My fiancée and I have been enjoying a Netflix show called Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. In the show, Japanese tidying expert Marie Kondo helps her hapless clients figure out how to clean up their lives by getting rid of things that no longer give them joy. This system based on the idea of “sparking joy” is called KonMari. I cannot tell you why we enjoy this show so much, but were you to watch it, it would likely spark joy for you.
One of the things you can’t help notice is the latent eastern spiritualism throughout her process. At the beginning, she takes some time to kneel as if praying so she can “greet the house.” When going through items, she has her clients thank those that “no longer spark joy” for their service before discarding them. While not really intending any sort of religious worship, the religious roots of her process are evident.
The response of more fundamentalist Christians would likely be to shun the show like Trick or Treating or reading the NIV or drinking or other allegedly satanic practices. That would be a really dumb response; as the old joke goes, it’s no fun, has too much damn, and lacks mental. Marie clearly has no religious or existential intentions in her process. She just really likes cleaning up messes and does so in the context of her ancestral culture.
On the other hand, though, Marie Kondo illustrates the human tendency to worship the creature rather than the creator. As Romans 1:25 says:
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
What happens when depraved man rejects God is that he takes the glory, thanks, and worship due to the Lord and redirects it to mere objects. Marie illustrates this well. Rather than thanking God for the house and the great benefits he has given to families through the gift of a home, she greets the house. Rather than displaying gratitude to God for the abundance of items he’s given virtually every American, she thanks the individual items of clothing or crockery for their service. In short, she directs thankfulness that should be to the Creator to the creature instead.
On the other hand, Kondo’s show and her method of tidying remind us of our ingratitude to God in a way that should convict us. The families she works with are usually quite stunned to realize on her first visit that their home has been a good home for them, and that they should be thankful for it. They realize for the first time how much has been given to them and how thankful they should be.
Marie’s clients are much like us. I forget on a regular basis how much God has given to me. Most American Christians are so steeped in the consumeristic Western culture that what God has given them isn’t immediately apparent, so gratitude is lacking. Marie Kondo therefore gives us an opportunity to remember God’s kindness and provision. Watching Tidying Up with Marie Kondo is an opportunity to pause and thank God for all he has provided us with.
Citizens & Sons 