Trend Watch
January 1, 1997
The Complexity of Simplicity
The trend toward simpler living is taxing the church.
Bob and Linda Jones and their three kids once lived in an upscale neighborhood with two cars, large-screen tv, health club membership, two mortgages, and lots of credit card debt. They felt empty, stressed out. Then they read Your Money or Your Life. They paid off their credit cards and traded in both cars for one with a lower car payment. Bob cut his work hours, and Linda quit working outside the home. She is now home-schooling their children.
It's the simplicity trend. It's huge. It may well affect how you approach ministry.
Downshifting for control
The Joneses are part of a growing group of middle-class Americans voluntarily choosing a simpler life. Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute, predicts that by the year 2000, about 15 percent of baby boomers will embrace this lifestyle. He anticipates "a revolution of anti-materialism"; simplicity will be incorporated into all elements of society.
Both boomers and busters seem to be riding this trend, but for different reasons. Gary Preston, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Boulder, Colorado, finds that in his church "baby boomers are really wrestling with those issues," and the busters have already answered them.
Celente thinks boomers are making a voluntary choice toward a simpler lifestyle while busters are being forced into it. "They don't have the career opportunities the boomers had," he says. "Theirs is an 'involuntary voluntary' simplicity."
The result is "downshifting," a strategy of setting career limits to gain more control over family, money, time, and clutter. According to a survey conducted by Robert Half International, Inc., working parents are willing to cut ...
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