Storage Woes

Do you know how many self-storage facilities there are in the United States? 48,500 – We have more storage facilities, typically 2.5 to 5 acres of storage space each, than we have Walgreens. In fact, we have more storage facilities than we have Walgreens and Starbucks, combined. We have more storage facilities than we have Walgreens, Starbucks, and McDonalds, combined. And that’s still not enough. We have more storage facilities than we have Walgreens, Starbucks, McDonalds, and Dollar Trees combined (there are about 15,000 of Dollar Trees, so that gives us a big bump, but we are still about 2,000 short…so if we combine ALL of the Walgreens, Starbucks, McDonalds, Dollar Trees, and Target stores in the country, we would almost have as many stores as we have storage facilities.

There are more than 7 square feet of storage space already built for you…and with almost 90% occupancy rates in self-storage, if you don’t have a storage unit, someone is in your space! One in 10 households rents storage space, but it’s not the apartment dwellers who rent most often. 67% live in single-family homes, only 27% live in apartments. You know why? Because the more stuff you have, the more stuff you keep.

In the early 90’s there was a popular commercial that began with a cute baby on her blanket, sitting on the floor and the words, “From the day I was born, I started collecting stuff.” Then after a lifetime of collecting – getting married, and having kids – the question comes, “What are we going to do with all this stuff?” Fortunately, in the commercial Rubbermaid came to the rescue and made their stuff so unstuffed they started thinking, “Hey we need more stuff!”

We Americans have so much stuff, we have turned it into reality TV. Storage Wars, Hoarders, and now enter KonMari, the popular Netflix show “Tidying Up” and the question has become, “Does this bring you joy?” If not, don’t store it.

The problem is not the stuff. The problem is the focus – From the day I was born, I started collecting stuff; Does this bring me joy?

In the parable Jesus told, the rich asks himself “What shall I do?“ I have nowhere to store my crops. The weather had cooperated. His hard work had paid off. The harvest was a bumper crop. “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build bigger barns. I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”

From the day he was born, we can just imagine, the rich man started collecting stuff. It brought him joy. So, why did God call him a fool? The answer is so important that Jesus gives us the answer twice, once before he tells the parable and again at the end of the parable. “Beware of greed, for a person’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” “Tonight you die, then these things you have stored, whose will they be? This is how it is for those who store up treasures for themselves.”

The problem is not that the man is rich. The problem is not that he had a bumper crop. The problem is not that he is going to build barns large enough to store the crop. The problem is that he is living for himself. He asks himself, “What shall I do? With my crops, my barns, my grain, my goods.” His goal in life was to store enough to enjoy himself. The problem is that his goal in life was to store enough to enjoy himself. His dream was to get ahead enough to sit back and relax; to eat, drink, and be merry.

But that’s not God’s dream for any of us. “You fool” says God. “When you die, what good will your life have been? Who will have been changed because you lived? What is your legacy? Are you rich in treasures laid up or rich toward God?”

And what does it mean to be rich toward God? It means to hold each of our possessions and wonder, “How can I use this for God?” To be “rich toward God” is to realize that our riches are from God. Everything that brings us joy is a gift from God; abundance is a blessing to be shared.

Being rich toward God means dreaming of how the abundance in his barns would help his community when there was a season of drought. Being rich toward God means holding our possessions and asking “Does this bring me joy?” and finding the answer is not all about me, that the joy comes in sharing, in relationships, in giving.

“Be aware,” says Jesus. “Watch out. The worth of your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions; it lies in being rich toward God.”