Self-Contentment: It’s Limts

How did the Stoic philosopher deal with pain and persecution? The Roman Stoic Seneca wrote:

• “It is the mind that makes us rich; this goes with us into exile, and in the wildest wilderness, having found there all that the body needs for its sustenance, it itself overflows in the enjoyment of its own goods.”

While such self-contentment is admirable, the Russian author Leo Tolstoy understood that it could only be temporary. It had only been temporary for him:

• "A person could live only so long as he was drunk; but the moment he sobered up, he could not help seeing that all that was only a deception, and a stupid deception at that."

Atheist and mathematician, Bertrand Russell, had been content with his life. He had even penned a book proudly entitled, Why I am not a Christian. However, some years later, Russell confessed:

• "I wrote with passion and force because I really thought I had a gospel [creating his own meaning]. Now I am cynical about the gospel because it won’t stand the test of life." (Os Guinness, The Journey, 106)

One of the New Testament authors, Paul, that contentment with our present lives would not be enough:

• If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Cor. 15:19-20)

Even if our situation is comfortable, contentment with this life can only be temporary. This understanding eventually brought Leo Tolstoy to his Savior Jesus.

The Prosperity Gospel and why it isn’t the Gospel

When they came to arrest Him in the Garden:

• Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, "Am I leading a rebellion that you have come with swords and clubs? Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour--when darkness reigns." (Luke 22:52-53)

It is also in the darkness that the cults reign. None of them encourage the light of reason. If anything, they discourage it lest their manipulations come to light, and lest it be seen that their teachings fail to match up with Scripture. Those who lead false revivals often have counseled that the use of the mind is at odds with the operation of the Spirit. One visitor to the Anaheim Vineyard church reported this admonition:

• “And above all, don't try to rationally evaluate the things you will see. God isn't trying to reach your mind; He wants to reach your heart. Analyzing spiritual phenomena through the grid of human logic or religious presuppositions is the quickest way to quench what the Spirit is doing. Subjecting the revival to doctrinal tests is the surest way to put out the fire. Don't try to find reasonable explanations for what is happening; just turn your heart loose and let the Spirit flow through your emotions. Only then can the Spirit have His way in your life.” http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil//articles/laugh.htm

According to this Vineyard church, our minds are worse than a hindrance; they are an insurmountable obstacle to God’s purposes! However, the false revivalists conveniently leave out a number of verses like the admonition to love the Lord with all of our minds (Mat. 22:37) and to exercise discernment – testing all things (1 Thes. 5:19-21).

The prosperity ministry – the name-it-claim-it preachers – would have us simply ignore or dismiss the truth. Joel Osteen had taught:

• “Our words are vital in bringing our dreams to pass. It’s not enough to simply see it by faith or in your imagination. You have to begin speaking words of faith over your life. Your words have enormous creative power. The moment you speak something out, you give birth to it.”  “Just look in the mirror and say ‘I am strong, I am healthy. I’m rising to new levels, I’m excited about my future.’ When you say that, it may not be true. You may not be very healthy today, or maybe you don’t have a lot of things to look forward to, but Scripture tells us in Romans we have to call the things that are not as if they already were.” (CRJ, Hunter)

Scripture never gives us the license to play fast-and-loose with the truth. All truth is God’s truth. It belongs to Him and we are not at liberty to tamper with it. He tells us that He requires truth in the depths of our being:

• Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. (Psalm 51:6)

Our Lord wants us to reside in the light – in the embrace of wisdom. Using our tongues to distort the truth is simply not part of His program for us. Telling others that we don’t have cancer, when we do, is a refusal to walk in His light. It will also bring disrepute upon the church!

Instead, our tongues must be servants of the light – the truth of God. Therefore, they must always speak the truth, as James instructed:

• Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. (James 4:13-16)

When we use our tongues in a presumptuous manner by claiming that we will get rich through trading or that we will obtain a certain blessing that is not Scripturally guaranteed, we speak evil and “boast in arrogance.” Instead, what we say must always conform to the truth. According to James, we are a mere “vapor.” Therefore, we are in no position to make arrogant claims about the future!

Osteen claims that Romans 4:17 gives us the license to speak as if we have things that we really do not as yet have:

• God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. 

Indeed, God has the power to call things into existence by speaking. However, there is nothing in this verse to suggest that we are endowed with such power. Instead, James claims that we are not so endowed.

Prosperity preachers also resort to Proverbs 18:21 to prove that we have been given this power:

• The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

However, this verse falls far short of affirming that our tongues have supernatural power to call things into existence. Yes, the tongue does have “the power of life and death,” but this is a psychological or interpersonal power. Our words can build people up or tear them down. We can instruct others in the way of truth or the way of deceit.

Prosperity preachers also misdirect their audience away from the true Gospel. They encourage us to seek the wrong things, as James claimed:

• When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:3)

What are wrong motives? Self-gratification! This is not to say that our God will not provide gratifying blessings. He will! But this should not be our focus. Instead, our focus must be His kingdom and righteousness. As a consequence, He’ll give us everything we truly need (Mat. 6:33).

Instead, prosperity preacher Creflo Dollar defined the Gospel this way:

• “What’s the Gospel to those who are poor? Prosperity! What’s the Gospel to those who lack? Prosperity! And if you don’t preach it, then you won’t be able to do anything about it, then you won’t be able to do anything about the poverty situation.” (Hunter, CRJ, 24.)

However, the Gospel is not a matter of prosperity. The Book of Hebrews informs us that, often, the exemplars of faith fell far short of prosperity:

• They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- the world was not worthy of them. (Hebrews 11:37-38)

Instead, according to Paul, the Gospel is about contentment:

• 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. (1 Tim. 6:6-9)

Contrary to the prosperity gospel, Paul wrote that the desire for prosperity is “harmful” and can “plunge men into ruin and destruction.”

The prosperity ministry also fails to recognize the need for suffering and brokenness. Paul wrote that:

• Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. (2 Cor. 4:16-18; NKJV)

According to the Gospel, trials are necessary for growth into Christ-liken-ness. Our “renewal” can only take place as we look in faith towards the heavenly and not the hope of earthly prosperity.

The prosperity ministry is popular, but will it build up the body of Christ? Does it arm us with truth or a set of unrealistic expectations? More importantly, is it faithful to our Lord and His Word? Let Scripture by the judge!

Contentment: In Mind if not also in Body

Contentment is a precious possession. It chooses to be satisfied with what we have:

·        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. (1 Tim. 6:6-9)

Contentment understands that if it is satisfied with little, having much will present no problem. However, if we are only content with much, everything that falls short of this standard will produce disappointment and even despair. Consequently, when our expectations aren’t met, this disappointment might “plunge men into ruin and destruction.” Discontentment is also the source of fights and resentments:

·        What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3)

Contentment isn’t the same thing as moral apathy and indifference to circumstances. Contentment is certainly willing to forge ahead and improve moral and physical circumstances. However, it is willing to accept setbacks knowing that God’s will must prevail over our own. Besides, God’s will is more to be esteemed than our own very limited understanding. When faced with the terrifying prospect of the cross, Jesus prayed,

·        "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will…My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." (Matthew 26:39, 42)

Contentment understands that God’s will is preferable to our goals and desires. It trusts that God can take better care of us than we can. It despairs of its own understanding and quest for joy and fulfillment. It even recognizes that we do not even know how to pray:

·        In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. (Romans 8:26)

Contentment therefore has learned to not insist in our own ways, but instead to trust in our Savior:

·        Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Contentment is willing to embrace God’s plan for our lives, even though it might be painful. It looks for the good through the tears, assured that God ways are always truth and mercy. We do not trust in our own understanding, because we’ve learned that it has often led us in the wrong direction. We have also learned another critical truth. Our hope is not in this life. Instead, in this life

·        [We] groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? (Romans 8:23-24)

Consequently, our ultimate hope for joy, love and peace is not in this life. Instead, the object of our hope is unseen. It is the certainty of this hope that enables us to tolerate this life’s disappointments.

If our expectations are invested in this life, we will suffer disappointment. If we expect a $10,000 dollar bonus at the end of the year and only receive $1000, we will be disappointed. However, if we understand and trust that our Lord has a purpose for depriving us of a blessing that we had pursued, we can remain content even in the midst of our disappointment. Paul claims that he had learned this secret:

·        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. (Philip. 4:11-12)

If Paul is talking about a feeling of contentment, then perhaps I have yet to learn this secret. It seems to me that in this life, our soul is never completely at rest – never completely emotionally content. We continue to struggle against one disappointment or another. During his lengthy prison stay, puritan preacher John Bunyan confessed as much:

He who is down needs fear no fall,

            He that is low no pride.

How that is humble ever shall

            Have God to be his guide.

I am content with what I have,

            Little be it or much:

And Lord, contentment still I crave,

            Because Thou savest such. (Pilgrim’s Progress)

Bunyan had learned to be content with the little he had in prison. However, on an emotional level, it was still something he craved.

Psychological Oppression and the Bible

Christianity is often pejoratively referred to as “dirty rotten sinner” religion. Many therefore say:

·        “Christians tend to be so guilt-ridden. They feel that they have to go through life degrading themselves in order to win God’s approval. I find that very depressing. Instead, I want a spirituality that’s positive, freeing and one that will make me feel good about myself.”

This type of reaction is very understandable. We all want to be happy, and it might seem that the Gospel is a one-way street into a medieval village where the Inquisition is diabolically entrenched, seeking to wipe away every smile. While it’s a hard sell to merely claim that the Gospel will set us free from so many of life’s torments, a story might prove helpful.

For the first few years that I was teaching Bible and Theology at the New York School of the Bible, I was assailed by such intense feelings of unworthiness, shame and self-contempt that they co-opted my thought-life. Driven by such powerful feelings, my self-doubts seemed to speak with unassailable authority: “You teach? What type of Christian are you anyway? You think you really have faith? Look how selfish and self-absorbed you are. How are you going to help anyone? What a charlatan, posing in the front of the class as some type of authority! What do you think their reaction would be if they really knew you?”

Devastated by these indictments, I wanted to disappear and to have the buildings of NYC implode over my head and swallow me up without a sign. Many times, I thought of calling my school to say, “Find yourselves someone else. I’m not your man.” But gradually, the Gospel began to take root.

In my longstanding pre-Christian struggle to attain some sense of significance and value, I’d ward off the shame and self-contempt through positive affirmations: “I’m a good person; no, I’m a vastly superior person. I’m _____, _____, _____, and more. I’m a once-in-a-lifetime person!” There was no end to the superlatives. In fact, I was always inventing new ones—whatever I needed to tell myself to keep the shame at bay. However, these never sufficed, and so I always needed to up the superlatives in order to overcome the ubiquitous feelings of shame.

However, as a Christian, I learned that it was wrong to engage in this form of masturbation. But I had to do something about the poisonous arrows of my own demons. I needed to prove myself, and now I had a new vehicle with which to do it. I would excel at spirituality! I would prove, at least to myself, that I was worthy of God’s grace.

I reassured myself that I was more deserving of salvation than others. I was more spiritual; I had chosen God because I wasn’t as carnal as 90% of the human race. I had the keenness of mind to recognize the surpassing value of the things of God, and I had a great destiny, not just in heaven, like all the other Christians, but I would also lead the way here.

However, God loves us too much to allow us to continue in our delusions. He closed my hand to all my dreams of spiritual accomplishment. Even more difficult to endure, I began to see my own poverty of spirit, my utter unworthiness. My levies were overwhelmed, and the demons of shame and self-contempt came roaring back. I feverishly sought to rebuild the levies with good works--anything that would tell me, “You’re OK!” In my torment, I began to read the Bible with new tear-filled eyes, hoping to find a God tucked within its pages who would be far more merciful than I ever dared to hope for.

Jesus told a parable about two men who entered the temple to pray one was a self-assured Pharisee, the other a broken sinner who lacked the confidence to even look up to heaven (Luke 18:9-14). I had become that broken sinner, now defenseless against the internal raging. I had been stripped of confidence and any sense that there was something about me that would merit even a glance from a holy God.

Paradoxically, this was the beginning of psychological freedom. I had been stripped bare of all my defenses, and for the first time in my life, gradually found that I didn’t need them. I could finally let go of my miserable fig leaves, because I was beginning to know a God who wanted to clothe me with His forgiveness, His righteousness, and His sanctification (1 Cor. 1:29-30). I was beginning to learn that I was complete in Him (Col. 2:9-10), not because of who I am, but because of who He is.

It took me a while to learn these lessons. The Bible was my thought-life foundation, but it seemed to say such contradictory things. On the one hand, it assured me that salvation, along with everything else I needed, was absolutely free. But then I observed that other verses seemed to say that God’s “gifts” also required some labor on my part. These “contradictions” first needed to be resolved before I could decisively confront my demons.

However slowly, that day did come. Now, when my demons accuse me of my failures and worthiness, I’m ready for them: “Satan, you’re right! I am totally unworthy to serve God, let alone to teach. I don’t deserve the slightest thing from Him. But I have an incredible God who is everything to me—my righteousness, my sanctification, and whatever else I need. He loves me with an undying love and will never leave me. It is He who has given me the privilege to serve Him by teaching. Besides, I’m so glad that I’ve been reminded of my unworthiness, because this just prompts me to be grateful, and makes me just want to sing His praises.”

Understanding the truths of Scripture becomes a wellspring of peace (Col. 2:1-4). I’m now rid of some baggage that had been too heavy to bear. As Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32). The truth has set me free—free from the need to defend myself, free from struggling to prove myself, free from shame and self-contempt, and free from the fear of failure. Well, not absolutely free, but free enough.

However, this freedom would never have come without seeing the depths of my unworthiness. Had I not come to this crushing point, I would never have discovered true grace, and without receiving this incredible grace, I never would have found the confidence to lay aside all the inner struggles and to finally accept the fact that I’m an utter sinner saved by grace.

Not everyone’s experience is as intense as mine was, but we all have a conscience that tells us things we don’t want to hear, and we all attempt to beat it down one way or another (Romans 1:18-21). We all yearn to prove ourselves and resort to self-deception to accomplish this.

This isn’t merely a Biblical point of view; this is the prevailing view of psychology. Shelley Taylor writes,

·        As we have seen, people are positively biased in their assessments of themselves and of their ability to control what goes on around them, as well as in their views of the future. The widespread existence of these biases and the ease with which they can be documented suggests that they are normal.[1] 46

They might be “normal,” but dependency on self-delusions, the product of self-righteousness, ultimately produces a loss of mental flexibility, not freedom and joy. As paradoxical as it might seem, the road to freedom compels us on a humbling journey through “valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23), where our old armor and defenses are stripped away so that we can be re-clothed in splendor. No wonder Jesus tells us, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14).

How then do we come to this place of assurance of God’s grace in the face of our spiritual brokenness? It’s not possible on our own. Jesus had taught emphatically against the idea of self-salvation (Mat. 19:26; John 3:3; John 6:44). However, He made it equally clear that spiritual growth is also impossible without His involvement (John 15:4-5). Knowing this, we have to trust Him to perform for us the humanly-impossible and to cry out for His intervention.

Spiritual desperation is a lens that brings grace into fine-focus. It’s this mourning that sharpens our eyes to the reality of grace (Mat. 5:3-4; Psalm 25:8-9; 14-15). But what if we don’t see our neediness? We have to embrace the prayer of David:

·        Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).

Trust Him in this. He has promised to reveal to us our spiritual deficiencies as He also did for the churches of the Book of Revelation:

·        I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained (Philip. 3:14-16).

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[1] Shelley E. Taylor, Positive Illusions (New York: Basic Books, Inc, 1989) 46.

Self-Esteem, Rubbish, and Road-Rage

I am a man of many weaknesses and failings, but I’ve learned to boast of them. Nevertheless, I’d love to be rid of them, but at the same time, I know that they are my faithful tutors (Gal. 3:22-24).

As an anxious, irritable, impatient, and angry male, I hate to drive in a car. Every yellow light becomes a personal challenge; every red light becomes a personal rebuke. Needless to say, I receive many “rebukes” in the course of a trip, and my response differs little from road-rage. When the traffic is backed up in front of me, every car is a mortal enemy.

I am a Bible teacher, and my reactions are a great embarrassment to me. I have been on the phone, while surrounded by such “enemies.” My reaction has often caused me to forget that I had been talking on the phone, as I lapsed into profanity. How humbling!

I wish I could say that I am making great strides against my sins. However, my humiliation is compounded as I pray to the One who can deliver me. Even with Him on the “phone,” within seconds, I lapse, convinced that I am the world’s greatest spiritual failure. I cannot “keep watch” for a minute.

Consequently, Paul’s prayer has become very real to me:

·        What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:24-25)

How true! In my sinful nature (“flesh;” NASB) I am a slave to sin, while Jesus is my only hope. But isn’t there deliverance in Jesus? Wasn’t it Jesus who promised deliverance?

·        To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32)

However, He also said:

·        “No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5)

Okay, I get the point. I know that it’s all about Jesus, and He has His own timing. But where’s my deliverance? I am tormented by my sins and failings. However, Paul was also tormented by a “messenger of Satan,” even after he walked faithfully with his Lord for many years. However, he came to understand that this torment was necessary to keep him humble:

·        To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:7-10)

I too have learned to delight in my weaknesses, convinced that I need these horrid afflictions. I even counteract the shame with transparency, boasting that He has created great strength through them. King David confessed:

·        Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees…It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. (Psalm 119:67-71)

If David needed to learn through His afflictions, perhaps we also must be afflicted. Indeed, my Lord has taught me so much through my afflictions that I am now grateful. He has opened my eyes to the great threat of self-contentment, self-trust, and self-righteousness – the things that happen to us when our Lord allows us to go our own way. He has also shown me how destructive this threesome is to the life of the church. In His wisdom, He has placed us under His law to reveal to us our moral failures and our need for Him:

·        Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. [20] Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

We so desperately need to become “conscious of [our] sin.” Without this, it is inevitable that we will look down on others and exalt ourselves.  However, even worse, we will take our Lord and His glorious gift of righteousness for granted.

Exalting self and its complement - diminishing God - are our human default position. It’s what comes most naturally! If this is the case, we require constant reminders of our need and brokenness.

This is why I exult in my neediness. I flaunt it in front of others – whatever it takes to exalt my God, my chief delight and passion. I also think that this helps others to accept their own spiritual failures. However, this is a passion that couldn’t be, as long as I remained passionate about myself. Paul also learned to disdain self-passion:

·        But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Philip. 3:7-9)

Paul didn’t dismiss his education and his zeal for the Law. Instead, he was dismissive of any self-trust regarding these! A fruitful relationship with our Savior and a fervent embrace of His righteousness depends upon realizing that we are entirely lacking of any righteousness of our own, earned with our good deeds. Therefore, whenever this self-aggrandizing temptation arises, we must be quick to expose it for what it truly is – “rubbish.”

I pray that my Lord will deliver me from my afflictions. However, I know Him and therefore know that if He leaves me with them, He has a good purpose for this.