Contentment and Complacency

Heard a message in church yesterday about contentment. It centered on one of the most misunderstood verses in the bible, Philippians 4:11: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am in, therewith to be content”. This was written by the apostle Paul while in prison. It is often used as a bludgeon to make Christians feel guilty if they aren’t brimming with joy every minute of every day or do not allow themselves to be trampled by anyone with a purpose. But even a cursory analysis reveals that there is clearly a context for Paul’s comments. In fact, Paul may have been the most discontent character in the New Testament. Not content with his profession as a tent maker, Paul embarked on multiple missionary journeys to spread the gospel. He was imprisoned, shipwrecked, beaten, stoned and eventually executed for his ambitions. He was repeatedly not content that his previous mission was enough; he still had more to accomplish. How many people do you know who are so discontent with the current state of affairs that they are willing to endure these hardships, not to mention death, to improve them?

Webster defines content as this: ‘to limit oneself in requirements, desires, or actions’. It’s hard to think of any worthwhile effort in history that was accomplished by limiting oneself in requirements, desires or actions. Women were not content to be denied the right to vote, and blacks were not content to be slaves in America. Martin Luther was not content with the doctrine of the church, so much so that he defined and posted 95 theses describing how it needed to change. Mother Teresa was not content that so many children in the world lived in poverty. Abraham Lincoln would have never become president if he had been content with any of his prior political defeats. Without some level of discontent, nothing would ever get invented, improved, cured or accomplished.

So what was Paul talking about? He recognized that stressing about things he couldn’t change was counterproductive. He believed there comes a point where you’ve done all you can do and then the matter is out of your hands. He later talks of running the good race and fighting the good fight. Paul understood that contentment comes from knowing that you are doing the right things, not necessarily from your circumstances or environment. He also understood that contentment is far different than apathy regarding the world around him. Unfortunately, we seem eager to substitute complacency for contentment.

Our pastor blurred these definitions as well. He attended the prayer breakfast in Washington DC and reported that the top prayer request from President Obama is to mend the deep divisions in our country, starting in Washington. He encouraged us to ‘stop forwarding emails’ and furthering the divide. As utopian as it sounds to have universal harmony, some things are worth fighting for, even at the expense of harmony. This subtlety eludes many of us, especially meek Christians. I’m sure plenty of ministers admonished their parishioners to embrace harmony and peace back in 1776, declaring that all this talk of independence was selfish, sinful, and insubordinate to the governing powers. Where would we be today if we followed that advice?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating a revolution! But we do need to understand that conflict alone is a poor indicator of selfish or separatist behavior. But alas, guilt is an addictive power that some just can’t resist dispensing. Too many ministers measure their effectiveness only by the level of conviction they can generate on Sunday morning. And too many Christians let themselves be bullied into complacency by a religious authority figure under the guise of promoting harmony.

True enough, some seem to go hunting for conflict and even gin up their own when needed. This is, indeed, a big problem with politics today. We’ve become so reflexively opposed to anything coming from the ‘other’ side that we will kill good ideas just because they came from the wrong party. If you can pile up enough defeats for your opponents, you win by default. (See the argument against a 2 party political system in a previous blog about the Massachusetts election). And there are enough bible thumpers who long for the return of the crusades so they can justify their hatred with righteous indignation. But there has to be some middle ground where the average middle-class American draws a line and says this is enough, I will not bend further just to avoid a conflict.

A society’s culture is defined by the values of its people, but only the ones vocal enough to defend their views. We have seen how a very small percentage of the population (think gay rights) can shape public policy by vocalizing their agenda with targeted campaigns. We run the risk of allowing traditional Judaeo-Christian values to become obsolete because leaders shame their people into avoiding conflict. It’s instructive to remember that Jesus didn’t die of old age surrounded by friends. He died at the hands of those offended most by his values. It’s no coincidence that they were religious leaders too.