Contentedness Vs. Prosperity? --

[prisonchaplain]

In response to another string, in which I was asked what I thought of "Seed Faith" (Give and God will give you 100X back), I post the following teaching:

I HAVE LEARNED TO BE CONTENT

Introduction:

1. Have you ever suffered terribly, and somebody said to you, “I know how you feel?”

2. Perhaps you wanted to slap them and say, “You’ve never been where I am–you do NOT know how I feel.”

Scripture: Philippians 4:11-12: Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am intstructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Proposition: Contentedness is not a product of circumstances.

Interrogative: In what circumstances can I be content.

Transition: You can be content in good times.

I. You can be content when life is easy.

A. When we are well-fed

1. Even the full get sick

a. Heart disease

b. Indigestion

c. Liver disease (from alcohol abuse)

d. Alcoholism

2. Full but poorly nourished

B. When we have plenty

1. It’s never enough if you count on it.

a. Insurance for car, life, health, home

b. Savings accounts for retirement, children’s college tuition, weddings, rainy days

c. “Need” for another car, a better car, a mini van, an SUV

d. A bigger house in a better neighborhood

e. Jewelry to make up for what you could not afford early in the marriage

f. Satisfying the family by keeping up with the neighbors. Of course, as you move in to those bigger houses in better neighborhoods, you have more to keep up with.

2. The Parable of the Sower: The concerns of this world choke the life out of us just as weeds destroy the harvest.

3. The rich get sick, divorced, psychological troubled, and they ultimately die, the same as us all.

4. The rich are best able to realize that life is meaningless without God. Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon–the richest, wisest man who ever lived.

Transition: No matter how hard one tries to stir up sympathy for the well-to-do, those of us who are not would lay claim to greater difficulties.

II. You can be content when life is difficult.

A. When we are hungry.

1. It is often said that you cannot feed a man’s soul until you fill his belly.

2. Yet, when we need God for our “daily bread,” we realize that He is all we need.

3. The discipline of fasting teaches us the powerful truth that God is our nutrition–our strength.

B. When we are poor.

1. So many pastors and missionaries have testified to praying to God for their family’s next meal–and God provided.

2. The gospel seems to spread faster and stronger in areas that are economically struggling.

3. Jesus says that it is the rich that have a hard time finding God and heaven, because they are deceived by their possessions.

a. They actually believe they are self-sufficient.

b. The belief that we can be independently adequate is Satan’s original lie to Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Transition: It is easy for the Apostle Paul to say that God is all we need, whether rich or poor. “My problem is neither,” you say. “ I am in prison! I need to be free!”

III. You can be content in prison.

A. Philippians 1:12-14: But I would ye should understand, bretheren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; And many of the bretheren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

1. Paul wrote these words while he was in prison!

2. Although I am here 40+ hours a week, I cannot tell you, from experience, that you can be content in prison.

3. Paul can–and he does!

B. The testimony of so many of God’s people.

1. Old Testament prophets were frequently imprisoned–and even killed.

2. Jesus and ten of the disciples were imprisoned and executed for the Good News.

3. John was not killed, but served a life sentence at FDC Patmos for the Good News.

C. The testimony of a Chinese Pastor-Fugitive.

1. As long as I am free, I travel from village to village preaching the Good News, surviving with what Christians feed me and give me as clothes.

2. If I am captured I will be sentenced to 10 years of hard labor. I will preach the Good News to officers and inmates alike!

CONCLUSIONS

1. Are you full and wealthy today? God knows your psychological and physical sufferings. He can make you content and relieve the pain that nobody sees.

2. Are you hungry and poor today? Jesus is the Bread of Life. He can satisfy your hunger, provide your needs, and bring peace where there is inner turmoil.

3. Are you in prison today. Jesus came to set the captive free! He can free you from sin, and he will be your advocate–your defense attorney–before God and man!

[pushka]

I wish I had a great response to this PC...however, I can only think that this illustrates that O.Roberts and those who teach his idea of 'seed faith' have only distorted the above teaching. Have I understood this correctly?

[Traveler]

I am not sure where exactly you are going but I will tell you of a hard time in my life. I had completed a 2 year mission and I had served in the US army during Vietnam. Twice I had orders for combat but ended up being assigned somewhere else. I lost several good friends in combat, to this day there are experiences I do not talk about. A close friend and native American encouraged me to take some time off for a spiritual quest to put my life in order. He challenged me to spend 40 days in the wilderness allowing G-d to provide for my needs.

During my 40 days nothing I expected happened but I experienced sever spiritual experiences. One thing I learned is that there is no such thing as poor for those that trust in the L-rd. The earth is rich and will provide more than what is needed. Although I intended to spend this time by myself only about a week was all I spent as the longest time not contacting another human. Many time I was given water and food in direct answer to prayer.

Sometimes we cannot see forest for the trees. In our modern society we are so filled with things of man that we do not recognize life and nature outside those things. Having spent 40 days in the southwest desseret without anything from civilization but a knief and a blanket - I learned of natures great treasures. Many times I have wanted to return to simple things and have done so from time to time for extended weekends but for the most part I have not the time with obligations to family.

Rich or poor is nothing but a temporary state of mind.

The Traveler

[prisonchaplain]

I wish I had a great response to this PC...however, I can only think that this illustrates that O.Roberts and those who teach his idea of 'seed faith' have only distorted the above teaching. Have I understood this correctly?

That's probably a fair assessment. In most cases, it's not false teaching, but an overemphasis on one aspect of truth. So, distortion is a good word. There is blessing in giving. You can't out give God. And, Christians who give to TV ministries are bound to be blessed for their giving. However, too much "seed faith" type teaching, and we begin to chase the tool of money, rather than the God we thought we would serve with the tool.

[Aristotle]

I like this:

CONCLUSIONS

1. Are you full and wealthy today? God knows your psychological and physical sufferings. He can make you content and relieve the pain that nobody sees.

2. Are you hungry and poor today? Jesus is the Bread of Life. He can satisfy your hunger, provide your needs, and bring peace where there is inner turmoil.

3. Are you in prison today. Jesus came to set the captive free! He can free you from sin, and he will be your advocate–your defense attorney–before God and man!

[prisonchaplain]

Sometimes we cannot see forest for the trees. In our modern society we are so filled with things of man that we do not recognize life and nature outside those things. Having spent 40 days in the southwest desseret without anything from civilization but a knief and a blanket - I learned of natures great treasures. Many times I have wanted to return to simple things and have done so from time to time for extended weekends but for the most part I have not the time with obligations to family.

Rich or poor is nothing but a temporary state of mind.

It sounds to me as though you have definitely learned to be content when in want. In some ways it may be easier. Things tend to be more black and white, right and wrong, good and bad. For example, during the Communist reign in the Soviet Union, the Christians there would pray for Americans. They knew that we must be mightily tempted by wealth, the false sense of self-sufficiency, and the lack of outright opposition.

Paul offers the following ideal in Philippians:

4:11: Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. (12) I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

My sense is that we are more in danger of becoming like Lot, in Sodom & Gomorrah. He had gotten so comfortable, had learned to fit in so well, that he was indistinguishable from his ungodly neighbors. Or, perhaps, like the Church of Laodicea (see Revelation 3). We're not "hot"--not excited, not passionate about our God or our faith. We're not "cold"--we offer no refreshing, no healing, no satiating power to a lost and dying world. Instead we're lukewarm--good for nothing, other than to bolster our churches' membership claims.

But, the answer is not poverty of means--but poverty of Spirit. We must once again realize our desperate need for God. We must, as Jesus said, hunger and thirst after righteousness.

(Sorry folks--it's Sunday--and I'm in a preaching mentality. )

[Sugarbay]

Prosper means to do well, to succeed. Content means to be satisfied, pleased. Some people I know are very prosperous but not content. I also know a guy who is content to sit on the debris pile of his life and eat an ice cream cone and wait for something else to come along that catches his eye.

The point is that you can succeed and be content or not be content. You can be content and not be successful except at being content. OkaysomeonestopmebeforeIgetconfused.