Abundance vs. Scarcity

Abundance vs. Scarcity

Which is better? Abundance or scarcity? We know which one we prefer. We would prefer to have enough with some left over. How much left over? Just a little bit more.

I’ve been exploring this theme in a couple different ways in my own study. One way was to read a book on “abundance” and another book on “scarcity” as it applies to one’s view of the future. The “abundance” author admits great challenges that lie ahead, but banks on the advances of technology to deal with those dangers. The “scarcity” author sees that every advance in technology brings with it not only opportunities for good, but also opportunities for evil, and thus sees the dangers exploding in the days ahead. These authors did not share their views from a faith perspective, and Christians, whether we tend to be “abundance” people or “scarcity” people, must remember that God is on the throne and that He has firm control of the outworking of history.

Another track I am studying is the language of abundance in the Bible. The abundance of God abounds, even in the Genesis 1, what with all the “teeming” and “swarming” and then the fulfillment of “be fruitful and multiply.” This planet and it’s people absolutely bloomed and blossomed. But there is also the abundance of the wicked. They are genius in concocting schemes for more and more evil. God, if not now, will in the end bring the abundance of the wicked to nothing, but also will bring even the poverty of the righteous to a state of blessing or abundance.

But my further question is how people behave under the contrasting states of abundance and scarcity. Many, perhaps most of us, have experienced some measure of both in our lives. This can be material abundance, or physical as it relates to health, and certainly spiritual. We find that, when experiencing abundance, it is easy to take things for granted, and to assume that because things are good now, they will be forever. When people face scarcity, they tend to learn to live with what they have, and they may in fact find more satisfaction in simple things, simple fixes, that give them greater pleasure because they had to figure it out for themselves. In his book, “Scarcity Brain,” Michael Easter says, “In the modern world, if we push back against our tendency to add—forcing ourselves to solve a problem with what we have—we’ll likely solve it better, more creatively and efficiently. Creativity and efficiency bloom under scarcity.”

But aside from creativity and efficiency, Easter also alludes to the other problem that we have in our prosperous society. When we facea problem, those accustomed to abundance simply add more. We add and we add and we add until we cannot fit the car in the garage and we are compelled to build more and bigger barns.

The accumulation of more does not lead to greater satisfaction, and is a perversion of the true meaning of abundance. It takes our eyes off God, the Giver of the best gifts, and seduces us to focus on stuff, junk. In a strange way, those with the most stuff may in fact have the least abundance.