Sum mer 2014
Godliness with Contentment —the Way of Great Gain
by Dr. Bud Steadman
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et’s face it—too many “Christians” in our nation have bought into the American dream. While TV evangelists are well-known for their “healthand-wealth” gospel, local church pastors, church members and even missionaries are not exempt from the effects of the “good news of materialism,” teaching that if one is right with God, each of his desires will be met by the deity of prosperity. In times of economic challenge, it is easy for us to equate financial provision with the blessing of God. When the missionary has adequate support, we say that God is blessing him. When the church offerings are coming in on budget, we state that the Lord is at work. Coupled with a materialistic mindset among many of God’s people is the fear factor of unbelief—Christians are afraid their American dream is not being realized, so they begin cutting back on their spiritual commitments, especially in the area of financial giving to God’s work.
In my Scripture memorization plan, I was recently reminded that such a materialistic mindset was totally foreign to the Apostle Paul, who warned a young pastor in I Timothy 6 of the dangers of the love of money and the pitfalls of trusting uncertain riches. Nestled in Paul’s admonition to Timothy is a wonderful life principle which should guide the heart of every child of God—“godliness with contentment is great gain” (I Timothy 6:6). In our consumer society, great gain equals material possessions. God values things quite differently; so should we. What does it mean to couple godliness with contentment? Consider for a moment what it does not mean. Godliness with contentment is not rolling over and passively surrendering to some impersonal fate. We have responsibilities in life to fulfill; we are created by God to be active, not passive. For example, if I need to find a doctor to treat a family member’s medical problem, or if I need to take action to provide care for my aging parents, I have a responsibility to do so. Failure to fulfill God-given obligations is simply neglect. Godliness with contentment is not a lack of passion. Some people have little trouble surrendering certain things to God, because they are not passionate about those things. I have never had trouble giving up Brussels sprouts. But I
had difficulty giving up a parent to death. We, as believers, are to have passion for spiritual success in our personal ministries. A preacher who becomes “content” with a lack of spiritual fruit and does not cry to God with a desire for greater results in the lives of his people may be a man who, in reality, has no passion for souls.
In This
What then is godliness with contentment? It is surrendering Issue to God that which is important in life as you faithfully carry out your God-given responsibilities and then confidently trust Him, through the adequate resources of His grace, to bring to pass that which He desires for you. Consider, for a moment, a man who has a financial bill coming due. If he does not have adequate resources in the bank with which to pay his bill, he will be anxious as the due date approaches. If, however, he has Motivated by Christ’s adequate resources, he will not worry, but rather be confident Love of his future ability to meet the payment. Often, we live our day-to-day lives with anxiety, not coupling godliness with Meet BWM’s Newest contentment, because we doubt whether God has adequate Missionaries resources to meet our life’s needs. In Philippians 4, Paul names three wonderful resources of God’s grace that we need to focus upon if we would know the gain of godly contentment.
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THE OPPORTUNITY OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE (Philippians 4:10) “Providence” comes from two Latin words, “pro” meaning “before” and “video” meaning “to see.” It means that God sees what needs to be done ahead of time and arranges circumstances and situations for the fulfilling of His purposes. In His providence, God had caused the church at Philippi to have a revived concern about Paul’s needs. That renewed interest came at the very time Paul needed their love the most. They had been concerned before, but lacked the opportunity to help—God’s timing was perfect. To be truly content, we must understand that our lives are not a series of accidents, but a series of appointments made for us by God. As we view God’s providential working in the past, it should encourage present and future faith, enabling us to have a growing confidence in God’s control and contentment throughout life’s circumstances. THE INTENSITY OF GOD’S POWER (Philippians 4:11–13) Paul is quick to point out that his happiness does not depend upon his circumstances, but upon an adequate resource—the Continued on page 3.
3 Mission Matters Now In Heaven Godliness with Contentment (cont.)
4 Itineraries Ready to Go. Gone!