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Secrets of the Kingdom Life  /  Chapter 36: Does this Mean no Possessions  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
Bercot’s “first step” is to stop accumulating and then he gives practical steps (avoid catalogs/media, limit shopping, lists, cash over credit, buy fewer features, give away goods, invite the poor, find a church where being poor is a virtue); which of these practices feels most threatening to your current lifestyle, and what would obedience cost you socially, relationally, or in perceived “security”?
Another way to ask: Bercot suggests steps like stopping buying so much, avoiding ads, limiting shopping, using lists and cash, buying simpler things, giving away stuff, welcoming the poor, and finding a church that honors simplicity. Which step scares you the most, and what would obeying it cost you in friendships, family, or your sense of security?

Direct Answer Bercot’s practices aim to break the habits that feed dissatisfaction and accumulation, replacing them with contentment, restraint, and deliberate generosity. The transcript doesn’t name which practice will threaten any specific reader most, but it implies obedience will cost comfort, social “keeping up,” and the feeling of security that comes from owning more.

Support from Transcript:

  • His “first step” is blunt: “Stop accumulating more possessions. Stop thinking about new things to purchase.”
  • He targets desire-shaping inputs: “Stop reading catalogs, advertisements, and magazines…Stop exposing yourself to anything…that tends to make you dissatisfied.”
  • He gives disciplined spending habits: “Limit recreational shopping,” shop with a list, and “stick to it…This will keep you from impulse buying.”
  • He warns against false security/debt: “If you don’t have the money…don’t buy it,” and prefer “cash” over credit because people “spend more” with cards.
  • He calls for downsizing and giving: “Physically dispose yourself of as many things as possible…give to a poorer brother or sister.”
  • Social/community cost is implied: find a church where “it’s a virtue to be poor,” not “keeping up with the Jones,” and invite “the poor…the maimed…the lame…the blind,” who won’t make you “materially envious.”
Discussion Follow-ups Which step would most disrupt your routines or reputation? What fears come up—loss of comfort, status, or control—and how do those fears reveal what your heart calls “security”?

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