Deep in the Heart of the Discontent

What really prompted my research into the topic of my last post is my own journey through discontentment which has been a large struggle this season. Ever since my return from Texas my schedule and sleeping pattern have been off and I've found it a great challenge to regularly connect with God. I blamed my work situation, thinking if work improved I might find more joy and be in a better position to serve the Lord. I also projected that blame on my living situation, marital status, etc. Then I looked around and noticed I was every bit the grumbling malcontent as the non-believers around me, if not more.

I started examining our culture built largely around violating the tenth commandment (covetousness), not just coveting material wealth but a wholesale coveting of a change of scenery to the social, political, & physical environment God has placed us in. In and out of our churches we're told that with ideal conditions we will truly live gloriously. The problem is that we've made an idol out of our ideals and instead of finding contentment that can only come through a close walk with Christ we think we can find contentment elsewhere. Over and over we're just buying into the lie that the serpent told Eve in the Garden of Eden.

History has told us that there is no escape from the "evils" of this world because the evil of this world is human nature. Adam & Eve were in an ideal setting and still sinned. Cain, the organic farmer who knew nothing about capitalism and wasn't "polluted" by Hollywood or public education still managed to kill his righteous brother, Able. When God led Israel to the promised land, they just perverted it by following false gods and committing every sin know to man within that promised land. In more recent history the Pilgrims began colonizing America using the egalitarian model of their Anabaptist counterparts in Europe. But unlike their European counterparts, their was no surrounding society to act as a safety net if their system should falter. What inevitably happened is that the colony almost starved to death and they had to switch to a capitalist model in which there were more external incentives to be productive, which is why a capitalist system dominated the landscape when this nation was founded.

The current problem today in our culture seems largely coming from two areas, the eastern ideologies (that they tried to implement in China and the Soviet Union which gave birth to disastrous results due to the gross miscalculation in human nature) have been imported into this country through Progressivism and the church has had a softening of its stance on the fallen condition of man since the Second Great Awakening nearly two centuries ago. This is why I believe political activists, Unitarians, and "Pantheist Christians" are often treated like Bible scholars, claiming they have uncovered the "real gospel" (manifesto) of Jesus.

Inversely, what the scripture teaches is that Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6) and that Christ's love is strong enough to give us joy through the circumstances God has placed us in (James 1:2-4). The good news is the message that eternal life and sustainable joy are in a relationship with Christ. Christ's parting words is that we should be in the business of making disciples of all nations and what we see from the acts of the apostles and the epistles of the New Testament is making disciples was their business. Paul was so adamant about this goal he even took up side work as a tent maker to produce more capital for the churches and missionary work inbetween his beatings, stonings, and imprisonment. Slaves weren't told to abandon their masters but to serve them in all respect and humility. Paul did not attempt to subvert Caesar's authority but did attempt to convert him to Christianity. Soldiers (such as Cornelius in Acts and the ones that approached Jesus and John the Baptist) were commended for their faith and told to continue on in their present occupation and be content with their wages. Married believers were told to remain faithful to their spouses and exemplify the love of Christ in order that they may come to faith. Over and over the message is that through the love of Christ we can and should be content stewards with the lot God has given us.