Needs and Wants

I remember when I was still in my teens, I used to watch many Reality TV Shows. Of course, these shows were much simpler back then. But the concept was very much the same; it was all about getting money by doing something. One of the most memorable ones that I remember is a show called “Supermarket Sweep” where the participants pick up points by answering questions related to supermarket items. The final round to determine the winner was where they dash through the supermarket and put as many items of value as they can into the trolley in a given time. The person with the most points wins the game and the prize money. There were many other shows of course – Wheel of Fortune, Tic Tac Dough etc – shows where people want to win money or prizes. It is certainly no different from what we have today, only the stake is much higher. What people want has increased significantly.

For me, I believe it is just a matter of needs and wants. Everyone has their own needs and wants, nothing wrong with that. Personally I think it’s quite healthy to have needs and wants, otherwise our lives will be quite meaningless. The question is – how do we differentiate between need and want? Where is the line between these two categories? When does a need become a want or vice versa? In the material world we live in today, these two words often interchange and the distinction is very often blurred by the mass media.

I remember about a year ago, my sister asked my nephew what he wanted for Christmas. Frankly I was quite taken aback when I heard the answer; he wanted a game boy (an electronic game gadget) which costs something like RM300 – RM400. And when my niece saw it, she wanted it too! And now both of them has one each and plays it very often. Imagine, children who are just 6 to 7 years old wanting things which we may never want for ourselves. What the modern generation wants is so much different from what we ourselves would have wanted when we were their age. To be honest, I don’t think I had ever wanted or demanded anything when I was that age.

We live in a world of “I want…” The list of “I want…” never ends. We continue to want things, designer clothes, branded electronic stuff, the latest cell phone model, the fastest computer or laptop, nice big cars… the list is endless. And more often than not, the list will never end until the day we die. About 10 years back, there was a song from the movie soundtrack of “Army Daze” (Singapore movie about NS) entitled “Sophisticated Baby”. The lyrics go something like this “Sophisticated baby…(that’s me, that’s me) (I want, I want leh…) (an cua boi sai ah? – literally translated meaning why cannot ah?)” It basically talks about having branded stuff to look sophisticated and cool. And I think that that kind of culture or way of thinking is fast becoming or has already become something which is very real in our country, especially among the younger generations and the yuppies.

I can list down so many more examples of this “I want..” behaviour. The point is that almost everyone of us is guilty of this, one way or another (including me) We often confuse ourselves between what is needed and what is wanted. And sometimes, we don’t even want to know or think about the distinction. Because when we start to think about the difference, we may begin to change our outlook in live. And very often, that entails a change in our lifestyle. Then again, we may not want to change; we choose to ignore our thoughts because it complicates our life.

Do we ever wonder why we have so many needs and wants in our life? I think we can safely assume that the need is important and without it, life would be difficult. These needs would include food, shelter, money and any other things which we deem necessary in order to live a normal life. This is what we call basic needs. Of course, the concept of basic needs has long expanded, what was necessary for minimal living ten years ago would be quite insufficient today. Our needs are dictated by our survival but our wants are dictated by our ego.

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us not to worry about the things in our life. (cf Mt 6:25-34) Again, I’m not saying that we should not have any wants. Wants are perfectly normal but how much we want is the determining factor. There are many people in this world who would forsake their faith or neglect God in the pursuit of what they want.

“Seek ye first…” again this phrase comes in. We do not realise that by neglecting our faith and seeking worldly gains, we are only cheating ourselves. When we learn to seek the will of God and His righteousness, He will grant us many blessings that are always much more than what we can dare to think of! Having material goods and wealth will not make us happy or contented. Even if it does, it will eventually dry up. By seeking God’s kingdom first, “…all other things will be added unto you”, it may not be wealth, fame or honour but peace, happiness, love, joy and little simple things in life and it is these that make our lives complete, whole and worth living.

We read of how King Solomon asked for wisdom instead of riches, what would we have asked for if we were him? ( cf 1 Kgs 3:5-14) Solomon knew that he needed wisdom to govern his people, and because he asked what was pleasing to God, God gave him even more than what he asked for. This is what it by the verse “seek ye first”. If we constantly seek what is pleasing to God, he, in return, will give us much more than we can ever want or imagine. Money and wealth is important but the one thing I have personally learnt throughout my life is that it does not necessarily bring happiness. Money certainly can’t buy us love. And if God were to really ask us of what we want from him, how many of us will actually ask of what we need?

At the end of 1992, local singer/song writer Eric Moo wrote a song titled “hong chen lai qu yi chan meng” (loosely translated – the riches of the world comes and goes like a dream) which tells of the emptiness of the material world. It says that the material the coming and passing of the material world is just a dream and empty. If someone who is not a Christian can write something so profound, then so much more we should be able to see through the illusion of material wealth.

To conclude I’d like to draw upon the words of St Paul to Timothy

“Religion, of course, does bring large profits, but only to those who are content with what they have. We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it, but as long as we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that.

People who long to be rich are a prey to trial; they get trapped into all sorts of foolish and harmful ambitions which plunge people into ruin and destruction. The love of money is the root of all evils and there are some, who, pursuing it, have wandered away from the faith and so given their souls any number of fatal wounds. (cf 1Tim 6:10-12)