were reminded what was most essential in our lives:
It was right in front of us:
Our Faith and Hope in Christ.
My marriage.
My children.
My community.
In our 2500+ square feet home, it’s so easy to get lost in our stuff, our possessions, our rooms, our floors, our gadgets, our TV sets, our personal music listening devices, our tablets, our books, our whatevers, etc.
We can get so lost in our stuff that we forget – or take for granted – the most important things: relationships.
Now in our present day, I worry that the invaluable lessons we learned during our season of simplicity may be getting lost on us – again. As most of my readers know, I was on sabbatical recently. It’s something I treasure every three years and during my sabbatical, we usually leave Seattle and during our time away, we try to sublet our home – if we can find renters we trust. While it’s not something we particularly want to do, it’s an important source of income that allows us to travel without financial worries. But in order to sublet the home, we have to minimize and clean up the home…
Couple months ago (before we left for our 7000+ mile road trip), we couldn’t believe how much stuff we’ve accumulated since we gave up our fast of “not buying anything beyond essentials.” We couldn’t believe the stuff we’ve accumulated in our closets, our garage, our toyboxes, our offices, etc. And to be honest, the stuff we’ve accumulated in…our hearts.
And this is from a family that takes great “pride” in simple living!
The Story of Jesus
Again, I’m reminded of the great power in the story of Jesus. There are so many things that compel me about Jesus but one of them is what I call the story of “downward mobility.”
It completely contradicts the movement of upward mobility that is pervasive in our culture. We want to upgrade everything at every opportunity:
We want the bestest, the fastest, the strongest, the mightiest, the largest, the mostest, the most horse powerful-est, the beautiful-est, the most blazing CPU processer-est, and the list goes on and on…
Even as I’m typing this on my lethargically slow netbook, I want…I need…I lust…for the latest Macbook, ultrabook, superbook…
But I digress.
Upward mobility never stops. Because we go through this cycle constantly. And the powers to be know this.
The incarnation is the story of how Jesus humbled himself and chose not to exercise his divine rights and, instead, took on flesh and bone and to simultaneously assume full humanity– being fully God but also fully man. Born in a manger to simple commoners, he assumed a simple lifestyle as a carpenter and throughout his life, he owned nothing except the stuff he traveled with
It’s the story of downward mobility.
This is a lesson and a story we have to all get behind. This is the Jesus we have to get behind – not the Jesus of bling bling, the Jesus of total prosperity theology; a a Jesus of exclusivity and elitism; a Jesus of total health and prosperity, or the Jesus of “send $49 and we’ll mail you this special anointed cloth.”
It’s not to suggest that we have to adopt a lifestyle of poverty but rather…
A theology, praxis, and lifestyle of enough.
We have enough.
We are blessed and blessed immensely.
God has given us enough.
God is our enough.
I’m reminded of the wise words of G. K. Chesterton:
There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more & more. The other is to desire less.
So true. So true.
Perhaps, an easy and one (more) step we can take to grow in “our lifestyle of enough” is to simply give away our birthdays or to consider how we can creatively celebrate the Christmas season in parallel to Jesus’ model of downward mobility.
* originally posted on 8/24/11
EUGENE CHO 
Hi Eugene,
Thanks for sharing…we tend to think that the stuff we own, we are in control of it…when more often than not, they are in control of us.
When it comes to giving up things, I am always reminded that the rich should help the poor. One of Jesus’ criticism of the Pharisees was that the spiritual elites never lift up a finger to help those in need. The character of God is that He protects the poor and takes care of the needy.
Living in a North American lifestyle, we have all that we need at the tip of our fingertips. This is very abnormal as most of the world live with less than a dollar a day. To have running water and electricity is already a luxury that many people have no access to.
Thanks for the reminder. I too, have to learn to live a simpler lifestyle.
The second way of getting enough is so much cheaper! 🙂
Funny how much I enjoy the free things when I allow myself to thank God for them. Cool breeze on a hot day, a walk around the neighborhood, goofing around with my wife and daughter. I suspect God likes giving us these things to enjoy, and is disappointed when we chase after the expensive stuff.
Downward mobility. I like that.
Good point on the 2nd point. Better for the wallet!
Thanks again for you and Drea and the wonderful work campaign she put together for the Horn of Africa. Very cool!
remind me of a forced 100 Thing Challenge. thank you for sharing your story and thought, Eugene! love to get together with you in Seattle sometime for Pho and chat about life and ministry. you’re an inspiring dude!
let’s do it!
pho on me, bro.
Nice!
I’ve been going through something similar, but more in giving up my secular desires and worldly successes all the while having a foot in the door at a seminary. As an attorney and product designer with an insatiable desire to create things I started up a few businesses in the past 14 years. I’ve tasted morsels of succes, but also utter failures. Thank God for the failures. Besides, there are way too many things in this world; the world does not need another designer to develop things, at least not me. Now, that I’ve been humbled by God in so many ways I’ve recently made a commitment to attend seminary full-time, and focus on God and His work completely. I’ve no idea what kind of ministry He has planned for me, but I am excited and not worried at all. Full submission to God is liberating.
Eugene, I commend your (and your family’s) conviction and action!
Thanks for posting Eugene. Blessing on you and your family.
I thank you for your story. It has given me hope for us. When my dad died I cherished many things and received them. I am now at the point of selling or giving them away as we don’t need them.I would rather live in our home with the bare essentials and beable to help others in their needs instead of wanting for self. My husband babysit our two grandchildren 5 days a week for 10 hrs a day and by looking around we will beable to show them that is better to give to others you don’t have anything and trust Jesus for or needs. God Bless
I am working toward desiring less, thank you for this post.
Thank you…
Twice in my adult life I moved from a large house to a work-in- progress. The first time a family health battle kept us from collecting our belongings right away. When the truck finally arrived five years later, I couldn’t even remember where some of the “stuff” that was so important came from. This time I’m going on three years (new marriage and new place to live) and wonder what on earth that monthly storage check is actually paying for!
(Not that we’re living simple…I wish it was that spiritual.)
Thanks for helping us think about this important issues…our income, health, wealth, wardrobe, etc that gets between us and recognizing our need for God in every way.
Thanks for this, Al. Hope to see you more at Quest as well…
We were lead to a very conscious decision some years ago to make seeking fulfillment/service our journey. We then had a bigger house (and mortgage) than we needed so we downsized, smaller house smaller mortgage and less ‘stuff’. Then downsized once again, then no mortgage and we now we rent, two bedrooms and what our landlord calls a cottage. Big yard and we grow some of our own veg. But it is all we need. We own very little actually but are able to help some people along the way.
I don’t suggest everyone should be the same but I can say we feel a lot happier to be out of the consumer driven rat race. We still probably have more than we need but we work at it. We are on a very fixed income…actually I have never made less money in my life but I got very fed up with the myth of upward mobility. How much is enough, we have to figure that out for ourselves but I am more convinced than ever that less contributes to so much more.
Eugene,
This summer I lived in Central America for three months through an internship with Duke Divinity School and the Evangelical Methodist Church of El Salvador. After living out of a suitcase during that time with local families, growing daily in relationships with the people around me, and coming home to all my “stuff” this post echos all of my thoughts exactly – except you put it alot more elegantly.
Thank you for sharing your heart.
Thanks for the comment. Sometimes, I just have to pause that how I live isn’t actually…normal.
Mr. Cho,
I enjoyed your article. I find it hard to strike the balance between enjoying what God has blessed us with whether it be material things, promotion, progress, etc. and with living humbly. I know God wants us to enjoy these things but he also wants all of our heart.
Sometimes things like this sound frustrating, complicated, and unfulfilling.
Do you think God calls certain people to live like this in certain seasons of life, and then gives them the grace to do it, or that this is the way we should all live out our commitment to Christ?
Thanks Justin.
As to your question, I don’t know. But I would hope that this and other stories would be more normative rather than the stories of opulence, extravagance, and living beyond our means.
Just look at the shows we have portrayed in the media. When was the last time there were consistent show about living in simplicity?
This is really touching and reminds me that we can go overboard in spending and what we really need to do is just the essentials and balance out basic needs compare to what we want. thanks for sharing your story blessings
It’s been more than two weeks since I read this stroy about ur family and I can’t stop thinking about it… it’s so easy to rationalize our way out of following Jesus through the hard times.
thanks for this post, eugene. i quoted you in my message this past sunday — thoughtful stuff.
brian: thanks for sharing it with your community.
Thanks for re-posting this truth.
Proverbs 30:7-9
“Two things I ask of you, LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
What? Man you’re fleecing the flock making $68000 per year and living in lavish luxury with a 2500 sq. ft home. Lord have mercy on your soul. The Old testament prophets would have something to say to you.
Nice.
I love this. What we think is a sacrifice in the beginning usually ends up as a blessing. God knows.
What a wonderful heart you have.
I saw a Facebook status a few days ago that said something like this ” Should I pay my bills or go shopping?” Of course out of all the responses only I mentioned that he should pay his bills, who in the world neglects bills to go shopping. Talk about messed up priorities in this material world..
Good word.
Merry Christmas!
This Statement is not as many understand it …The incarnation is the story of Jesus who gave up the glory of heaven to descend upon this world; He gave up total divinity to be consumed by flesh and bone and to simultaneously assume full humanity.
Jesus as He walked on this earth did indeed wear the clock of humanity with all it’s limitations but He was not of the seed of man which He confirmed Himself in saying that John the Baptist was the greatest man born of a woman, if Jesus had been born with the seed of mankind He would not have been able to say this as He himself would have been the greatest. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and from the time He was conceived was in close fellowship with The Father unlike Adam who was separated from God after the fall, it was on the cross that The Holy Spirit left Jesus when He took upon himself all our sin and so He was separated from the Father for the first time in His earthly life and He called out to The Father why have thou forsaken me.
Christian Love Anne
Followed your blog for a while. You’re a big show-off. Never really suffered that much. Way more people have sacrificed and served more without drawing so much attention to themselves.
From the comments above, it seems like this post was useful to many (and it was useful to me).
If only the single top sacrificer/sufferer/worker was allowed to say anything on the topic, the body would not be edified; we should all be contributing our small bits of learning and growth if we can, whether or not they’re the biggest/best/most-impressive.
(and those other two things, level-of-suffering and state-of-heart, really can’t be externally determined and judged based on blog posts. We know only the small shreds of the outside that we’ve personally seen. God knows, inside and out, and we will all be judged by him, and that is enough.)
Hi M,
Thanks for following my blog for so long. I appreciate that.
You are probably right. I am vain and pray for humility and steadfastness in my walk with God. And you are absolutely right that “way more people have sacrificed much and served more without drawing so much attention to themselves.” Praise God for these folks that do so much to build the Kingdom of God.
WOW! I am in absolute awe of our GOD & KING, He is so worthty of all our praise and offerings. I make it a habit to say to Him, “Never let me lose my awe of you Lord, may I always be in awe of You Lord”, and he hasn’t failed me yet. You my Brother are a trophy of Gods grace and I am honored to be an heir of His grace together with you. May the God Lord continue to graciously order thy steps and bless your efforts. I appreciate Rev.
And for the part about Hollywood Rev… I’m telling you, Lord we the anointed of God had better get to interceding for Hollywood, and that with fervency. As a matter of fact there was a recent panel discussion titled “monitoring Hollywood”, of which I as a fledgling writer had the fortunate oppurtunity to learn of while at a journalist meeting, this subsequent my article on gentrification being published in the Phila. Tribune, there were only three of us who showed, I was able to add few ideas of imput, unfortunately I was unable to make the panel meet, however, it is another issue that I regulary keep before the Lord which is what I expressed to the other two in attendence.