Scarcity & Abundance

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Scarcity & Abundance

Greg Attwells – Creative Pastor

Consumerism and scarcity are 2 sides of the same coin. Consumerism says, “what I have isn’t good enough…. I need more.” Scarcity says, “there simply isn’t enough to go round so I need to store and save up more for myself”.

There is another coin. One side is thanksgiving and the other side is abundance. Thanksgiving says, “I’m so grateful for what I have… I am blessed!.” Abundance says, “You can have mine…. there is enough to go around”.

At the moment, much of our Christianity buys and sells with the first coin. We constantly compare ourselves with and covet the “more” that others possess. We can never truly celebrate and be thankful for what we already have because we honestly believe we need more. More money… more time…. more people…. more things.

Why do we believe this? I think it’s because underneath our consumerist desires we have the mentality of scarcity. We believe that there isn’t enough to go round and what we have today won’t be enough for tomorrow.

When I read through the Scriptures, and especially when I look at the life and ministry of Jesus, I see a God that believes there is enough to go around. After being thankful for the loaves and fishes he had, Jesus feeds thousands with more to spare.

I see a God that not only provides daily bread…. He saves His best wine until last.

I believe that having a mentality of abundance is the only way we can truly see the glory of God in what we already have. It’s the only way we can protect ourselves from becoming consumed by our insatiable desire for more.

Tithing, giving God the first fruits of my income, actually displaces the mentality of scarcity and consumerism with a kingdom mentality of abundance and thanksgiving. It declares… “I’m so grateful for what I have and I believe with all my heart that when God is involved, there is always enough to go around.”