SCRIPTURE
6Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 7for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; 8but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. (1 Timothy 6:6-10, NRSV)
WHAT
Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. …For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil… (1 Timothy 6:6-8, 10a, NRSV)
I learned a very valuable lesson about money and contentment when I graduated from seminary. First, a little background.
When I answered the call to the ordained ministry, I quit my engineering job at DuPont and became a student pastor while I attended seminary. This move entailed a 4X cut in pay. When we made this move, Susan and I had two children – a daughter 4 years old and another 5 months – and our son was born while we were serving that student appointment. So, with three children to support and seminary costs to pay, having enough money was something I was quite concerned about. We also still had our house in Beaumont which we were desperately trying to sell in a very bad housing market because we were still having to pay the 15% interest mortgage on a salary four times less. Needless to say, it all combined to whittle away at my contentment.
While I was serving that appointment, my district superin-tendent asked the student pastors in his district, “How much more would you need to feel like you were paid a living wage?” I thought deeply about that and did some calculations. I certainly was not trying to be greedy, but I wanted to be honest. Eventually I told him, “About $10 thousand a year more.” When I graduated seminary my first full-time appointment was to Payne Springs United Methodist Church. And guess what? The salary was about $10 thousand a year more! Heaven on earth! Nirvana! “Now we won’t have to worry so much about money,” I thought with relief.
But guess what? Our expenses also increased. We enrolled our middle daughter in a paid church pre-school. We signed up for cable TV. We didn’t have as many people giving us produce from their gardens and meat from their ranches so our food expenses increased. And so on. Our dream of a “living wage” seemed to still be about $10 thousand dollars away. And this remained true throughout my ministry. Each time I received a pay raise, our dream of a “living wage” still seemed be about $10 thousand dollars away. Finally, I realized we would never get there, or I should say, if I thought about it differently, we already had enough to be content.
N. T. Wright comments on this relationship between money and contentment:
“It is hardly an exaggeration to say that this famous passage is an indictment of modern Western culture. Never before in history has there been such a restless pursuit of riches, by more and more highly developed means. …Never before have so many people tripped over one another in their eagerness to get rich and thereby impaled themselves on the consequences of their own greed. The greatest irony of it all is that it’s done in the name of contentment -- or, which is more or less the same thing, happiness. …And yet every advertisement, every other television program, many movies and most political manifestos are designed, by subtle and not-so-subtle ways, to make us say, ‘If only I had just a bit more money, then I would be content.’”
Nelson Rockefeller, one of the richest men of his day, was once asked by a reporter how much money he thought he needed to live comfortably. This is almost the exact same question my district superintendent asked me. Rockefeller replied, “A little more than I get”. That is nearly the same answer I gave my DS. It is the answer, I dare say, most people would give.
Paul reminds us, along with many Greek philosophers and Jewish rabbis of his time and before:
…we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it… (1 Timothy 6:7, NRSV)
A later Spanish proverb put it this way: “There are no pockets in a shroud.”
Paul goes on to say:
…but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:8-9, NRSV)
The word translated here as “contentment” is the Greek word autarkeia. This was one of the favorite subjects of the ancient Stoic philosophers. (People have been intrigued by money and contentment since the dawn of modern civilization.) By autarkeia, these ancient Stoic philosophers meant a frame of mind in which happiness was completely independent of and not dependent upon outward things, a complete self-sufficiency. The famous philosopher Epicurus (341-270 B.C.), when he was once asked the secret of happiness, said, “Add not to a man’s possessions but take away from his desires.”
Yes, I’m sure there is a minimum we need to meet our basic family expenses and anything less is a serious attack on our well-being and therefore, contentment. But I’ve learned over the years that the relationship between money and contentment is not a linear one. The more I’ve been paid, the more I’ve spent. The more I’ve spent, the more things I accumulate sure. But then I have more things that can be stolen or destroyed by fire and must therefore be covered by insurance, more things I must find a place to store, more things to dust and keep clean, and more things needing maintenance and likely to break down and the frustration that causes. The relationship between money and contentment is definitely not what it is advertised to be.
Paul warns Timothy that some of the trouble he is seeing in the Ephesian church is caused by people who are convinced that the relationship between money and autarkeia IS linear – more money equals more happiness. This assumption is a false assumption, the result of false teaching.
Today, the Church family tree has a whole branch called “the prosperity gospel.” Its preachers teach that God wants us content and happy, therefore, God wants us to be prosperous financially. Seems to me that one of the many errors of this “gospel” is that it assumes contentment and money are linear. More money, more prosperity, means more contentment, and therefore, a more satisfied God. But money and contentment are not linear. The consequences for people of their chasing after contentment by amassing more prosperity and wealth has been disastrous for many. What does lead to contentment says Paul, what does result in autarkeia, what is a true teaching that Timothy ought to engage, is that prioritizing the pursuit of godliness, not prosperity, results in contentment.
Notice that verse 10 does not say money is evil. Paul never said that. Unlike food and sex, which are other parts of the contentment equation which Paul addressed back in chapter 4, money is not created by God. Money is a human-devised technology to facilitate the transfer of goods and services. It is more efficient than what came before, namely, the barter system. Money in itself is not evil. What Paul actually says is, “the LOVE OF MONEY is a root of all kinds of evil.” It is the love of money, otherwise known as greed, that is the problem. And notice he didn’t say the love of money is THE root of all evil. He said it is A root of all kinds of evil.
As William Barclay reminds us, money in itself is neither good nor bad, but the love of money is what leads to evil. But it can also lead to great good:
“With it, people may selfishly serve their own desires; with it, they may answer the cry of their neighbor’s need. With it, they may advance the path of wrongdoing; with it, they may make it easier for other people to live as God meant them to do. Money is not itself an evil, but it is a great responsibility. It has power for good and power for evil.”
Yes, it’s a sorry but very true picture. But to his culture and ours, Paul stands saying, “There is a different way. You don’t have to live like this.” He reminds us that as Christ’s disciples, we are called to model this different way. Bishop Wright asks, “Do we have the courage to try?”
If we do, the next passage – which begins with, “But as for you, man of God, shun all this…” -- could be the most significant advice we have heard for a long time.
APPLY
The relationship between money and contentment is not linear, i.e., more money does not equate to more contentment. I’ve proved that over and over in my life.
PRAYER
Thank you, O Lord, that I have enough money that I do not need to worry about having enough to eat or to put a roof over my head. I am grateful because I realize that not all people can say that. But that being the case, help me find contentment and happiness not in the pursuit of more “stuff” but in the pursuit of godliness. In Christ. Amen.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. What has been your experience with the relationship between money and contentment, or happiness? Have you ever thought, “If only I had just a bit more money, then I would be content”?
2. How do you define “contentment”? What makes you content?
3. Comment on your experience with Bob’s statement, “What does lead to contentment says Paul, what does result in autarkeia, what is a true teaching that Timothy ought to engage, is that prioritizing the pursuit of godliness, not prosperity, results in contentment.”
4. N. T. Wright says that as Christ’s disciples, we are to model a different way, a different relationship between contentment and money. What is your understanding of that different way?
How can you apply these insights in your life?