“For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1Tim 6:7-8).
There’s a nasty bug going around. This crud is highly contagious. I’m not talking about West Nile virus. This isn’t Zika. And it’s not the bird flu. No, as a matter of fact, it’s not a new illness. It’s been taking people down for several thousand years and there’s no sign of it slowing down. It’s affluenza. Scientists define it as “a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.”
There’s a recent case that’s making headlines. A Texas teenager named Ethan Couch is using affluenza as his defense for driving drunk and killing four people. Whether that defense will hold up in court is something else altogether. Couch’s attorney attempted to link his reckless behavior with his parents’ affluent lifestyle. One of the symptoms of affluenza is your belief that you can outspend your sin and stupidity.
As we mentioned before, this illness is nothing new. A wicked strain of it ran rampant through the church in Ephesus. The Apostle Paul and his young sidekick Timothy faced the outbreak head-on. Paul not only understood the dangers of this highly contagious disease but also that it is easily preventable. He writes to Pastor Tim and reminds him the very simple treatment for affluenza to keep it from spreading. “For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (v7-8). The key to containment of greed contentment in Christ. It’s a guaranteed affluenza vaccine.
So just how did this Ephesian epidemic get started? The source of the infection was a team of spiritual hucksters who peddled a false gospel of goofball religion, conspiracy theories, and legalistic self-salvation (1Tim 1:3-7; 4:1-3). These false teachers were incredibly cocky and loved nothing better than to distract folks from following Jesus with all sorts of endless arguments and debates over things that really didn’t matter (1Tim 6:3-4). They quickly figured out that there’s no business like God’s business when it comes to turning a fast buck from unsuspecting suckers (1Tim 6:5).
I would LOVE to tell you the carriers of this crud are no longer around. But I can’t. As long as church doors are open, there are going to be greedy charlatans looking to put the squeeze on believers. I fully realize I’m treading on tender turf when it comes to this topic. The so-called “prosperity gospel” is what happens when affluenza infects the followers of Jesus. The only people to prosper are the preachers and peddlers of this garbage. The sell a false message that turns our great Giving God into a supernatural vending machine that must deliver each time punch His buttons. Yeah, it doesn’t work that way.
Now before we limit the blame of this illness to a small sample size, we’re all carriers of affluenza. You. Me. Us. Them. All of us. If we trace the spread of the contagion, we’ll see that our first parents, Adam and Eve, are actually Patients Zero in this pandemic. God places them in paradise and tells them enjoy His entire creation (Gen 2:16). Go for it. There’s only one restriction. See that tree over there? Yeah, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don’t eat any fruit from it. It’s fatal (Gen 2:17). That’s when a satanic snake convinced Adam and Eve that God was actually holding out on them (Gen 3:1-5). Suddenly they weren’t content with God’s overwhelming goodness. They ate. Sin takes the stage. Affluenza begins to spread. But don’t miss the announcement of the ultimate Cure that on its way. Or should I say His way. One is coming to heal us all (Gen 3:15)!
Meanwhile back in Paul’s letter to Tim, the apostle reminds the young preacher how “we brought nothing into the world” (v7). I’m not sure how many of you had the blessing of being in the delivery room for the birth of your children (I do realize that when it comes to moms, the answer is 100%!), but I don’t remember seeing any luggage carousels. We don’t roll into this world as newborns with any checked or carry-on baggage. We don’t even have anything in our pockets…since we don’t have any pockets!!!
At this point, Paul fast forwards from the maternity ward to funeral home. Just as we arrive into this world without a single possession, we leave empty-handed as well. “We cannot take anything out of the world” (v7). My hearse won’t have a trailer hitch. My coffin won’t be pulling a U-Haul trailer. Oh, it’s not like we don’t try. We just can’t. God won’t let us.
This idea of “naked in/naked out” is a mega-theme throughout the Bible. When Satan sideswiped God’s servant Job (at God’s invitation, mind you!), the man from Uz STILL worshiped the LORD. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed by the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). One of the songwriters of the OT wrote a similar lyric. “For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him” (Ps 49:17). Solomon is the wisest and wealthiest dude who ever walked the earth. Despite a portfolio that would make Bill Gates blush, this king new his treasure was temporary. “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand” (Ecc 5:15).
Paul reminds us that we simply need to find satisfaction in the necessities of life. “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (v8). Do I have enough to eat? Do I have water to drink? Do I have clothes to wear? Do I have a place to sleep? Has God given me the basic necessities of food, water, clothing, and shelter? It all comes down to wants and needs. Am I obsessed over getting everything I want? Or am I grateful to have all that I need? That’s the key to kicking affluenza.
When we have appreciate having everything we need, we’ll be “content” (v8). The apostle drops a Greek word here (Gr. arkeo) which means to have enough, satisfied, or be sufficiently supplied. It’s from a root word (Gr. airow) which means raising up a barrier to establish a defense. Contentment builds a wall against want. The key to containing greed is contentment in Christ.
Check out some of the other uses of arkeo in the NT. John the Dunker encouraged Roman soldiers to stop putting the squeeze on civilians by running protection rackets. Instead, “be content (Gr. arkeo) with your wages” (Lk 3:14). In one of his letters to the Corinthian church, Paul tells how he has pleaded with Jesus to remove a painful thorn in the flesh. Instead of pulling it out, Christ left it in and told the apostle He did it in order make sure the former Pharisee would only rely on God’s goodness. “My grace is sufficient (Gr. arkeo) for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor 12:9). The writer of Hebrews tells us to not get sucked into an obsession with money but “be content (Gr. arkeo) with what you have,” remembering God is your ultimate treasure and will ALWAYS be with you (Heb 13:5)!
The key to containment of greed in contentment in Christ.
Scripture is absolutely jam-packed with finding our satisfaction in our Savior. Jesus made this a major point in His most famous message. “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will wear, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing” (Mt 6:25). The Rabbi/Carpenter reminded the crowds that God feeds the birds. Aren’t you more important to him than they are? Check out the flowers. They are gorgeous, but they’ll be gone in a few days. Stop freaking out. God will make sure you have something to wear. There’s absolutely no reason to wig out when it comes to your what you eat or your wardrobe. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Mt 6:33).
We all might want to take a lesson from a guy named Agur son Jakeh. Late in the Book of Proverbs, he shares his two-pronged prayer which was the key to his contentment. “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God” (Prov 30:8-9). Don’t give me too much. Don’t give me too little. Give me just what I need, God. Do you have the guts to pray that prayer? Yeah, I’m not sure I do either. I pray one day that I will.
Affluenza still threatens every church and every follower of Jesus. But there’s one sure fire cure. Satisfaction in our Savior. Contentment in Christ is the key to containment of greed. It’s the ultimate affluenza vaccine.
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