But 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.
John Piper dropped the hammer on me today with his comments on this passage:
Christians can be and ought to be content with the simple necessities of life. I'll mention three reasons why simplicity is possible and good. First, because when you have God near you and for you, you don't need extra money or extra things to give you peace and security. Hebrews 13:5,6 says, Keep your life free from the love of money. Be content with what you have. For he has said, 'I will never fail you nor forsake you." Hence we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid; what can man do to me?"' No matter which way the market is moving, God is always better than gold. Therefore by God's help we can be content with the simple necessities of life.Read the whole message here.
Second, we can be content with the necessities of life because the deepest, most satisfying delights God gives us through creation are free gifts from nature and loving relationships with people. After your basic needs are met money begins to diminish your capacity for these pleasures rather than increase them. Buying things contributes absolutely nothing to the heart's capacity for joy. There is a deep difference between the temporary thrill of a new toy and a homecoming hug from a devoted friend. Who do you think has the deepest most satisfying joy in life, the man who pays $100 for a fortieth floor suite downtown and spends his evening in the half-lit, smoke filled lounge impressing strange women with ten dollar cocktails, or the man who chooses the Motel 6 by a vacant lot of sunflowers and spends his evening watching the sunset and writing a love letter to his wife?
Third, we should be content with the simple necessities of life because we could invest the extra that we make for what really counts. Three billion people today are outside Jesus Christ. Two-thirds of those do not have a viable Christian witness in their culture. If they are to hear—and Christ commands that they hear - cross-cultural missionaries will have to be sent and paid for. All the wealth needed to send this new army of good news ambassadors is in the American church. If we, like Paul, are content with the simple necessities of life, thousands of dollars at Bethlehem and millions of dollars in the Baptist General Conference and hundreds of millions of dollars in the Protestant church would be released to take the gospel to the frontiers. And the revolution of joy and freedom it would cause at home would be the best local witness imaginable. The Biblical call is that you can and ought to be content with the simple necessities of life. Therefore, don't try to get rich.
1 comment:
I enjoyed these thoughts from Piper. However, I have often put relationships in the category of things which can be counted a loss for the sake of the gospel. the example of the two man who will obviously experiences satisfying joy is the one who writes a letter to his wife. However, relationships such as these are not promised. they aren't what brings us joy in life.... it's ultimately our satisfaction in God. and..I know Piper wasn't saying that those in loving relationships experience God's loving kindness...but I just wanted to comment that....these type of thoughts are often pushed around in Chistian circles so those unmarried or not in dating relationships feel like they won't experience as much joy in life as those married and with families. i think those are lies...and drain joy from the heart of young people. but take my words lightly as they are written after a sudden end to a relationship. those are my thoughts.
Post a Comment