For those of you new to Free Money Finance, I post on The Bible and Money every Sunday. Here's why.
The following is an excerpt from the book Christ-Centered Contentment. You can read part 1 of this series here.
Why is contentment in prosperity so difficult?
Though it seems completely irrational, the Bible teaches that it is more difficult to find contentment in prosperity than poverty. It’s utterly un-American, but scripture gives us several reasons for this occurrence.
- We have a hard time acknowledging that contentment comes from our heart not our tax-bracket. Logically, we can understand the instructions for the impoverished and destitute to find solace in submitting to some sort of inner peace with their life’s circumstances, and thus we call such submission “contentment”. Of course someone in poverty should learn to be “ok with what they have” because they don’t have much. But this philosophy doesn’t hold water when we see the prosperous plagued with discontent. I have a friend who went on a mission trip and was taken-back by the tremendous levels of poverty he witnessed. After a couple of days, he asked one of the locals involved in the ministry with which he was working: “How can you trust God when you have so little? I just don’t understand how you can trust the Lord when you are in such great need.” The person he asked responded: “Simple—I have too. What I don’t understand is how you trust God when you have everything you need.”
- We are tempted with the illusion that we don’t “need” God anymore. When we experience little to no physical need, we sometimes make the mistake of thinking we no longer have need of God:
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” (Rev. 3:17-19)
The greatest danger of prosperity is that we will say: “I have become wealthy and have need of nothing.” In this we must repent and seek to clothe our wretched, miserable, poor, naked, and blind body with garments of white. When we think that we have no need of God, it is quite obvious to see why His peace and assurance would elude our hearts. This is the reason why Jesus said: “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” (Luke 18:24)
- As more and more material goods surround us, we are tempted to search for life in them. Materialism, worldliness, and trust in riches are real dangers for prosperous believers. The Bible is full of warning in this regard. Jesus Himself said: “Not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15) When goods increase, we must actively fight against our sinful tendencies to define ourselves by our success, seek life in possessions, or trust in our riches instead of God.
- The more we have the more we want. Experience has shown the truth of this statement. Much like a drug addiction, our tolerance builds with consumption. The more we consume the more it takes to satisfy us. Like a spoiled child, nothing is ever enough. Only Christ can break this cycle and teach us the beauty of simplicity.
Prosperity is the world’s prescription for contentment: If you have x, y, and z, then of course you should be content. This paradigm simply doesn't work. We have all tried basing our contentment entirely on externals and found such a doctrine lacking. In a sense, many of us are living proof of this broken system. We achieved whatever level of lifestyle we sought, yet still faced disappointment, emptiness, and dissatisfaction. When we get what we thought we wanted and still find life lacking, we prove that it is impossible to define contentment apart from Christ.
Prosperity is not the pathway to contentment. The sooner we abandon this notion the better. We have to walk away from the world's idolization of affluence. Room remains for many of us to learn how to live in prosperity in a Christ-centered manner. We must be transformed. Then, we begin to approach affluence with contentment instead of consumption, generosity instead of greed, and humility instead of haughtiness. When Christians walk through prosperity with contentment, generosity, and humility, a case is made for the power of Christ working within them.
Conclusion: Third world contentment
After having spent a chapter exposing the reality of discontent in prosperity, I feel an excellent way to wrap things up is commenting on the contentment of those in great poverty. I have gone on a few mission trips to the poorest regions of Mexico. The people I worked with were in dire poverty—one room shacks made out of cardboard boxes and scrap wood, no running water, no electricity, and barely enough food to feed their children. I remember working with a family of five that all slept in the same bed. Exposure to the poverty of their lifestyle would have been lesson enough, but the Lord had a bomb to drop: their contentment.
The people I worked with in Mexico were the happiest, most appreciative, joyful, grateful, and heart-warming group with whom I have ever worked. I remember being astonished with their joy and good-hearted nature. I have heard countless stories with a comparable theme from other Christians who have traveled to similar nations.
Here I am a normal American—not rich, not poor—staring at heart wrenching poverty and thinking: “These people have something my life is missing.” In a sense, I looked at these people with a strange sense of jealousy. In their poverty they understood secrets that were, and to some extent still are, a mystery to me. I found myself hungry for a joy and gratitude that ran as deep as theirs. My daily life is spent with lavishness unimaginable to them, yet I am plagued with discontent, deserving, and a general aura of orneriness when things don’t go my way. There is a disconnect here—one God is still working on.
In conclusion: If contentment is found in prosperity, then Americans would be the most content people on the face of the earth. This is hardly the case. We must take on the unique challenges of affluence and steward our resources well, but let us lay aside the silly notion that wealth will satisfy our souls: “For not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
I have often marveled at the happiness some people have, and they have next to nothing. I often project how I think people must feel given their circumstances,but you are right. Quite often, those with the least have the most joy. The exception to this rule from what i have seen is the people that do not have much and they blame the world for their circumstances.
I read an article on another blog once about a young couple that went and bought a huge home when their current home was owned free and clear. I just though "I wonder what their next house will be like, because I am guessing that soon enough, this will no longer suffice". I wonder why our needs grow and grow? Maybe as we have more, we are exposed to more, and we just feel envy? I don't know.
Posted by: Everyday Tips | January 02, 2011 at 10:25 AM
There are exceptions to every rule and we seem to be one of them.
My wife and I are wealthy and have everything we could possibly need but our happiness has grown with every year. We have been married for 54 years and this was the 61st. Christmas that we have spent together. Our greatest hope is that there will be many more to come. The raging fires of youth have burned down into the glowing embers of a long and happy retirement and every age brings both its benefits and its problems, but even when one or the other of you may be losing some former capabilities, with love, devotion, and cooperation between the two of you, all the daily tasks can still all be accomplished. I wonder how many couples can look back after so many years together and truthfully say that they have no regrets in the decisions they made and the way their life has unfolded. For us, happiness is just being together and now, free of the need of going to work, and with our three children grown up, moved away, and each in loving relationships, we're together nearly all the time.
Posted by: Old Limey | January 02, 2011 at 12:57 PM
(Author of Christ-Centered Contentment) Great thoughts "Everyday Tips". I'll throw my two cents at your last statement:
"I wonder why our needs grow and grow? Maybe as we have more, we are exposed to more, and we just feel envy? I don't know."
I think our desires will always outpace our accumulations. The default setting of humanity, if you will. It is a cycle that must be broken, not a hole that we have to purchase our way out of. I believe contentment has nothing to do with possessions (as mentioned above, but better explained in earlier portions of my book) and thus greater purchases and bigger houses never fix that insatiable appetite. It only pushes us further down the spiral. Somewhere in this process we have to step outside of the physical realm to find contentment. In a sense, a physical answer (adding more possessions) cannot solve a problem that is spiritual.
So, in prosperity we are often like rats in a wheel--possessing the ability and means to work more, make more money, leverage more ridiculously and hope that the next thing will satisfy our souls. In great poverty, this option really isn't available. They have to face reality and deal with the issues in their heart. From here, they much more frequently find contentment than their more prosperous counterparts.
Posted by: Rob @ Dollars and Doctrine | January 02, 2011 at 12:59 PM
Here I am a normal American—not rich, not poor—staring at heart wrenching poverty and thinking: “These people have something my life is missing.”
This is true insight. Money creates both opportunities and traps.
The Sunday articles are my favorites, FMF.
Rob
Posted by: Rob Bennett | January 02, 2011 at 02:11 PM
Old Limey - You are an exception. You define contentment and happiness apart from physical terms (material things). This, as you mentioned, isn't typical. Our natural setting seeks to find contentment in having stuff (however much or little we think will justify being truly content). Congrats on 54 years of marriage! (That in and of itself speaks volumes of you and your spouse's contentment!)
Posted by: Rob @ dollars and doctrine | January 02, 2011 at 04:19 PM
FMF: You're rich (by pretty much anyone's terms). Are you not content? Is it really hard to be content when you're rich?
I'm finding it hard to be content in poverty. I rely on God...I always do, no matter what, but sometimes I feel kinda bummed. Yes, God provides for me, but only by me leeching off of others (like my parents). This year, I made less than $5,000 for the entire year, and I worked hard to get it. Should I be content with this? Should I be content to continue to leech off the charity of my family and friends? It doesn't seem fair. I want to better myself (thus, I'm going back to college) and make GOOD money so I don't HAVE to leech off of others.
Why is this sinful thinking? Should the poor be content with being poor and not try to better themselves?
Posted by: BD | January 03, 2011 at 08:15 PM
It seems like some of us interpret this post as: poor = happy, rich = unhappy.
That's not what is said here. All that's said is that, say, a bigger house, will not make you happier, even if we're wired to think it will.
Finally, Old Limey, you're not an exception, you prove this article right, because you acknowledge your happiness comes from other things than your possessions.
Posted by: Concojones | January 05, 2011 at 11:17 PM