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Contentment Sees Through the Shiny Wrappers

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Preachers have to be careful, thoughtful, and clear when they denounce things. I was reminded of this recently when I was reading Wendell Berry’s novel, Jayber Crow. Berry talks about Jayber, the town barber, going to Sunday service because he liked the company of the women at church while lamenting the preaching. He repined over the weekly prattling about how we should hate the world. Then, after service, the preacher would go and eat several helpings from the potluck. Surely, Jayber thought, his hatred for the world is a bit inconsistent, as it does not extend to “all things” as he seems to quite love this product of the world called biscuits and chicken!

What in the World?

When we speak negatively about the world we are talking about the world system. This is the undercurrent of rebellion against God. It is the religious system of opposition to God that exists to belittle God’s glory by promoting sin and demoting him. It is clear that the fulcrum of this hatred of the world is not in food or any other created thing primarily but in the elevation of created things at the expense of God. It is to love the gift rather than the giver. Or, as Paul would say, to worship and serve the creation rather than the Creator.

It is important then to remember that we live in a world that has an undercurrent that is godless and god-opposed. It is not neutral. And, as a result, it must be resisted.

If you were to go to the beach you would become aware of the current in the ocean. Just by simply standing on the shore you can feel it pull at your feet as the waves come in and go back out. If you were to go out 20-30 feet from the shore you would feel that current in a whole other way. You would feel it in your legs and back. And, after a period of time you would look back at your things on the shore and you would notice that you are moving. The current has subtly moved you. You are drifting without you being aware of it.

In this world we have to understand that we are not standing on the pavement or even the dry sand of the beach—we are actually in the water. There is an undercurrent that is strong and it pulls us. If we are not paying attention we will be moved off center and dangerously drift away.

Satan and his Bait

We understand who the god of this world is, Satan, the devil, the accuser (2 Cor. 4:4). Though he has been defeated by Christ on the cross and though he is bound by God and in check by God, Satan is still very active in the world. He is a roaring lion, says Peter, seeking to devour. He uses through basic lures as he fishes in the discontent hearts of men. We read of them in 1 John 2:

“For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1 John 2:16)

We see these 3 hooks:

  • the desires of the flesh
  • the desires of the eyes
  • the pride of life

Obviously neither the world nor desire are bad. God created the world to be good (Gen. 1:31) and desire is God-given. So what is the problem here? It is the orientation of these desires. It is all about self. It is the pursuit of self, the love of self, and the lust of self. It is self-worship instead of God worship. This is what it means to love the world: it is the love of created things, primarily self, in the place of God.

And so Satan dangles the lure before our eyes. And, like Gollum in the dingy cave in the midst of the Misty Mountain, our heart cries out for her precious. The flesh lusts for self. The eyes thirst with drunken insatiability. And the heart boasts in itself.

But John says, “Beloved, you need to see through the shiny wrappers. There is a stinger in the tail.”

Look at 1 John 2 again:

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

These lures, these promises, these shiny wrappers cannot deliver. Sin makes grand promises but never delivers. The hissing promises of the serpent always appeal to the flesh but can never satisfy the heart.

Get out the Glory Scale

You see how the Christian combats this don’t you? The love of the world (as verse 16 makes clear what that is) is swallowed up by a love for God. Listen, we who are Christians have tasted and have seen that the Lord is good. We know. We have appraised things. We have set up the scales of our minds and hearts and put the desires of the flesh on one end and the glory of God on the other and have seen the weightiness of God come crashing down in a rush! The infinite weight, value, beauty and glory of God is far surpassing anything this world or its fork-tongued promoter has to offer! We see past the shiny wrappers and see what is lacking.

The example given in Hebrews 13 is the love of money. We know that money itself is neutral. It is useful as a servant but oppressive and merciless as a master.

What do you suppose was the temptation to love money in this context? When we consider the context of the book as a whole we remember that this was not a peaceful time in this church community. People were suffering at the hands of those who opposed Christianity.

Look with me back at chapter 10:

“But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” (Hebrews 10:32-34)

You can imagine the pressures upon them here. They would have economic pressures, they were losing their homes and property. They would have had social pressures, they were being tossed in jail or publicly mocked.

What is the temptation then? If I suffer for being a Christian then I may lose money, status, or even my life. If their contentment is in any of these things: honor, comfort, control, or acceptance then they are done. They have a price. They can be bought.

The writer of Hebrews is saying, “No!” Keep yourself from the love of money!

We see a similar idea in 1 Timothy 6.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10, ESV)

The implications for us are obvious:

  1. Do you see the lures in the water? Are you aware of the current?
  2. Do you have a price?
  3. Do you love money?
  4. Do you love the Father?

In order to be content we must assess temptations and see their inability to deliver while also seeing the sufficiency of God and resting in his promises to truly deliver.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.

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