Tell the rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God who piles on all the riches we could ever manage–to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. 1 Timothy 6:17-18 The Message
“The Christian who has the ability to … fast from all extravagance, and practice simplicity in his dress, his home and his whole manner of life, is, therefore, rendering good service to society.”
Oscar Hardman in The Ideas of Asceticism (New York: MacMillan, 1924) 211-12.