Today a good friend asked in a Tweet what
luxury is he asks, “define luxury?$2 a day? $4?” He responded to a Clement of
Alexandra quote I posted, “It is monstrous for one to live in luxury, while
many are in want”.

This is obviously an immensely complicated
question and I believe the reason why it is so difficult is because there are
so many factors that determine a truthful answer.  So without trying to be prescriptive, let me describe some
of the elements I feel are needed to answer that question.

• 1.    
  If we want to define luxury it
  is really helpful to explore that question with other people.  I (and I think you) have an amazing ability
  to rationalize our luxuries into necessities.  In the last few years I’ve kept an informal “rationalization
  journal” in which I write my rationalizations down. To give you an example, I
  am about to upgrade my phone and I’m seriously considering an Iphone.  My reasons are ….  So I write those reasons down and
  discuss it with people who know me. 
  Having other people speak into our lives help a lot.
• 2.    
  BUT.  When you have people of more-or-less the same socio-economic
  level in a church/group you will find that the rationalizations are the
  same.  Our creative ways of moving
  luxuries into necessities are not that many.  So I recommend having the luxury chat with people who are
  not in your socio-economic subculture. 
  This is tough, I know. 
  Sometimes by just having people who are poor(er) in your house, the
  rationalizations get challenged. So in order to truthfully answer the luxury
  question become friends with poor people.
• 3.    
  Have a yearly chat as a family
  about a standard of living that you feel comfortable about.  Pray over it and study the Bible with
  your budget in mind.  Become so
  comfortable about this ‘holy cow’ that you won’t mind sharing the details of
  your budget with trusted friends.
• 4.    
  Go through your house and look
  at items that are taking up closet space. 
  Those luxury items that have become such a luxurious item that you never
  use it (like that beautiful china set or the golf clubs signed by).  Give it away or sell it and then give
  the money away.  By walking through
  our house and noting the excess, we engage with the luxuries of your life.
• 5.    
   Another way to determine if something is a real necessity is by
  abstaining from it and seeing if you can still function.

Defining
luxuries in our lives are definitely not clear-cut or easy … but well worth to
explore.  The idea is to take the
extra resources spent on luxuries …. and give it away.