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A recent report from the PwC consultancy on the sharing economy claims that 77% of people born around the turn of the millennium, value experiences rather than things. But according to another survey published last week 20% of their parents would rather they were wealthy than happy.

In the sharing economy, younger people are stimulating a global market in letting out and renting their own rooms, their cars, even their clothes. The industry now valued at £10b is predicted to increase to £225b in the next decade.

Frankly, stories presented as selfless morality from idealistic youngsters can feel a bit unsettling for the over forties. It’s far easier to dismiss it as the pragmatism of kids who can’t afford a proper holiday on a student loan, rather than a reminder of the idealism we have now left behind.

So why are they doing this? Some will be saving money by renting or letting out their possessions. But the report also appears to suggest that beyond the profitability and pragmatic, other beliefs and values are driving this development.

But it’s probably also unnerving because any kind of sharing can highlight our resistance to other people who bring their needs into our personal ‘no fly zones.’

Over time, the invasion of our own emotional space threatens the likelihood of sharing material things.
I recognised similar personal feelings last Sunday as I sat in a church service in the US, just a stone’s throw from the Boston Marathon starting line.

Disarmingly funny, and devastatingly challenging, the preacher reminded us from the New Testament book of Acts, that the new Christian community, motivated by the idea of Christ’s immanent return, sold personal property, sharing ‘everything in common’.

I have always found this text uncomfortable.

As a Christian, the shared community in the book of Acts has a way of shaking up my ossified attitudes to other people who demand a ‘time share’ in my personal space.

But I think for all of us, it is worth the effort. No one is an island. And in any case, the story of Acts tells us that God is as concerned about how we share our lives as our material things.

Even so, the new sharing economy could be a good place to start.

First broadcast 22 April 2015

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