The Antidote to Materialism and Worry

The Antidote to Materialism and Worry

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Jesus, Matthew 6:33–34)

Jesus ends His teaching about seeking security in material things with a couple of concluding directives. The first is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” This is the antidote to the materialism that so easily plagues our lives. Caring too much about this life reveals a lack of focus on heaven. The Scriptures, in contrast, teach Christians to set their minds on heaven, and speak of us pilgrims in this world, not permanent residents (cf. Col. 3:2; I Pet. 2:11). As one hymn-writer aptly put it:

This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through

My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue

The angels beckon me from heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Much of Christianity in America seems to lose sight of this perspective, probably because of the abundance of material wealth we enjoy all around us. But our stay in this world is temporary, and as Jesus has already shown, the truly wise long-term investment plan is to lay up treasures in heaven. If we seek God’s kingdom above all else, knowing Him and sharing His truth and love with others, then we have no need to worry about anything else. He’ll take of meeting our needs as we take care of seeking Him and His righteousness.

            Jesus’ second directive is “do not worry about tomorrow.” A common trait of people who struggle with anxiety is fortune-telling—that is, predicting what may happen and believing it to be true. Reneau Peurifoy writes, “Essentially, fortune-telling is the confusion of a possibility with a probability” (Peurifoy, 113). Perhaps you have caught yourself thinking, “I just know this is going to turn out bad,” or “I’ll never be able to do this.” Jesus addresses the tendency to get ahead of ourselves, when our focus should be on the present. His common sense argument is that “Each day has enough trouble of its own” for us to be concerned about (Matt. 6:34, NIV). Why worry about the future (which we cannot control) when there is enough to deal with in the present (which we can influence)? So seek God’s kingdom and righteousness above all else in the present, and do not worry (or begin fortune-telling) about the future.

            Ultimately, worry is just a form of meditating on the wrong things, and so the apostle Paul advises:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:6–9, NIV)

If we diligently work on keeping our hearts and minds in the right place, we can be freed from the materialism and anxiety that is so rampant in our culture.

Works Cited:

Albert E. Brumley, “This World Is Not My Home,” © 1936. Renewed 1964 Albert E. Brumley And Sons (Admin. by ClearBox Rights, LLC)

Reneau Z. Peurifoy, M.A., M.F.T., Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic (New York: Warner Books, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2005).

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version.  Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.