garethhenry.za.net

"Damn.. forgot the dip. Now I have to get up again."

In my previous adventure, searching for milk after hours, I concluded that supermarkets and 24 hour convenience stores don’t sell goods. They sell convenience.

The basic principle that was illustrated in my previous article when comparing milk prices was that the greater the convenience the greater the cost of an item. This got me thinking about the cost of convenience not just in the monetary sense but in general.

So much of our society revolves around convenience. In fact I would go as far as to say our society worships convenience. Convenience has so pervasively invaded our culture that we’re largely oblivious to it. I’m often surprised at how many financially struggling couples and individuals don’t do things like get milk from a dairy, or join up with a group of people to buy meat in bulk directly from a farmer, or attempt a veggie garden, or (God-forbid) not have a DSTV subscription. For Katherine and I, changing from a single income to a duel income would be extremely helpful, but it is a line we’re simply not prepared to cross (perhaps I can convince Katherine to co-write a blog entry with me about why we’re not prepared to cross it ). We’ve had to forego many conveniences and even so we currently find ourselves drowning in bills. Every other month we experiment with a new idea to save money. As I write this our pantry is stocked with preserves from our garden’s most recent harvest.

Convenience is well… convenient. But it costs. Especially when convenience becomes so pervasive that it creates a cultural standard of ‘get-just-what-you-want-when-you-want-it-just-like-you-want-it’. Of course I’m not just referring to the warehouses of cash that young people could be saving towards their dreams, homes, skills development and future pension plans just by making a few simple changes in how they buy their groceries and entertain themselves. I’m referring to the ripple-effect this has on life in general.

In particular here are some of the sobering thoughts rattling in the part of my brain situated somewhere between my what’s-for-lunch-cortex and my need-more-power-tools-longata:

Relational Cost: If a relationship stops being convenient we just chuck it away. Healthy enduring friendships, marriages and work interactions are not things we put work into. We don’t review our conflict resolution skills (if we even have any). It is very easy to adopt a ‘stuff-you’ attitude whenever someone confronts us on an issue.

Health Cost: If exercise is not convenient (and let’s face it… it’s not… especially if it’s not a natural talent and passion of yours) we just let our bodies go to waste. If cooking is not convenient we just get another round of takeaway’s that on its own can exceed our daily calorie requirements with very little, if any, of our nutritional requirements.

Mental Cost: Vegging on the couch in front of the TV is more convenient that engaging your spouse. TV is far more convenient than playing a board game, or doing an old fashion family sing-a-long (ok that might be awkward if none of you are musically inclined). It’s far easier to pay someone/something else to entertain our children without thinking about what values they/it might be imparting to them while we let our brains slip into a mindless stupor.

Political Cost: Even if we bother to vote it is most likely based on shallow perceptions/prejudices inherited from out parents or friends and not based on a solid convictions to vote for a party that stands for your values. You’re in this boat if you’ve never compared manifesto’s of different parties.

Future-leaders Cost: It’s inconvenient to teach your children to be critical thinkers and far more convenient to let them receive the sub-standard; one-size-fits-all government approved curriculum that seeks to create a lemming population that can be easily controlled and coerced into apathy. Lest I be accused of being racist let me clarify that I’m not only referring to the current education in South Africa but also specifically the education I received under apartheid and my pre OBE matric. That’s right, I believe my 1999 Matric certificate with exemption and all seven  subjects on HG was a 12 year waste of my time and potential.

Destiny Cost: Do we sacrifice and withhold instant gratification from ourselves to attain our dreams or do we become just another dissatisfied, grumpy desk jockey, slowly letting our souls die a little more each day? The kind of person who has a weekly TGIF mantra. If all you’re living for is Friday… then you’re not living.

Abundant Life Cost: This is the most important one if you’re a Christian. How you pursue God (or whatever it is that you worship) will greatly impact all of the above. Are you part of a convenient commercialised church that just peddles some conscience soothing words? Or perhaps you’re slightly better than that. You proudly boast that you’re part of an awesome bible preaching church that plants churches and has powerful outpourings of the spirit when the truth is you’re completely dependent on the words of a charismatic preacher, who has pre-chewed the revelation for you so that you only need to swallow without ever seeking after God yourself. Without testing what has been taught to you. Without taking any responsibility for your faith. Do you know lots about God without actually knowing or spending time with him? Maybe getting together with any believers on a regular basis is just not convenient for you and so you rely on a favourite spiritual website and you occasional debate spiritual things on some forums… when you FEEL LIKE IT.

Paul, the apostle, encourages us to move past the foundations of our faith. To get off “milk” and onto “solids”.  Yet so many Christians are unaware of the foundations that Paul lists. It would seem that much of the modern church relies on skimmed-skinny-soy-milk revelation fed to them by someone else that leaves them with a type of spiritual-anaemia and an inability to digest deep meaty chunks of revelation.

It’s not convenient having quiet times. It’s not convenient stilling yourself to wait upon God. It’s not convenient meditating on the hard truths. It’s not convenient having to look up the original Hebrew or Greek to try clarify an obscure cultural phrase whose meaning is lost in the English translation. It’s not convenient having to change your position on something controversial when your personal view is different from what God is telling you. It’s not convenient having to forgive someone who has wronged you. It’s not convenient being the primary servant in your household (i.e. the bible’s version of being a husband).

When we live for and only engage things that are convenient we start becoming self entitled. Life becomes about instant-gratification and this is extremely dangerous for a Christian. You see, a self-entitled convenience seeker ultimately is concerned only about what feels good in the moment. The book of proverbs puts it rather bluntly when it tells us that a backslider is bored with himself.

So what can we do to make sure we don’t become slaves to convenience?

Dealing with Ourselves

If you are someone who is fortunate enough to have iron will-power then I guess it’s a matter of identifying a few things you want to change and simply putting changes into action. For the rest of us mere mortals it’s a little more tricky.

My first step is to be honest with myself as I meditate on the potential above mentioned costs. I.e Am I happy with the state of relationships in my life? My health? My mental fixations when I relax? Political involvement? How my children are taught? Am I moving towards my ‘destiny’? Am I experiencing the kind of abundant life that Jesus talks about? Is my heart still desperately captivated and obsessed with God’s tangible presence? Are Jesus’ thoughts and words still honey to my lips? Do I still grow feint with love for God? Does my faith move me to action? Am I rebelling against my own indifference? Am I perpetually moved to speak out for the voiceless? Am I reaching people with the good news of what Jesus has done for them?

My answers to the above questions and others I’ve evaluated vary. My second step is to focus in on the ones I’m least happy about. In my case they’re not necessarily the ones that had the worst answers. It can be overwhelming to come up with a plan to change 23 aspects of your daily life. So I’m choosing just two.

1. To have at least 366 quiet times this year. After all there is nothing more exhilarating, nothing more breath taking and life changing than communing with the Father. In the past I’ve found that when my relationship with God is tight, then everything else seems to come together far better and with far less effort.
2. To work out at least 3 times a week. I’m seriously tired of weighing over 100kg’s. The belly must go and the abs must come forth. Physically fit people have better mental stamina and sleep better. Letting my body go out of shape in a sense is an insult to God’s craftsmanship.

My third and final step to aid in this endeavour is accountability. I’ve chosen a friend with whom I have regular contact with. Every time he has seen me this year he has asked ‘How are the quiet times?’ We are meeting 3 times a week at 5am (how’s that for inconvenient) to work out together. I’ve installed reminders on my tablet to aid with the quiet times and so far my wife is very pleased with the Gareth that better resembles the one she married.

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways

Helping the next generation

I need to make sure that my children don’t inherit entitlement attitudes due to any conveniences that are made available to them. I must make sure that when my children start managing their own budgets (which is hopefully before they start their careers) that they are taught not to fall for clever marketing slogans. I must help them understand frugal alternatives. Even if it introduces some inconvenience back into my life to take them shopping at a farmers market… or helping them with their first veggie garden. I say this because children do what you do, not what you say. I must make sure they understand what are the luxury items in our household.

If in the future we end up being a well-off family where Jude can get a new pair of puma’s every six months I must make sure that he understands that it is a privilege and not a right. I must model good stewardship in my own drinking and eating habits. They must see me constantly blessing and affirming Katherine whenever she does something that I’m quite capable of doing for myself. I must indeed make sure that they see me doing those same things for her. They must see me putting conflict resolution above my own preferences. They must see me dropping my activities at a moments notice to help them. In me they must see a father who allows himself to be ravaged by the love of the Father.

At the end of my life I don’t want any area of my life to be a reflection of the couch potato image at the top of this post. I want to know that I’ve done a good job at cultivating every aspect of my life.

What will your next steps be? I’ve got my plan, have you got yours?

"No thanks, I don't need seconds"

Scriptures that come to mind

Hebrews 5:12 – ¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, (ESV)

Hebrews 6:1-2 –  ¹ Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,^[a] and of faith in God, ² instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (NIV )

Hebrews 12:11 – ¹¹ For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (ESV)

Proverbs 13:4 – The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. (ESV)

Proverbs 14:14 – ¹⁴ The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways. (ESV) – or -  The backslider gets bored with himself; the godly man’s life is exciting (TLB)

Proverbs 25:28 – A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. (ESV)

Matthew 23:11-12 – ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (ESV)

Epehesians 5:25 – ²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (ESV)

Psalm 119:15 - I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways (ESV)