Other People's Money
Pt. 3 - Discontent
I. Introduction
I have learned there are certain things that just don't go well together. Some of this I learned in school and others just by observation. Meat mentioned in the name of a pie. Big dogs and paper routes. A swimming pool and regular diapers. Children and cancer. A Christian and cynicism. Vulgarity out of the same mouth that worships. And at least in the modern version, the church talking about money.
So have said that even though money issues are the number one reason couples get divorced and if the truth was told It is the number one reason most of you are struggling, afraid, and stressed out in your life right now we still seem to get very nervous and even angry when the church addresses money! I understand that the church has brought some of this on itself due to the crazy and outlandish things preachers have said in order to line their own pockets. However, I think we also have used that craziness as an excuse to keep the church from addressing this area because most of us struggle mightily to allow God to speak to this area of our life.
So, since I know that this topic makes people nervous and I also know that Jesus addresses finances more than any other topic (twice as much as heaven and hell combined), have titled this series "Other People's Money"so that as we talk about this topic you can relax because I am not talking about your money. I am talking about your neighbor's money. Touch your neighbor right now and tell them, "Hey you should really listen because he is talking about your money not mine!" OK, now that you are off the hook maybe you can relax and listen. In fact, make sure you take good notes so that your neighbor doesn't miss anything that they might have needed to hear.
William Shakespeare would have never imagined what life would be like today but in the first couple of lines of Richard III he may have coined a phrase that best describes most of our neighbors. He said "Now is the winter of our discontent!" I would submit that this describes most of our neighbors but in fact not only are they in a winter of discontent they are in a prolonged season of discontent. It seems that being discontent is the hallmark of our generation. We never have enough. It is never new enough. We are the generation of upgrades. Our neighbor will take a phone that works perfectly and stand in line for hours and pay money for an identical or nearly identical phone that has a few new features that they don't even really need. Our neighbor will drive a perfectly good car onto a lot and leave it and their money for another car that for all intents and purposes accomplishes the same exact feat as the older car.
Money magazine recently did a survey of their readers that exposes this season of discontent in our society. Money Magazine asked readers how much liquid assets do you need to feel rich? The result of the survey was readers said they need $5 million to feel rich! Not $1 million, not $2, $3, $4, or $4.5. In other words, there is a constant feeling of discontent where we never seem to have enough.
Jesus tells a parable that exposes this tendency to always want more.
Text: Luke 12:15-21
15 Beware! Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have. For real life and real living are not related to how rich we are.”
16 Then he gave an illustration: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 In fact, his barns were full to overflowing—he couldn’t get everything in. He thought about his problem, 18 and finally exclaimed, ‘I know—I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones! Then I’ll have room enough. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “Friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Wine, women, and song for you!”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. Then who will get it all?’ 21 “Yes, every man is a fool who gets rich on earth but not in heaven.”
This parable or story reveals the heart of a discontent man. He has barns that are already overflowing. He had so much that he couldn't hold the blessing he was already experiencing. But he apparently didn't think he had enough because when faced with the opportunity to enjoy what he had and to bless others with the more that was coming his way he tries to upgrade his barns for more. He then tries to convince himself that if he can get new barns he will be satisfied and will then enjoy the fruits of his labors. Discontent! Appetite for new, better, increase is never filled or satisfied.
One of the issues our neighbors have is they are never content with what they have.
The write of Hebrews hits this struggle head on. He doesn't sugar coat or water down this internal battle we fight. He simply and bluntly says this:
Hebrews 13:5 - "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
5-6 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?
5 Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never, never fail you nor forsake you.” 6 That is why we can say without any doubt or fear, “The Lord is my Helper, and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me.”
Satisfied with what you have. Relaxed with what you have. All based on a knowledge that God is with us and for us. Could it be then that if we are discontent that what we are really saying without saying it is that God isn't enough for us and we want a substitute?
Jesus and the writer of Hebrews knew that if our neighbor isn't careful our lives would become consumed with discontentment and we would be driven to the brink of destruction in the pursuit of more.
Being discontent is deadly because it:
a. Causes your neighbor to mortgage their tomorrow for today.
If your neighbor is discontent they will make purchases/decisions today to placate or satisfy that momentary need for satisfaction that will bankrupt their future. Our neighbors have forgotten how to deal with delayed gratification so we want it now even if we can't afford it and even if we don't really need it! So our neighbor will end up bound in the future simply because they can't be satisfied with the house they have now, the car they have now, the phone they have now, the life they have now. So they buy now and pay big time later. We have called it buyer's remorse but it is really the price or fruit of discontentment.
Unless your neighbor can learn to become content they are doomed to living in debt, stressed out, unhappy, and constantly trying to fill a void that can never be filled with stuff.
Come on get your neighbor to say this: I have enough!
The second reason discontent is so deadly is that it
a. Causes your neighbor to contract destination disease.
Max Lucado names this disease the “Whaddifs and Howells.” “What if this or how will I.” Said another way, we often suffer from “When and Then” thinking. We despise today’s moments. We forget to take care of today’s responsibilities and tasks, today’s mundane, today’s unglamorous, today’s behind the scenes . . . waiting for the someday and the one day. We get so locked into tomorrow and into our future that today’s opportunities, blessings, joy, journey, chances, and obligations are forfeited and forever lost.
One man said it like this: "Our continual mistake is that we do not concentrate upon the present day, the actual hour, of our life; we live in the past or in the future; we are continually expecting the coming of some special hour when our life shall unfold itself in its full significance. And we do not observe that life is flowing like water through our fingers, sifting like precious grain from a loosely fastened bag." - FATHER YELCHANINOV
When we are discontent and unsatisfied we fail to take accurate stock or appraisal of where we are currently. There is always this allusive "more" or "enough" that is out there somewhere much like a carrot on the stick. And if we are not careful we wakeup and life has passed us by and what we longed for we actually already had but we simply didn't enjoy. This is true with money, possession, jobs, and relationships.
One area where people often first become discontent involves the old automobile. Too many persons trade or sell their cars before they are used up. There's a big difference between fixing up the old junk heap to drive three more years and buying a new car. Many salesmen make the slick remark, "You just make that easy monthly payment." There is seldom anything easy about that monthly payment. It seems to get harder to make all the time. 2 Corinthians 6:10 applies here. It reads: "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." So in or words, regardless of my current situation or station in life I find contentment and make the best of the moment.
The first ever billionaire in American history and perhaps still the wealthiest family in America was sick with this disease. A billionaire, John Rockefeller was asked how much more money do you need? His response reveals the disease. . . just a little bit more.
If you are sick with destination disease you will never be able to say that enough is enough.
Ask your neighbor . . . are you enjoying today? Are you sick?
Randy Alcorn asked it like this, "What do we believe will really bring us happiness? The daily choices we make—how we spend our time and money—will reveal the answer."
We see the primary task of life as financial survival and kingdom work as an add-on. Jesus saw our lives exactly opposite ... Luke 12:31 - He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.
Now to make sure your neighbor is not confused . . . learning to be content is not an excuse to be lazy. Jesus dispels that idea with the parable of the talents. You should be busy in life. However, you should balance that busyness with contentment and make sure you are spending your time, money, and life on what really matters. To be content you must learn to discern the difference between needs and wants.
So I need to tell you that I am tired of your neighbor being so discontent that they are losing their marriage, kids, health, joy, focus and call in the pursuit of more stuff. Here is another truth lack of contentment reveals lack of thankfulness!!!
