Spititual Hoardem

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Luke 6:45

Watching an episode of a hoarder's home being cleansed is as oddly satisfying as watching a successful blackhead extraction. We enjoy the mess. More than that, we enjoy witnessing the mess in process of being cleansed and the final result of a well-ordered home or a fresh face with cleared pores. Jordan Peterson has made a huge impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of men by noting this fact well. “Clean your room.” Simple advice, yes, but behind this is a reason that suggests by taking care of the smaller irresponsibility in your life you will be able to address those larger causes of suffering. He also speaks of what a messy room communicates. The mess in a hoarder’s home is not just a compilation of “I’ll get to that later” piles of clothes or stack of papers on your desk. There is a deeper issue. The problem of the messy house is symptomatic of an unorganized and undisciplined mind. Of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Getting your room or house in order is not a trivial thing in Scripture. If your overseer or aspiring elder has a house that is in disarray he is not living up to his qualifications (1 Tim. 3:4). A pastor who has a home that fits the description of a sluggard’s abode is not one a congregation needs as an exemplary model of the outcome of living faith.

  

I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.
Proverbs 24:30–34

“Oh, but he knows so much about the Bible.” Perhaps he does but would you prefer a knowledgeable and disciplined mechanic or “knowledgeable” mechanic whose notes are a jumbled mess of names, parts, and phone numbers with no reference to what they are supposed to go on? Or, would you rather have a physician whose small office is nice and tidy and is known in the community to do great work or a physician who has a wall full of degrees but just ‘happens’ to always need to clean up that little bit of blood on your seat, can’t ever find his stethoscope, has wet tongue depressors on the counter along with a collection of unmarked urine samples? The choice seems pretty obvious. Why, then, would anyone tolerate an aspiring pastor’s, or an officed pastor’s, mess of life as something not to get too worried about? No, he doesn’t need a white shirt, shaved head and an earring, nor does he need to have the most modern amenities to be considered orderly but he should display a normative example of living well within his means. You want a wise pastor. Wisdom is the art of living well.

  

To be a hoarder, Spiritually, is to feed on milk without growth. As James says, it is like a man looking into a mirror intently and afterwards forgetting what he looked like. Having a self-controlled and disciplined life is living out the fruit of the Spirit. It is no trivial matter as persistence in a lack of self-control and discipline demonstrate what is within the heart and mind. Jordan is right and it’s no wonder men are following him in droves. They need a father to tell them “clean your room.” I cannot advise a young man to follow the teachings of Peterson but we had better pay attention what might be lacking in our own. Son, weed out the nettles and quit taking undeserved rests. You know you aren’t to be found meddling and being idle when your master comes so get to work, put things in order. Start with something attainable like your bathroom and move on from there. You’ll feel good because obedience produces joy. Anyone who believes the Christian mind is at just as much peace and joy while being disobedient as when obedient is only fooling themselves. Making steps in obedience will include tidying up. We should know this well. God created an orderly world and he commanded man to have dominion over the world. The law teaches us this as well. “Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled” (Deut. 22:9). Indeed, we understand this to be fulfilled in not loving the world while also claiming our allegiance to the King. So too can we understand the inefficiency, in the least, of a farmer mixing his row crops in the same bins or not having rows at all but rather fields of soy, oats, corn, wheat, hemp, and prairie grass all mixed together. The amount of extra work the farmer would need to put forth to separate, store, and profit from his labor is the difference between being a farmer next year and not, provided he can’t just accept subsidies. Perhaps we know this best when we consider how we handle money. We are not above the principles of the law. The man with a disorderly home is not qualified to bring order to the church. Since the congregation is to have elders whom they are able to follow in their way of life, and orderliness is one such qualification for the elder, there is no individual freed from putting on self-control and discipline. If there be any form of aspiring to greater maturity we must handle well the little given to us at the front.

  

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
Luke 16:10

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