But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6
“Let us not rationalize hoarding and comfortable living as if they were essential to provide the energy and peace of mind we need in order to minister. Good stewardship of abundance resources may greatly advance God’s kingdom, but spending all of our resources on personal security, comfort, and pleasure tends to have the opposite result. History attests to this fact.
Times of growth and great need and suffering among Christians often result in rapid church growth and spiritual revival, while church prosperity tends to yield little growth … “Persecution can have harmful effects on the church. But prosperity, it seems is even more devastating to the mission God calls us to…we should be vary wary of prosperity and excessive ease and comfort and affluence.”
Alan and Katherine Carter in “The Gospel and Lifestyle” in Theology and Practice of Mission: God, the Church, and the Nations, ed. Bruce Riley Ashford (Nashville: B&H, 2011) 142-143.
“The Gospel and Lifestyle” is a great chapter on missional living. This couple, Alan and Katherine, bring to light the value of pursuing contentment and simplicity rather than comfort and prosperity. The former pursuits will keep us on track, while the latter ones will seek to destroy us.
If you have treasures stored up on earth for security or to attempt to ensure a certain standard of living in perpetuity, from God’s perspective, you are hoarding. Put those resources in play. As you faithfully serve God and more resources come to you, become a joyful distributor.
Lent is the time for learning this. If you have not practiced some form of sacrifice this season, ask God today what that might look like for you. Take time today to consider what resources you have that may need to be put in play. Why do this? It’s how we learn contentment.