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Choose to Be Content

One of the characteristics shared by many in our world today is discontent.  Ironically, it is not primarily those who live in poverty who are most afflicted with this condition, but those among the most affluent of the world’s population.  I confess that I fall into this latter group and it is often hard to see this characteristic in our culture.  It all seems so normal, so natural, so right.  What we fail to notice is that we are in the minority when we look at the global context.  What is normal to us, is abnormal to most.  What is natural to us, is alien to most.  What is right to us, is wrong to most.

We have bought into several lies which have allowed us to justify ourselves in the face of clear injustice.  Here are three big ones:
•    If I work for what I have, it is my right to spend it on myself.
•    My life would be better if I had more.
•    I deserve more.
If you’re offended by my suggesting that those are lies, it is most likely because you have bought into them.  They have become truth for you.  That is a luxury you enjoy because you live in a relativistic culture where even lies can be embraced as truth when it suits us.

I challenge these ideas because they run counter to God’s design for His human creation.  Ephesians 4:28 speaks specifically to thieves, but contains a broader application: “He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.”  Notice that the purpose of the former thief getting a job is not so that he’ll have money to spend on himself, but so that he’ll have money to share with those in need.  How conscious are you of God’s call to share.

In Luke 12:15 Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”  According to Jesus, your life would not be better if you had more.  1 Timothy 6:9 goes even further when it says that “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.”  Sounds a lot like the credit card spiral that many are spinning down.  

The idea that we deserve more is knocked out of the circle of truth by Jesus’ interaction with the one often referred to as “the rich young ruler” as recorded in Matthew 19.  Though he had faithfully kept God’s law since he was a child, he still sensed a spiritual need in his life and asked Jesus about it.  Jesus’ response to him was: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." (v 21)  Here was one who stood out from the crowd, a spiritual man with a strong work ethic, a man of influence in his community, a deserving man if ever there was one.  Yet Jesus told him to get rid of his possessions because they were in the way of his being able to receive the spiritual riches Jesus wanted to give him.

Contemporary marketing techniques thrive on perpetuating these very lies, and others.  The strongest influence most of us face every day is advertising.  It is not our loved ones, our friends, not even a strong personal philosophy which rehearse regularly to ourselves.  It is the blatant message that we must buy, buy, buy.  Buy because others will look up to you if you have the best and the latest.  Buy because it will give your life significance.  Buy because you deserve to have the newest, the biggest, the best.

As Christians living in an environment which promotes discontent, we need to choose to be content.  We need to, as William Shakespeare put it, “screw our courage to the sticking place.”  (Macbeth I:VII)  We will have to square our shoulders, stiffen our spines, secure our stance, and resolve with all we have to resist the barrage of influence which calls us to desert the biblical view of wealth and possessions and content ourselves with what we have.  

To reinforce biblical values, we’ll need to remind ourselves of them frequently, so here are a few passages in which to marinate your mind before you go to the mall.  Paul wrote to his concerned friends in Philippi who had sent him some financial support, “I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it.  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”  (Philippians 4:10-13 NIV)

On another occasion, writing to his young friend and protégé, Timothy, he explained:  “Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”  (1 Timothy 6:6-10 NIV)

Another Bible writer had this inspired advice to pass on to his readers.   “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’  So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’”  (Heb 13:5-6 NIV)

The key to this challenge is to have less and enjoy it more.  Choose to avoid exposing yourself unnecessarily to marketing materials.  Choose to wait before making purchases.  The bigger the purchase, the longer you should wait.  Choose to simply say no to appealing but unnecessary stuff, which will soon be relegated to storage.  Choose to give away the things that are cluttering up your life.  Let me finish with this simple truth, if we are going to please God, we must choose to be content.