Looking down on "materialistic" folk.

I recently wrote about my personal life choices concerning minimalism, use of money, materialism, etc. I was just thinking about it and I wanted to point out a few pitfalls of following this lifestyle. First and foremost is the temptation to feel better than others because we have "chosen a higher path." Its a bunch of hogwash. Labeling any path as higher or lower requires evaluating them, and I don't believe any human is qualified to do such a thing, only God. So I want to let everyone know, at least for me, that just because I choose not to spend money on nicer things and stick to the basics is not a judgement on your choices. I choose not to do those things because I see them as distractions and the more I allow myself to partake of those blessings the less clearly I can see Christ. So I value minimalism almost to the point of asceticism. Which is another temptation. Someone like me who has chosen a path of minimalism also has a tendency to want to withdraw completely from the world. I know I have from time to time wondered what it would be like to be a monk. I've also considered doing one of those 1 month as a monk opportunities, because then I wouldn't have to deal with the world! But its wrong to withdraw from the world because that is why Christians are still here on Earth rather than taken away from it as soon as they're saved. I would not be fulfilling my purpose in life by running away from the world. So those are the two things I fairly constantly keep in mind, not judging people for their lifestyle choices and not running away from my responsibilities as a Christian. Its a balancing act that is getting easier with time, but I hope it never gets too easy.

For His Glorious Name,
Jason

Afterthought: Perhaps my choice of the words "lifestyle choices" wasn't the best choice since those words within our culture carry some other connotations and maybe you thought of them immediately while reading those words. So let me clarify. I am only speaking concerning the use of resources, specifically money, in order to gain material wealth and for lack of a better term, "stuff". I am however not saying I approve of lifestyle choices such as are clearly sinful in the Bible such as homosexuality, murder, thievery, etc.