Fearless Faith

Discovering plenty in scarcity

 

March 11, 2020



Some recent studies conclude that nearly one third of all landfill material is waste food and related organic material. It is not something most of us usually consider when preparing meals, or even while eating out. One contributing factor is the fact that most of us have never experienced significant hunger or starvation. If we had, then we would be more aware of the need to waste less.

We live in one of the most robust food-producing economies in the world, and we are accustomed to market shelves full to overflowing. Who can blame us? The diversity of agricultural goods available to us is second to none, and many parts of the country are unmatched worldwide for their quality and production. A recent visit to a popular Michigan fresh food market was notable for the variety of produce available, even in the middle of winter months. The store was the poster child for healthy fresh produce and effective marketing.

With world population approaching ten billion by 2050, production concerns are often pointed out as some of the most pressing of many upcoming challenges. Less often mentioned is the fact that the increase in food demand could be nearly satisfied by focusing on implementing drastic reductions in food waste. What was first observed as a scarcity concern is more a question of managing plenty. That burden, however, does not rest solely on the individual. While consumer food waste represents a significant percentage of overall food waste, the greatest percentage loss is found in the production and processing arenas.

How often do we imagine solutions for ‘church’ to be single focus solutions containing only a small sampling of possible outcomes? To think broadly and envision other possibilities is hard when habits are deeply ingrained in our church-going psyche. We frequently identify scarcity as a major factor affecting various traditional church concerns, quickly pointing out a paucity of church goers, church givers, church resources and church leadership.

Could it be that there is more plenty that scarcity, and that we just don’t see it? Isaiah 55:8 reminds us that there is a different way of approaching life that is not simply an immovable norm. “’My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.’” (Is 55:8, NLT) Perhaps it is time to take our stubbornness and pre-conceived notions and set them aside for a time. What might we learn if we listened to God’s leading instead of our own? Would we encounter plenty or scarcity? How would that impact the directions we take?

Writer Wayne Dyer suggests that “[T]he first step toward discarding a scarcity mentality involves giving thanks for everything that you have.” Thankfulness and gratitude open the door to new vision and new understanding of the difficulties we face, as well as how to tackle them. Working from a paradigm of abundance instead of insufficiency helps us recognize that there are more resources at hand than we can ever imagine.

Like many movements, Christianity could use a healthy dose of overabundance from time-to-time. But in the event that doesn’t work out, we’ll manage just fine with a measure of scarcity and some innovative thinking.

 

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