I’ve often been frustrated about the amount of misguided spirituality in organizational books (mostly from Eastern mysticism), and was asking "Why can’t they just leave the junk out of these books?" I recently realized it was because these authors know that clutter is a spiritual issue. Now I’m not about to recommend that you start looking into how your stuff channels or blocks energies in your room (quite the contrary I say run away from such mystical ideas that are at best meaningless and at worst demonic). I do want you to think about how the stuff in your life makes a difference in your worship.

When I say clutter is a spiritual issue, I do not mean that having less stuff makes a person spiritually superior, nor do I mean having an abundance of stuff shows that God favors us more than those with few, if any, possessions. Our stuff displays what is in our hearts, and items can either help or hinder our relationship with God and others.

Clutter is a Hindrance

While specific items may be useful, when they become clutter, they hinder us.

Clutter Gets in the Way

Clutter can physically get in the way. It may need to be moved every time you search for something, like your car keys or your Bible. My first semester of college, my roommate had so much stuff I occasionally had to dig a pathway to my closet. A pile of stuff between a parent and a toddler makes it hard to react to potential dangers (not to mention the potential dangers of the pile itself).

It can get in the way of relationships with people. That roommate and I were never "friends." While other differences mean we probably wouldn’t have ever become close, the piles of junk in our room meant that I spent as much time away from our room as I could. Even if clutter doesn’t make us physically remove ourselves from opportunity for relationship, clutter can be a source of frustration between family members. Arguments can happen because the clutter is unsightly or in the way of tasks. I’m not saying clutter justifies treating a family member without love, but why not prevent temptation to quarrel by getting rid of your own clutter? (I’m still learning that it is impossible to make others get rid of their clutter, so I should add try not to let other’s clutter irritate you.)

Clutter Creates Distractions

How easy is it for you to pray when you can see piles that require action? I’ve heard clutter described as unmade decisions. I don’t think that describes all clutter, but procrastinating on decisions certainly contributes to clutter. I find that visual representations of things to do (clothing to fold, papers to file, stuff to put away), distract me from tasks at hand or people who are present. Activities that clutter our schedules can distract us from more important activities, like taking moments to thank God for each day he gives us.

Clutter Hinders Hospitality

You know that roommate situation I mentioned earlier, do you know how many of my friends visited my room that semester? About two, and they both lived in my hall. I know there have been times when I’ve been embarrassed to have people over because of my stuff. Other times, when I’ve known people are coming, I spend time trying to clean up clutter when I could have been using that time to get some food prep done, so I end up spending time in the kitchen that I could have been spending with my guests.

On the flip side, I find that I relax more when I’m visiting someone who doesn’t have visually obvious clutter than when I’m visiting someone who does. I love visiting my older brothers and their wives in part because their living rooms seem so open. I do not want that to discourage you if your living room has more than a piano, some seating and an end table or two. I have been a guest a place or two where I felt extremely uncomfortable because of the clutter (nervous about not bumping stuff, cramped in a vehicle with stuff all over the back seat, or just feeling suffocated and trapped by so much stuff), but in general I am more likely to notice a lack of clutter than I am to notice clutter.

Clutter Hinders Mobility

The excess stuff in our lives hinders our freedom to "go" wherever God would have us go. The thought of dealing with all our belongings while we, God willing, move to Canada for the summer is a bit daunting to me. In the past, the thought of moving for a summer has stopped us from seriously considering similar opportunities.

How much more is our stuff a snare to those contemplating moving overseas longterm? If God called you to go as a missionary to Africa, how long would it take you to sort through all your belongings and decide what to take, what to get rid of, and what (if anything) to store? Perhaps clutter doesn’t just delay you from going, perhaps thinking about all your belongings keeps you from hearing a call to missions at all.

Clutter is a Symptom

While clutter may be a problem, it isn’t the ultimate problem. Behind clutter there is a deeper problem.

Love of Stuff

Do you love your stuff more than you love God or your family members? When toddlers fight with each other over a toy, it is easy to observe that they care more about the toy than they care for each other (and it might not even be the specific toy, just that it is a toy that they want). As adults, we might not throw tantrums to show that we don’t want to share, but do we cling to stuff even if we know it is hurting our relationships? Are you unwilling to part with clutter, even though it isn’t improving anything about your life, because you love owning stuff, whatever it may be, too much? Are you buying stuff you don’t need to medicate your pain?

Fear

Sometimes, clutter can be a symptom of fear. Are you constantly holding onto items because you might need them someday? Are you concerned about getting rid of things you might be able to lose if times got tough? If so, you probably doubt God’s ability to provide for you.

Perhaps you are afraid of disposing of documents. Maybe you feel like shredding papers and recycling them puts you at risk for identity theft. Perhaps you are concerned that if you don’t keep every financial piece of paper (bills, receipts, bank statements, pay stubs, etc.), you will be investigated by the IRS or harassed by creditors. I’m not going to offer advice as to what you should and should not keep, but if you feel paranoid about paper, the issue is bigger than the pile on top of your file cabinet.

Clutter can also show fear if you are using clutter as an excuse. Perhaps you are afraid of leading a small group at church, so you allow your living room to be cluttered as an excuse for not hosting. Maybe you are afraid to launch a business, so you hide behind a cluttered home office.

Some Solutions

Go for Treasure

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. — Matthew 6:19-21

Recognize that you won’t always own your stuff. It might break. Someone might steal it. Even perfect preservation and security systems won’t let you keep your stuff when you die. Instead of pursuing more and more stuff, or even just better stuff, go for eternal rewards. Invest in people instead of knick-knacks. Spend time praying instead of shopping.

Be Generous

Generosity is a good inoculation against greed and hoarding. Being generous with your money shows that you value God and others more than the stuff you can buy. Considerate gifting of items can have similar results. Instead of keeping an item that may be useful to you someday, why not find someone who can use it now? Perhaps you enjoy owning/using a particular item (like a book), but you know someone who would enjoy it even more than you; consider giving an item and share the enjoyment.

Count the Cost

Stores don’t advertise the entire cost of an item on the price tag. I’m not just talking about sales tax. The financial cost not only includes how much money you pay the store, but it also includes opportunity cost- what you could be doing if you weren’t buying an item. This doesn’t mean don’t buy anything, but be radical in considering your purchases. You could use a camera to glorify God by displaying the wonder of creation and showing the needs of individuals, but that same money could also be used to buy a water buffalo for someone in India. You could purchase a new book that would be spiritually edifying, or you could plant trees in Kenya. I am not saying you shouldn’t buy books or cameras, in fact those are just things I’ve been thinking about purchasing in the last week.

Cost also includes time and space. Do you really want to spend time polishing silver? Before you buy something, think about how you have to clean it. How much energy would you spend protecting children from getting hurt around it (or it from getting hurt around children)? Where would you put it- and what can’t you own or do because it is in that space.

In the materialistic society in which we live, clutter will probably always creep into our lives. That doesn’t mean we should just accept it, especially when it hinders us from doing good.

Related:

I recommend Noel Piper’s "Digging out of Chaos — LIES!."