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How Much is Enough? Hungering For God in an Affluent
In a world filled with both prosperity and poverty, how can Christians handle their finances in a way that honors God? In How Much Is Enough?, Arthur Simon takes an uncompromising look at America's wealth, reflecting what dominates the hearts and motivations of its people. He diagnoses Western civilization as sick with "affluenza," or runaway materialism, and shows readers how to reject the disease and set new priorities.
Churches, social ministry groups, and thoughtful readers will be enlightened by Simon's grasp of Western affluence against the backdrop of a world where 800 million people are chronically starving. Readers will gain a clearer understanding of how money becomes an object of worship when passion for material things is stronger than compassion for the poor. Simon's life-changing book also reveals how affluenza takes control of people's lives and goals.
Without discounting prosperity as a blessing, How Much Is Enough? proposes new pathways to living as disciples of Jesus. It suggests a myriad of solutions for taming materialism and sheds light on the profound reality that possessions may capture our hearts, but they are unable to nourish our souls.
Churches, social ministry groups, and thoughtful readers will be enlightened by Simon's grasp of Western affluence against the backdrop of a world where 800 million people are chronically starving. Readers will gain a clearer understanding of how money becomes an object of worship when passion for material things is stronger than compassion for the poor. Simon's life-changing book also reveals how affluenza takes control of people's lives and goals.
Without discounting prosperity as a blessing, How Much Is Enough? proposes new pathways to living as disciples of Jesus. It suggests a myriad of solutions for taming materialism and sheds light on the profound reality that possessions may capture our hearts, but they are unable to nourish our souls.
192 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2003
20 people are currently reading
173 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 26, 2008
i feel guilty giving this book 2 stars because it is about such an important topic, but i didn't really enjoy it much. i also feel guilty saying that the reason i didn't like it was that the author was a bit too preachy and never really delved into things -- he just brushed over vague contexts. why does that make me feel guilty? because this man founded bread for the world, which is an amazing organization working for hunger relief and connecting faith communities with justice through legislative work. perhaps simon should stick to that work...or perhaps i've heard many of these ideas before, just as most of you friends have, and i want something deeper, new ideas. as with all the other books i'm reading with my justfaith group, the discussions that stem from our reading are always good, so i'm appreciative of that at least.
February 11, 2017
A couple good lines. The theme should be : Love God, and your heart and mind will be on things that He loves and you'll want to seek His will. He touches on it a bit. But the rest of the book reads a little bit like we should try really hard in our flesh to be less selfish. And we know that won't get us anywhere. Also, I wish he had acknowledged that throwing money at an issue is not always going to solve it. He oversimplifies things and is a little harsh toward people who don't think about eradicating world poverty night and day. There are political factors and we are human, afterall. But of course, I have many issues with American Christianity and Americans in general, how we live and what we think we need. Our culture is so saturated with comforts, entertainment, etc. it's hard to even notice it anymore. Instead of comparing our lives with the richest rich we should constantly compare with people who have nothing--it's all about perspective.
July 2, 2019
While the first half of this book was clearly not directed at me as an individual, the latter half was precisely what I was hoping for when giving this a read. Great overview of a Christian analysis of the obligations consistent Christian will face in the way they choose to live their lives, particularly with a focus on what the can do, most effectively, for those who need it most.
January 25, 2010
Quite challenging.
March 28, 2010
Great book, could not put it down. Very easy to read. Really puts all your "stuff" in perspective, literally! If you're going shopping this weekend, buy this book!
May 10, 2012
A good kick in the ass for all materialistic Americans, but gets you thinking.
July 21, 2017
It says what needs to be said...and lived. Our current politicians are NOT helping, it IS up to the people.
This is THE best book on living a Christian life I have ever read in over 7 decades...currently, there is little such life in the US and the world. It is why our politics are so horrendously anti-human and mean-spirited.
As I was finishing this book, I started another book which dovetailed very neatly and a little more scholarly into this same topic...written by a rabbi. I ould suggest reading BOTH books, either in tandem or even concurrently. ["Putting God Second: How To Save Religion From Itself" by Rabbi Donniel Hartman. Boston: Beacon Press, 2016]
Both books are based on "the golden rule" which is perennial wisdom in almost all religions, not simply the 3 Abrahamic religions. It is the basis of a "good" life for all of us, yet we neglect it out of desire to have "more", never satisfied. Love others as you love God/yourself...what's so difficult to understand?
Too many Christians forget that, when we pray the Lord's Prayer, we only ask for our "daily bread"...we are not asking for multiple homes, cars, or bread for the next 40 years. We are announcing we believe that God will provide what we need when we need it...
This is THE best book on living a Christian life I have ever read in over 7 decades...currently, there is little such life in the US and the world. It is why our politics are so horrendously anti-human and mean-spirited.
As I was finishing this book, I started another book which dovetailed very neatly and a little more scholarly into this same topic...written by a rabbi. I ould suggest reading BOTH books, either in tandem or even concurrently. ["Putting God Second: How To Save Religion From Itself" by Rabbi Donniel Hartman. Boston: Beacon Press, 2016]
Both books are based on "the golden rule" which is perennial wisdom in almost all religions, not simply the 3 Abrahamic religions. It is the basis of a "good" life for all of us, yet we neglect it out of desire to have "more", never satisfied. Love others as you love God/yourself...what's so difficult to understand?
Too many Christians forget that, when we pray the Lord's Prayer, we only ask for our "daily bread"...we are not asking for multiple homes, cars, or bread for the next 40 years. We are announcing we believe that God will provide what we need when we need it...
June 3, 2013
Urgently, incessantly, Jesus drew people to God. Seek first the kingdom and righteousness of God, he said. For this we were made. Nothing else satisfies the longing of the heart. Nothing but the source of joy can give us joy. So Jesus invites us to follow him, to hunger and thirst for God and to feast on the goodness that comes from God alone.
Chapter 1 ."That Seductive Urge"
None of us is immune to the seduction of trying to slake what is really a spiritual thirst with things that money can buy, though doing so is like drinking saltwater from the sea. It turns immediate gratification into a life-threatening condition.
Chapter 2 ."Fat Wallets, Empty lives"
Hope in the resurrection has been one of the great strengths of the Christian movement, as well as a great weak- ness. Its strength lies in the way it has motivated and empowered people to do great good. Its weakness -our weakness -is the way it can be detached from love and reduced to a pre-occupation with our own personal destiny.
People who were well-situated financially and socially in
Jesus' day usually resisted him, and we, the affluent of today, may also resist the idea of losing control of what we have. It is a loss that will occur in any case at the moment of death. Perhaps that is why we cling so desperately to it. The resurrection, however, gives us reason to aim much higher.
The apostle Paul expressed alarm about Christians in Corinth who, in celebrating the Lord's Supper, stuck to customary class distinctions and ate and drank beyond enough, while poorer brothers and sisters went hungry -a remark- able snapshot of our world today.
Chapter 3 ."Hope and Purpose"
We are human beings, not human havings. God loves us for who we are, not what we have.
Chapter 5 ."The Poverty of Riches"
God must be delighted when children can go to school, prepare themselves for jobs and careers, be well nourished and clothed, and live in homes that are warm in the winter. Surely God wants us to make the individual and social effort necessary to maintain or to achieve such economic well-being for ourselves, our families, and others within the nation and throughout the world. Just as surely, God does not want us to bask in affluence while others starve.
Chapter 8 ."Faces of Affluence"
If keeping up the Joneses is chasing the wind, staying behind them is hardly a transcendent goal, either. Infinitely better to put our lives at God's disposal.
Chapter 9 ."How Much Is Enough?"
The six-year-old boy taken to an emergency room fol- lowing an accident was given a glass of milk. "How deep shall I drink?" he asked. He came from a very poor family in which something as precious as milk had to be shared with six brothers and sisters. Drinking too much would cheat others. So he asked, "How deep shall I drink?" It is a question for us as well. How deep shall we drink from the glass of prosperity?
Chapter 10 ."Living So That Others May Simply live"
What use is it to live a simplified life, volunteer at a food bank, and contribute money to relieve hunger, while doing nothing about public policies that lock people deeply into hunger? Is it sinful to waste money, but okay to waste influence that could bring far greater benefit to poor people? In his description of the great judgment Jesus did not say, "You killed the hungry, you cheated the naked, you assaulted the poor." He said in effect, "When I was hungry, thirsty, naked, and imprisoned, you ignored me. You passed by on the other side. " Neglect.
Chapter 11 ."Love and justice"
The heart will be filled. That is why Jesus asks us to hunger and thirst for the goodness of God. Doing so does not come naturally to us. On the contrary it is natural for us to follow our own desires. So we begin always by inviting God to enter a heart that is instinctively unreceptive.
Chapter 13 ."Filling the Heart with Something Better Than Cash"
The call of Jesus and his invitation to the kingdom is good news for everyone, but it goes to everyone on the same terms. Both rich and poor, devout and derelict, are called to repent, trust God with all their heart and let go of anything that imprisons them -money, pride, worry, hopelessness, whatever it may be. The rich are asked to hum~le themselves before God, the poor to believe they are exalted in Christ. And all of us to do both.
Chapter 14."The Meek Inherit the Earth"
Endorsement:
"This is one of the easiest books you will ever read-and one of the most difficult. Though there is not a word here that will be unintelligible to anyone, the challenge that Art Simon presents to every reader will leave you gasping for breath at times and at other times may prompt you to hurl the book across the room. Within the context of the United States of America at the beginning of the twenty-first century, this book may even strike some as a kind of obscenity-how dare he speak to us this way? It is, in fact, a sign of contradiction for our age, the very thing we don't want to know about, the only way that can bring us peace."
-Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Gifts of the Jews, and Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus
Chapter 1 ."That Seductive Urge"
None of us is immune to the seduction of trying to slake what is really a spiritual thirst with things that money can buy, though doing so is like drinking saltwater from the sea. It turns immediate gratification into a life-threatening condition.
Chapter 2 ."Fat Wallets, Empty lives"
Hope in the resurrection has been one of the great strengths of the Christian movement, as well as a great weak- ness. Its strength lies in the way it has motivated and empowered people to do great good. Its weakness -our weakness -is the way it can be detached from love and reduced to a pre-occupation with our own personal destiny.
People who were well-situated financially and socially in
Jesus' day usually resisted him, and we, the affluent of today, may also resist the idea of losing control of what we have. It is a loss that will occur in any case at the moment of death. Perhaps that is why we cling so desperately to it. The resurrection, however, gives us reason to aim much higher.
The apostle Paul expressed alarm about Christians in Corinth who, in celebrating the Lord's Supper, stuck to customary class distinctions and ate and drank beyond enough, while poorer brothers and sisters went hungry -a remark- able snapshot of our world today.
Chapter 3 ."Hope and Purpose"
We are human beings, not human havings. God loves us for who we are, not what we have.
Chapter 5 ."The Poverty of Riches"
God must be delighted when children can go to school, prepare themselves for jobs and careers, be well nourished and clothed, and live in homes that are warm in the winter. Surely God wants us to make the individual and social effort necessary to maintain or to achieve such economic well-being for ourselves, our families, and others within the nation and throughout the world. Just as surely, God does not want us to bask in affluence while others starve.
Chapter 8 ."Faces of Affluence"
If keeping up the Joneses is chasing the wind, staying behind them is hardly a transcendent goal, either. Infinitely better to put our lives at God's disposal.
Chapter 9 ."How Much Is Enough?"
The six-year-old boy taken to an emergency room fol- lowing an accident was given a glass of milk. "How deep shall I drink?" he asked. He came from a very poor family in which something as precious as milk had to be shared with six brothers and sisters. Drinking too much would cheat others. So he asked, "How deep shall I drink?" It is a question for us as well. How deep shall we drink from the glass of prosperity?
Chapter 10 ."Living So That Others May Simply live"
What use is it to live a simplified life, volunteer at a food bank, and contribute money to relieve hunger, while doing nothing about public policies that lock people deeply into hunger? Is it sinful to waste money, but okay to waste influence that could bring far greater benefit to poor people? In his description of the great judgment Jesus did not say, "You killed the hungry, you cheated the naked, you assaulted the poor." He said in effect, "When I was hungry, thirsty, naked, and imprisoned, you ignored me. You passed by on the other side. " Neglect.
Chapter 11 ."Love and justice"
The heart will be filled. That is why Jesus asks us to hunger and thirst for the goodness of God. Doing so does not come naturally to us. On the contrary it is natural for us to follow our own desires. So we begin always by inviting God to enter a heart that is instinctively unreceptive.
Chapter 13 ."Filling the Heart with Something Better Than Cash"
The call of Jesus and his invitation to the kingdom is good news for everyone, but it goes to everyone on the same terms. Both rich and poor, devout and derelict, are called to repent, trust God with all their heart and let go of anything that imprisons them -money, pride, worry, hopelessness, whatever it may be. The rich are asked to hum~le themselves before God, the poor to believe they are exalted in Christ. And all of us to do both.
Chapter 14."The Meek Inherit the Earth"
Endorsement:
"This is one of the easiest books you will ever read-and one of the most difficult. Though there is not a word here that will be unintelligible to anyone, the challenge that Art Simon presents to every reader will leave you gasping for breath at times and at other times may prompt you to hurl the book across the room. Within the context of the United States of America at the beginning of the twenty-first century, this book may even strike some as a kind of obscenity-how dare he speak to us this way? It is, in fact, a sign of contradiction for our age, the very thing we don't want to know about, the only way that can bring us peace."
-Thomas Cahill, author of How the Irish Saved Civilization, The Gifts of the Jews, and Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus
February 21, 2024
This read lacked the depth I hoped for but had some interesting points and perspectives from the author.
May 27, 2013
This delightful book offers a Christian perspective on simple living, environmentalism, and justice for the world's poor.
The book is highly readable, well-organized, and psychologically astute. The number one reason to live simply is that you and your family will be happier and enjoy life more. The number two reason is to do well by the environment, and the number three reason is to live within your means so that you can put more of your resources at God's disposal, perhaps through charitable contributions toward a more fair world. The key insight as that simple living is not austere, but joyful.
A funny story (paraphrased). One dog asks the other why he is fruitlessly chasing his tail. The second dog says, "I chase my tail, because, in my study of life, I have found that happiness resides in the tail." The first dog responds, "I, too, have studied life and discovered that happiness resides in my tail. If I first seek to go about my business, doing what I need to do, I find that my tail follows along of its own accord."
The book is highly readable, well-organized, and psychologically astute. The number one reason to live simply is that you and your family will be happier and enjoy life more. The number two reason is to do well by the environment, and the number three reason is to live within your means so that you can put more of your resources at God's disposal, perhaps through charitable contributions toward a more fair world. The key insight as that simple living is not austere, but joyful.
A funny story (paraphrased). One dog asks the other why he is fruitlessly chasing his tail. The second dog says, "I chase my tail, because, in my study of life, I have found that happiness resides in the tail." The first dog responds, "I, too, have studied life and discovered that happiness resides in my tail. If I first seek to go about my business, doing what I need to do, I find that my tail follows along of its own accord."
March 12, 2012
EXCELLENT book!
Anyone unsure of how to live in the world without being part of the world should strongly consider this book. I enjoy going to the store and buying useless things as much as the next guy, but in reality I don't need half the junk I buy.
The book covers the important things in life and how to re-discover the importance of what really matters.
*try going a day without electronics (it's harder than you think)
*enjoy a walk through the woods with your family and appreciate the beauty of nature.
*wake up and observe the way we treat each other on the road ... are we always kind?
*how often do you go shopping and walk by people without acknowledging them? They are human beings with gifts and talents too.
*how can you serve your community by bringing your gifts and talents to build a stronger community?
Anyone unsure of how to live in the world without being part of the world should strongly consider this book. I enjoy going to the store and buying useless things as much as the next guy, but in reality I don't need half the junk I buy.
The book covers the important things in life and how to re-discover the importance of what really matters.
*try going a day without electronics (it's harder than you think)
*enjoy a walk through the woods with your family and appreciate the beauty of nature.
*wake up and observe the way we treat each other on the road ... are we always kind?
*how often do you go shopping and walk by people without acknowledging them? They are human beings with gifts and talents too.
*how can you serve your community by bringing your gifts and talents to build a stronger community?
July 1, 2013
I had high hopes for this book. unfortunately, it didn't challenge me in the way I wanted to be challenged.
I went on a bread for the world retreat in Florida in 1983 and was inspired by it. I still have a long way to go.
I went on a bread for the world retreat in Florida in 1983 and was inspired by it. I still have a long way to go.
November 6, 2016
It is written from a Christian worldview and gives much food for thought. It's written well enough, being neither too simple nor too complicated. I like how it contrasts God and Mammon. I ended up highlighting several passages. I may read it again sometime.
June 11, 2007
don't remember it enough to rate it...
March 23, 2008
a little preach-y at first, but the ultimate message is good.
April 16, 2009
"What use is it to live a simplified life, volunteer at a food bank, and contribute money, while doing nothing about public policies that lock people deeply into hunger?"
May 29, 2012
AAAAHHHHHH!!!!! This book made me mad.
May 7, 2014
A little bit too simplistic for my taste.
June 26, 2013
Really makes you stop and think about what you have compared to what others don't have. An AHA book for me.
March 2, 2016
Challenging! Well rooted in Judeo-Christian ethics.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews