There's No Business Like God's Business

“imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1Tim 6:5-6)

I’ll never forget the sign hanging along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. The Stairway to Heaven Gift Shop. Yeah, you read that right. On the same street where Jesus carried His cross stood a slimy souvenir stand selling tacky t-shirts that said things like “I Got Stoned in the Gaza Strip.” That’s when our guide David uttered words I would never forget. “There’s no business like God’s business.” Ain’t THAT the very sad truth!

Well, the idea of leveraging people’s faith to make a fast buck is nothing new. Paul and Timothy faced same kind of sleaze back in first century Ephesus. A posse of greedy hucksters had weaseled their way into the church and sold a boatload of spiritual snake oil to the followers of Jesus. They peddled a phony gospel in order to cash in big time. The apostle tells the young pastor how these false teachers were “imagining that godliness is a means of gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain” (v5-6). In other words, we don’t use God to get what we want. God IS Who we want!

Don’t think could ever go down at your church? Think again, bruh. Ephesus Community Church was the model for congregations all around the Mediterranean Rim back in the day. Paul planted the church during his third big road trip (Acts 19). He told folks in the big port city that the resurrection Rabbi/Carpenter from Nazareth is not only the Jewish Messiah but He had thrown the doors open to God’s kingdom to anyone who turns to Him. 

The grace of God turns the town upside down during Paul’s time there. Over the next three years, all sorts of crazy stuff starts happening. Lots of folks place their faith in Jesus. Paul’s handkerchief heals the sick. Demons kick the crap out of seven dudes who think they’ve got the juice to pull off an exorcism. People who used to practice witchcraft burn their black magic books in a massive bonfire. As folks trust in Christ, they stop patronizing the local Greek temple. That freaks out the chamber of commerce and starts a riot. You can read it for yourself in Acts 19.

The Lord used the Ephesian church to not only transform this huge center of trade in what we now know as western Turkey, but to take the Good News all throughout the Greco-Roman world. While no church is perfect, this was seemed pretty close at the time. Paul wrote a letter to believers there from prison. The former Pharisee goes on to write not one, but two notes to his protege Timothy who was the pastor there. The resurrected Jesus told His best friend John to write one of his seven letters in Revelation to His followers there (Rev 2:1-7). And there’s plenty of historical evidence that this same John led the church in Ephesus near the end of his life. 

We know more about the Ephesian church than any other congregation in the New Testament. This church was big time. It probably hosted conferences. Think North Point. Imagine Lifechurch. Picture Newspring. But despite all that success, it all came crashing down thanks to a group of religious grifters who snookered suckers while Paul was in prison. Still don’t think it could happen in your church?

False teachers had fooled themselves into “imagining that godliness is a means of gain” (v5). And why not? That was certainly the successful business model back at the temple in Jerusalem. Religious leaders were making some serious cheddar by running a racket of selling only the officially licensed sacrifices to worshipers. Just like the gift shop in Jerusalem, there’s no business like God’s business. It ticked off Jesus so much that He cleaned house not once, but twice (Mt 21:12-13; Jn 2:13-17). Stop using God to get what you want. God IS Who you want!

Here in these verses, Paul twice uses a Greek word that we translate as “godliness.” Eusebeia refers to reverence toward God, devotion to the Lord, or the appropriate application of your belief and practice of your faith in general. NT authors drop the term when talking about living a godly lifestyle. It’s actually a compound word that literally means “good (eu-) worship (-sebia).” You find it used 15 times in the entire Bible and eight of those are here in 1 Timothy. Good worship is a mega-theme of this letter. 

The spiritual scammers in Ephesus saw good worship as a good way to make a good buck. It was a “means of gain” (v5). It’s right about here where we could go on a long rant about the preachers of the so-called Prosperity Gospel. They pitch a particularly appealing message of health, wealth, and happiness. According to them, God wants you to dress in designer clothes, live in a big house, drive a nice car, and wear a Rolex. If you name it and claim it, God will give it. Sounds pretty sweet, don’t you think? 

There’s just one little problem with all that. It’s called the Bible. While God certainly loves you more than you could ever imagine, He’s certainly not a uber-wealthy sugar daddy. He’s not a genie in a bottle waiting to grant your three wishes. He’s no metaphysical vending machine loaded with all your favorites. I wonder if Paul simply failed to have enough faith when he was floating around in the ocean after a shipwreck or getting the crap kicked out of him by his enemies (2Cor 11:23-29). 

According to Paul, the key to receiving God’s blessings is something else altogether. “But godliness with contentment is great gain” (v6). In other words, the cheat code is actually finding satisfaction in Jesus Himself. The term here is autarkeia, which means fulfillment, possessing the necessities of life, or not lacking anything. Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones are right. You can’t get no…satisfaction. Not without Jesus anyway. 

As Paul writes to the Corinthian church, God drenches us the tsunami of His grace. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency (Gr. autarkeia) in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2Cor 9:8). According to John MacArthur, ancient philosophers used this Greek word to word when talking about someone who was absolutely unflappable by external circumstances. Similarly, the followers of Jesus are to be unmoved by their situation after finding contentment in the One who is the ultimate source of satisfaction. Our fulfillment is in the Fulfiller. Or as the apostle has been known to say, “Our sufficiency is from God” (2Cor 3:5).

If anyone knows this, it’s the man from Tarsus. Despite being behind bars in Rome, Paul tells his Philippian friends he’s unlocked the secret of satisfaction. “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:11-13). 

Did you catch that? The apostle’s whole point of writing about the strength of Jesus has nothing to do with converting fourth and goal or knocking down a buzzer beater for the win. I’m not saying you shouldn’t write “Philippians 4:13” on your eyeblack or on a coffee mug. But it’s a good idea of remembering Paul is talking about how Christ gives you and me the strength of being satisfied in Him alone. Remember, we don’t use God to get what we want. God IS Who we want!

All throughout His Word, God wants us to want Him. Stop worshiping His gifts and start worshiping the Giver. King David loved writing songs about finding satisfaction in His Savior. “The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup” (Ps 16:5). Another psalmist named Asaph sums up how only God alone fills the void in his soul. “Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps 74:25-26). When His friends throw Jesus a house party in Bethany, one of the hosts named Martha blows her stack when her sister Mary just sits there with Christ and won’t help her. The Son of God tells Martha, “One thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion and it will not be taken away from her” (Lk 10:42). Mary figured out that God is Who she wants.

Just like the false teachers of Ephesus, there are plenty of folks up to the same old scheme 2,000 years later. Using people in order to love money instead of using money to love people. Christ told His crew not to fall into the trap of serving both God and money (Mt 6:24). Can’t be done. Paul orders Titus to shut down religious hucksters on the island of Crete who “are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (Titus 1:11). The apostle Jesus called Rocky also saw false prophets who were out to make a profit “in their greed they will exploit you with false words” (2Pet 2:3). The bottom line about the bottom line? We don’t use people to love money. We use money to love people.

It’s incredibly easy to shift from enjoying the gracious Giver to simply enjoying His gifts. There’s nothing inherently evil about money. It can be a blessing used to bless others. It can also be false god to be worshiped. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to ruthlessly eliminate greed and find satisfaction in what we have. “Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” (Heb 13:5). Your money will leave. Jesus never will. 

Andy Stanley wants the followers of Jesus to learn to be rich. NOT get rich. BE rich. God has blessed most of us with more than the rest of the world could ever imagine. But more than that, we’re mega-gazillionaires when it comes to eternity. As followers of Jesus, we already have everything we’ll every need. We don’t use God to get what we want. God IS Who we want!