Jesus once said, "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." At its core, this is what it means to live in Christian simplicity; it is to have one pure, undiluted desire to live in relationship with our Creator. If this simplicity of heart increasingly becomes the description of our lives, it will naturally manifest itself as a transformed view of our material things, our schedules, and our giving, as we lay aside anything that might hinder our one true passion of knowing Jesus.
It is only when we live in simplicity, relating to God out of a pure heart, that material things will find their proper place in our lives. Though most Christians today may not overtly desire wealth, rare is the Christian who would turn down material goods if they were offered! Yet in the early church, wealth was considered a burden to the owner, dangerous to his well being and a threat to his soul. Though poverty certainly presents challenges of its own, we recognize the unique challenges and burdens that the abundance of wealth can cause in its own right. To this end, we commit to thanking God for both the presence and absence of His material blessing in our lives, recognizing that He is able to work in us regardless of our financial situation. We reject materialism and consumerism in all its forms, recognizing that they are incompatible with the call of our Leader to lose our life for His sake (Mk 8:35). For those of us who have been blessed with much, this will naturally force us to make some difficult decisions with regards to money and material things.
Similarly, when pursuing Christ is the singular focus of our life, our schedules will naturally become simplified as well. There is no denying that wealth and busyness are linked; for the more wealth we possess, the more things we can do with our time! This common "affliction of affluence" is a particular enemy to the spiritual life and could not have been far from Jesus' mind when He said "it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mt 19:24). As a community, we recognize that an overscheduled lifestyle is incompatible with the call of Jesus. Naturally, this too will require difficult decisions regarding our own activities and our children's as well if we are to truly pursue Jesus with all of our hearts.
Further, if we are truly living in simplicity, we will naturally become more generous as well. For the person who has a single desire to live for Jesus, he will naturally view his possessions not for his good alone, but for the good of the entire community as well. This carefree unconcern towards one's one possessions, a hallmark of Christian simplicity, cannot be characterized by mere tithing alone. For this reason, COAH chooses not to stress the tithe as our standard of giving, but emphasizes the far more radical, cheerful generosity that is advocated by the New Testament (2 Cor 9). In accordance with this model, we agree that giving should not be done under compulsion, but should be done cheerfully and joyfully in an effort to meet the needs of others.
As a community, we agree to seek simplicity of life and heart, committing ourselves to this pursuit and agreeing to hold one another accountable to do the same. May God help us truly realize this simplicity and purity of heart together.
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