Wanting Things

It seems in life there should be some balance between lustful materialism and totally austere anti-materialism. After all, we need things to live, perhaps not as much as we have, but we still need things. The balance probably falls somewhere between never being satisfied with what you have and being satisfied with having nothing.

Morally speaking, I have done some soul searching and don't think that I have an unhealthy appetite for More and Better. I may be delusional, but when I want something, it is, most often, a something that will equip me to do another something, i.e., a tool of some kind. There have been other times when I realize the "tools" I have at present are so shoddily poor that I want to improve on what I have to hopefully improve my output. Generally, I am just happy if I have something that works.

I was having a discussion with Dale the other day. He asked me something that alluded to whether my wish list still had a bass guitar of some kind on it. I told him that since I had gotten the Lakland, I stopped looking at guitars. I told him that was sort of like marrying the right woman: when you find her, you know you've found her and you stop looking.

I recently purchased a new amp: a Gallien-Krueger MB-115. It is a 200-watt combo with one 15-inch speaker and a switchable horn (for high freqs). I played through one at Guitar Center a few months ago and loved its sound. I have barely used it, so I don't really have a good opinion, but I like it so far. Having this amplifier will hopefully mean that I stop looking at amps, too.

The gnostic notion that all material is bad and that we are spirits trapped in an evil, material world is silly and I don't hold to that at all.  However, I do believe that there is Christian teaching that counters materialism. It centers on the notion that God is our provider, that he both created and sustains life. When we think that we exist because of our own ingenuity and due to our own wits, we are deluded. Granted, we have responsibilities, but we make a grave mistake when we believe that we are self-made men. Since God is our provider and since he is sovereign over all things and since he is omniscient and knows all things, then he knows what we need and will provide for all our needs "according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).  He also provides us with the skills, gifts and the raw materials to do our own work, so ultimately nothing we do is of ourselves. By wanting more and more, we are saying that we are dissatisfied with God's provision. We are saying that we know better what it is we need than He does.

Truthfully, I didn't need either a Lakland 55-01 or a Gallien-Krueger MB-115. There are a lot of things in my life that are there, not out of necessity or need, but because they make life a little more enjoyable. I don't believe that life should be austere and that there is no room for pleasure and enjoyment. I just believe that in the midst of my consumption of the material bounty often found in this life, I should be both thankful and content: thankful to the Provider, and content that what he has provided is good enough.