This is the first of three posts on why I think the standard of living for your area is the right benchmark for humble living. 

As we consider what a humble lifestyle should look like from a budgetary standpoint, you will inevitably come to realize that humble is a subjective term. If I live humbly I will not stand out in a crowd.  But which crowd are we talking about?  People that make as much as me?  My fellow citizens on the whole?  The rich?  A poor immigrant community?  My general area?  We have to pick a crowd. 

I argue that in our society there is no need for anyone to live much above the standard of living for their general area – that is our “crowd.”  Both because of the nature of our republic – there’s no nobility and peasantry – and because the standard of living is so comfortable already. This is the first time in history that any significant portion of any population isn’t just trying to survive. We have cars, electricity/gas for heat, light at the flip of a switch, cooking, and refrigeration. Grocery stores and Walmart on every corner. Safe roads that allow freedom to travel enormous distances at speed. In perspective, the divide between the lifestyles of the lower, middle, upper middle, and upper class are entirely artificial. There are expectations of lavish living among the rich (“if you’ve got the money” is a common phrase after all), but no actual need. This isn’t biblical times where you were wealthy or not. No forced divide in lifestyle exists, except in a very few cases (like heads of state).

Jesus calls us to love our neighbor as ourself.  And He even clarifies who our neighbor is – everyone!  This is why it’s important to first define what standard we will live by.  We have to know how to love ourself (define how we want to live) to know what to work for in the lives of others. 

Next up: why I think the standard of living isn’t too little.