Contentment: Rich Simplicity | Part 1

Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast.

We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ.

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Well, good morning, Awakening Church.

Welcome to those who are joining us online.

We're thrilled to have you today.

My name's Ryan, and uh man, what a great, great day to be together.

How good was that extra half hour of sleep?

Did anybody notice it?

Maybe you don't.

I noticed it on Sundays, um, but maybe you won't notice it until tomorrow uh after that.

And maybe you needed to bring a snack to the second service to get you through uh, you know, the the lunch hour there.

Uh anybody, hey, here's another thing.

Um this is shift now.

We're into sermon now.

Here we go.

Um I eat fast.

I know I felt like I was just confessing something really bad, right?

Um, anybody else fast eaters?

Like you eat really thank God, okay.

Uh so we can do meals really quickly.

I mean, I eat really fast.

Um you'll look down, my look up, my plate's gone, you know.

And I blame my brothers.

Uh I have twin older brothers, they're six and a half years older.

I could blame myself, but it'd be easier and better to blame my brothers.

And so six and a half years, think about this.

So when I'm six, seven, eight, they're 13, 14, 15, right?

Um, and so to even get seconds uh in my house, you had to eat fast with teenage brothers that were just consuming everything in front of them.

So I developed this habit of just like there's a scarcity mentality of food at the table.

And if I want to get whatever was the best, you know, dish around dinner, I had to eat really fast to get seconds.

And then that translated into so many other areas, but it but especially my mom would do this at Christmas time.

I love shrimp.

Any shellfish people shrimp?

Okay, good.

Uh we weren't the same as fast eaters.

That's odd.

Um, I'm alone in that.

But but she would get this.

This was such a treat.

She would get the um like a little tray of shrimp cocktail, you know.

It's like, oh, just at Christmas.

It was a small one, and I'd hover over it, right?

And I would have, you know, stand there and I'd just be popping them as fast as I could.

Not to savor, and this is the problem, right?

And you know, I'd be asked, like, did you even taste it, Ryan?

And no, no, it's it's just to cure it, because I don't want my brothers eating the shrimp.

That I'm like, those are my shrimp, and so I'm gonna hover over it and I'm gonna consume it, I'm gonna get it as fast as I can.

Uh, and I and I don't really even enjoy it because it's going so fast.

I look up and I'm in this, you know, shrimp, you know, like uh comatose, uh, because I just was trying to gulp it down and consume it, and there's this scarcity mindset, and like, oh my goodness, I have to get it, I have to keep mine, I have to get mine, I have to protect mine.

And today we're starting a series on contentment.

Contentment.

Go ahead and say that with me.

Contentment.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

A state of satisfaction, an ease of mind and peace, a feeling of quiet happiness.

Doesn't that sound nice?

Don't we need it in this season as we hurry and hustle into the new next holiday season?

Like, wouldn't it be so great to have that?

Isn't it interesting, at least for me, that I think though we can see as kids some of this, you know, dissatisfaction, discontentment, however you want to say it, this need to guard and protect the more that we have these little things, like we don't just grow out of it, we actually simply become more sophisticated in our thinking about it.

And we bring and adopt those things from our childhood into our everyday life.

And I think one of the reasons we don't experience contentment in our everyday life, especially today, is uh we call it or you know, live out what I call the myth of more.

Like we're sophisticated in it.

We're not gonna hover over the um, you know, shrimp and like guard it from your brothers or family members.

We're sophisticated in it, but we have a built-out uh ideology that keeps us captive in discontentment, and it goes something like this when I get blank, then I'll be happy or content or satisfied.

When I get that new job, then I'll be content.

When I finally get enough money in the bank, then I'll feel secure.

When we finally get married, when we finally have kids, when when we're able to own a home, when we're able to own a bigger home, when I'm able to drive the hottest, coolest electric car out, and then you get a Tesla, and you're like, woo-hoo! And then Rivian comes out, and what do you do with that?

You're like, we buy into this that when I get it, then I'll be, then I'll have, I'll finally be satisfied.

And yet we never quite arrive because then this other thought comes, and it's simply this if some is good, more is better.

Right?

So you get it.

You're like, oh man, I got it.

Oh, that's good, but that is good.

So a little bit more would be better, a little bit more money in the bank, a little bit more, you know, um uh progression in my work, a little bit more, you know, renown, a little bit more followers, whatever your more is, if some's good, then more has gotta be better because we got it, it was good, it felt good, and I need a little bit more.

And underneath this ideology is this thinking more is the key to life, happiness, and safety.

We fundamentally begin to buy into this idea that if I get more and attaining more and having more, it's the key to life.

And you're like, no, no, no, Ryan, I'm a Christian.

Jesus is the key to life, okay?

I I got the right answers.

We're in church.

I may not give that right answer at work, that's a different story, different sermon.

But more is the key to life.

But here it is, it's the key to happiness because it's our ever-consuming pursuit, and it is the key, we think the key to security.

And here's the reason why I know that we have inflation, and we have a looming recession.

And what has happened to your contentment, your security, your peace?

Right?

The 401k, you're on the verge of retirement, and your 401k just dropped 30%, and all of a sudden you're filled with anxiety and fear.

Will I be able to retire?

Because more.

Your stock market is going down.

Oh no, the cost of goods is going up.

I need more to be secure.

How much more?

I'm not sure because when I get it, I just need a little bit more.

And we buy into the myth of more, thinking that if when we get it, when we finally get it, we'll actually then be satisfied and yet we never arrive.

Let me ask you this, as we think about this, unpack this.

Why do we own more but possess less peace?

You ever thought about that?

Like we live in a time, just think about this, in the most wealthy country in the world at the most prosperous time in world history with the greatest amenities that anyone on the planet has ever experienced.

Yet we have less peace in our hearts, don't we?

Why does owning more create more anxiety instead of security?

Why is it when you buy that new car, it doesn't create more security, it creates more anxiety because the old car you didn't care if anybody hit.

The new car, hey, don't touch that kid.

So don't don't you dare bring that milkshake in the car.

Right?

You're gonna double park that.

You're like, I don't care what people think about me, I'm not letting someone scratch it, and then you scratch it, somebody, not you, somebody scratches it because you double parked.

That's a whole nother story.

But why do we have more and less peace and owning more?

It creates more anxiety because isn't it funny that the more you have, the more you have to worry about?

And when you had nothing in the bank, you really didn't worry as much.

Why does someone else's more?

Think about this, tend to rob us of happiness with our more?

Like, why does when somebody else get a little bit more than you and you go like, well, I have more, but I don't have as much that they have, and why does it tend to rob you?

Oh, they got the new car.

Oh, look, did you see her outfit?

Oh my gosh, look at that.

Oh, those shoes, those are on fire.

Do you know how expensive those shoes are?

Why does someone else's more tend to rob us of happiness with our more?

And think about this, parents.

Why does giving our kids more tend to hurt them more than help them?

Isn't it true that as parents, one of the things we say that we really want is we want our kids to have more than what we had?

And yet what's fascinating, and Malcolm Gladwell does a whole thing on it in David and Goliath, is there's actually an inverted U curve that the more you make, there's a point in which you make so much that it actually hurts your kids than helping them.

And think about this.

Why do those in parts of the world with less seem to have more peace and happiness?

Why can you go with those who don't have running water in their house, who don't have electricity, who don't have garbage pickup?

And if you've ever been, and I'd encourage you, especially if you never, you know, you know, we do all these vacations, they're wonderful and fantastic, you travel to these great places, but if you haven't done like a trip where you actually get to see how a majority of the world lives and get an eye-opening and go, like, what you'll find out is they have far less than you ever have.

And yet they seem to possess far more peace and happiness than you ever could.

And think about this too.

Um, last one.

If I asked you to think about the time when you were most content, go ahead.

When you are most satisfied, isn't it true that the time that you're thinking about, maybe you're married and is early married, maybe as you're strapped and you're a broke college student, you actually had less.

And yet there was this deep contentment.

See, the myth of more has undermined and robbed us of our contentment.

And so today, let's wrestle with this.

How do you cultivate contentment in a world constantly trying to make you dissatisfied with everything you own?

It's the demand, it's the relentless demand.

I mean, everything you own, it's like, friends, look at this.

I I have a confession.

I have an iPhone 10.

I know it's hideous.

I mean, how could I be so far behind the Apple drops, you know?

I'm not at the iPhone 14 Plus Pro Max, whatever thing.

But we have a relentless demand that says, whatever you have, regardless if it's working just fine, you need to upgrade it and get better new next now.

And advertising and social media and companies, it all is driven towards making you dissatisfied with what you own.

How in the world do we cultivate contentment, satisfaction, peace in a world that's constantly trying to create a deep dissatisfaction with everything you own?

Uh, today I want to talk about rich simplicity.

Rich simplicity.

Why don't you go ahead and say that with me?

Rich simplicity.

We're gonna talk about this whole idea of experiencing this richness in life, and it's actually quite, quite simple.

In fact, the Apostle Paul is gonna be talking to his protege Timothy, and it's a letter that he's writing.

Uh, we call it 1 Timothy, because it's the first letter that we have that he wrote to Timothy.

But he's gonna be writing to Timothy, his protege, who's pastoring this church uh in Ephesus.

Now, for context's sake, Ephesus is like the crown jewel of cities in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.

Ephesus is the de facto capital for the Roman Empire in the Asian territory, Asian province.

And Ephesus holds and boasts one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis or Diana.

I mean, people travel from all over.

This is one of the most influential cities in the ancient world, one of the most affluent cities in the ancient world.

And what happened here in the trade and the commerce, people traveled from all over to be here.

Sounds a little bit like Silicon Valley.

And it was filled with people who had a lot more than most had.

And the Apostle Paul has an incredibly powerful word for us.

And how do we cultivate contentment when we live under this constant pressure to be satisfied with everything we own?

And by the way, if you're like, Ryan, I don't know if I'm gonna make it through the whole sermon, that's okay.

Let me give you the big idea right now, okay?

So you can go like, oh, I got it, and then we're gonna unpack it.

The big idea, rich simplicity, it's really simple, is contentment is a decision of the heart, not a destination in life.

Contentment, this the rich simplicity of it, is actually a decision of the heart.

Here's incredible, incredible.

Think about this.

You can start to walk out today content.

Isn't that crazy?

Like, like it's a decision that you can make, not a destination.

We treat contentment like a destination.

When I get, then I'll be.

Once I have, I'll finally arrive.

Always striving, never arriving.

It's this destination.

And so it's always this elusive thing in front of us, and he's going like, no, it's a decision that you make, and he's gonna unpack it for us in 1 Timothy 6, if you got your Bibles, verse 6, contentment, a decision of the heart.

And it begins this way but godliness with contentment.

Godliness?

What is godliness?

It's following the way of life from the author of life.

That's simply what godliness is.

It's the way of life from the person who authored life, who knows how life ought to be.

And he says, that's godliness with contentment is great gain.

Great gain.

Why?

Well, we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it, but if we have food and clothing, our basic necessities, we'll be content with that.

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

So many people would go to Ephesus because that's where the markets were, that's where the jobs were, that's where you went to be prosperous, a little bit like Silicon Valley.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

How do you cultivate contentment in a world constantly trying to make you dissatisfied with everything you own?

What's the decision of the heart?

And he's been, I want to begin with just a fundamental, foundational truth, then some practical steps for us, and a word of warning, and then just give you one basic, really core practice, okay?

That you go, like you can walk out of here and you go, I can decide today whether I'm gonna begin to cultivate contentment.

The foundational truth is if we're buying into the myth of more especially, is simply this contentment has a better return than more.

Contentment.

If we're talking about a return on investment, right, and you guys like to invest, I can see it in your eyes.

Uh or maybe not right now, you don't.

You're like, I hate investing.

This is the worst time ever.

The Fed, unbelievable.

Why do you keep doing this to us?

Right?

But contentment has a better return on investment than more.

See, we think the more we get, the better off we'll be.

And what he's he says, but godliness with contentment is great gain.

In fact, he's using financial terms here.

That word great is the word megas.

Where we get our word mega, right?

It's this incredible, huge, massive gain.

It's this um where he's talking about it, where is it?

Hang on, I had in my notes.

Remarkable or out of the ordinary in degree, in magnitude or effort.

It's this incredible gain.

See, we fundamentally assume that more is better, don't we?

And so if I get more, then I'm better off with more.

One example that often happens is a promotion.

And isn't that the pursuit?

Isn't that what we're looking for?

It's to be upwardly mobile, to make your way through the ranks to somehow achieve a level of respect and clout and be able to, you know, be in charge of your own destiny.

And so promotion, of course.

Oh my gosh.

And we all know that you can get over-promoted.

I have a friend whose name is Will, and Will was a part of a startup here in the valley, like a number of you have been part.

And uh Will was a he was you know on the ground floor early on, got all the options, and this company just took off and really, really grew.

And he was, you know, over the VP of design and all that side of it.

And at some point he realized he's like, Ryan, my quality of life is down here.

I don't want to do this.

I'm making this, I'm in charge of this, but that's actually not what life is about.

See, because you can get promoted, you can get a bigger salary, you can be in charge of more people, you can have a title in front of your name, but you can actually have less peace, you can actually have more anxiety, more travel, less life.

You can have all those things, and I'm not against promotion, so don't go like Ryan said, I'm not gonna take this promotion.

No, but you should think about it.

Because more is not always better.

You know what he did is so fascinating?

He actually promoted one guy that he hired to his position and he demoted himself.

Whoo! Is that radical in our day?

And he loves that decision.

Why?

Because contentment, contentment, it has a better return than more.

Well, why do we run after more?

There's a single word why we run after more, and the word is simply comparison.

Comparison.

We compare, don't we?

Constantly.

Keeping up with the Joneses.

What do they have?

What do the neighbors have?

And and and then like weddings today, they're crazy.

I know some of you are getting married, coming up on 20 years married this December.

Um, yeah, amazing.

But we didn't have interest, uh, interests.

We uh Instagram or Pinterest or any of those sort of things.

So we didn't know even how to do a wedding or what a wedding really should have looked like.

And of course we would have done some things differently, but we it's crazy.

You start to compare, and you're like, well, I have to have this, I have to look this, and oh man, my proposal has to look this way.

And then there's promposal because then now it's not just a proposal there, and now a promposal, and and that's gotta be a big deal, and we just compare our way out of contentment.

The biblical word, we don't like to use this word for comparing, is called envy.

Yeah, sounds nasty, doesn't it?

It's like, no, no, no, compare's better, Ryan.

I'm sorry, it's the word envy.

In fact, the most um wise person who ever walked the planet, Solomon, who experienced it all, had it all, the wealthiest person, he wrote these profound words in Ecclesiastes 4 4.

He says, And I saw the toil and all the achievements spring from one person's envy of another.

All the striving, all the running, all the tiring and wasting of your life is envy.

Envy means I just need what they have to be respected.

I just need what they have to be accepted.

I just need what they have to be loved.

It springs from envy.

This too is meaningless, a chasing after a wind.

Better is one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and a chasing after a wind.

So in fact, there is something better than more.

It's satisfied with what you have in your hands already.

It's better to have one handful with tranquility, with peace and contentment than to have two handfuls to end up with more and always striving, anxious, stressed out, trying to achieve.

Another way to say our foundational truth: contentment is better return than comparison.

Contentment has a far better return than comparison.

And comparison, by the way, you can never compare your way to peace.

You will never compare your way to contentment.

You will never compare your way and all of a sudden wake up and go, like, oh, I'm so satisfied.

No, it will constantly create dissatisfaction.

And you're just looking at where they traveled, how they live, and watching their highlight reels and going like, my life sucks.

Contentment has a better return than comparison.

Another way to say this is comparison has the power to steal your contentment.

To quote the great philosophical movie of the 90s, Cool Runnings, one of the characters said, if you're not enough without it, you'll never be enough with it.

I know it's good, right?

You had no idea.

Go back and watch the movie.

And I remember, we can even spiritualize this.

I remember in my early 30s, I began to compare.

I began to compare where I was at in my life, in my ministry, and what was happening to other people with a similar stage of life.

I'm like, Stephen Furtick and I, we're similar ages.

Oh, Judith Smith and I, we're similar ages.

Look at what they're doing.

Oh my gosh.

And it just began to rob and still your peace.

Contentment has a far better return.

Foundational.

We have to go, you know, more is not necessarily better.

And then let's give, what do we do?

Two things I want to call us to do, or the apostle Paul is going to call us to do first.

Focus on that which will last forever.

Focus on what will last forever.

For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

You came into this world naked, you're going to leave.

Naked.

You didn't bring anything into it.

And you can't take anything with you.

And yet we spend the short little bit of our time trying to amass, trying to gain, trying to attain why.

You can't take what you make.

Life is short, life is fragile, and life is fleeting.

Focus on that which will last forever.

And when you begin to understand that life is short and you brought nothing into the world, and you can take nothing out of it, then you understand, you know what?

When I come into the world, anything that I had has just been passed on to me, and I'm gonna eventually pass it on to someone else.

And so instead of trying to gain all for me, I'm gonna recognize that I, for this one little blip of time that I get to call my life, I'm a steward.

I'm entrusted.

And at some point, I will actually pass this on.

And will I invest my time?

Will I invest my treasures?

Will I invest what I have for eternity, for that which will last forever?

And by the way, nobody at the end of their life said, I really wish I got a second house.

I really wish I would have worked longer hours.

In fact, if you were given a week to live, no, no, well, let's just go.

If you were given a month to live, oh not even that.

If you were given a year to live.

Isn't it interesting how all of a sudden all of life becomes clear in priorities just that one little exercise, and you're realizing none at all.

Absolutely.

Focus on that which will last forever.

Moses in Psalm 90 would say it this way: Teach us to number our days, O Lord, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

You want to navigate this life wisely and well.

You actually need to count the days that you have and steward them well.

The first thing he's gonna tell us is focus on that which will last forever and that which carries the weight of eternity.

And then he says, Don't confuse once for needs.

Don't confuse once for needs.

And the more you have, the easier it is for once to move into the need category.

Right?

He said, We brought nothing in, we take nothing out, and then he goes on to say what?

He says, but if we have food and clothing, needs, we'll be content with that.

Food, clothing.

You guys remember Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right?

You studied that.

You're like, of course.

I was just thinking about that the other day, Ryan.

On the base level is like food, it's physiological, it's it's you know, food and clothing.

And the next one is security, right?

That you need to feel safe.

The next one's belonging, right?

And you're just working your way up at the top is self-actualization, which um isn't the way we define self-actualization in our day.

That's a whole nother sermon.

But the higher up we get away from the base core needs, we then begin to shift our wants into needs.

Here's what's amazing.

The apostle Paul would say it this way in Philippians 4 12, in clarifying this.

He says, I know what it's like to be in need, and I know what it's like to have plenty.

So, real quick, the issue isn't about having a lot.

It's not I need to have little or have a lot.

The issue is what has you?

He says, I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, well, well fed or living in plenty or in one.

And then the most often quoted passage out of context in the Bible.

I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.

Did you even know that was the context?

Like Ryan, I got it tattooed right here.

The context is contentment.

The context is you can, and this is even a bigger deal, you can have contentment when you have a lot.

That's the power of Christ working in the moment and in you.

And you can have contentment when you don't.

I can do all this through Christ who gives me strength.

You know what?

Here's what it is.

We're gonna focus on what will last forever, and we're not gonna confuse our wants for our needs.

And the more we have, the more we transition our wants into needs, and we say it like this well, I just need a new car.

What do you?

I just need new shoes.

There's no holes.

I need a new outfit.

I got a big date, I need to get a new outfit.

Right?

We we we use the word need so often.

Here's what's fascinating.

I shared this with you.

Um, my wife and I were like, we just bought a house, really excited.

We live 15 years uh in the same house we've rented for 15 years, and because um the generosity of some family early inheritance, my wife, she's a real estate agent, she's done pretty good, uh, which we're really grateful for that.

We've got three kids heading off to college here, uh, so that's needed, yeah.

And so we're able to buy a house, and some things that I've never thought about are becoming a reality.

See, we live in a 900 square foot house with five kids, five people and a dog, um, and we have one full bathroom and a half bath, and I've never we've never had 15 years, my wife and I, we've never had a closet.

All my clothes are under the bed, so as it got cold, I was looking for my jackets, I don't know where they are, and I couldn't find them, and eventually it's all the bin that got lost in the middle of the bed, you know, underneath, and I feel like I got my jacket back, all right, you know.

I'm like, in the new house, we're gonna have a closet.

Like, what is that like?

I can hang things.

I mean, five people and showers in the morning getting ready, it's a challenge with one.

I we I we don't have a vanity or like a medicine cabinet, and so my um yeah, like you know, the stuff I use to get ready, my deodorant and all those sort of things.

What are those called?

Toiletries, thank you.

They're in a box above the dryer.

So every morning I take my box down, and I get you know all of my stuff.

And here's something that I've had when we're just like talking about this, like, oh my gosh, someone I remember someone saying this, oh my gosh, how have you lived like that for 15 years?

Like you suffering for Jesus.

And I say, Amen.

Don't you forget it.

Here's what's fascinating.

I go in this house, 900 square foot, and there's this sink and a faucet, and I turn it on, and water comes out.

Turn it off, stop.

I mean, I just turn it on and it's clear and it flows.

I'm responsible.

I understand we're in a job.

I don't just leave it on, no.

My wife trained me well.

I turn it off during brushing my teeth and turn it back on.

But can you realize most of the world does not have running water in their house, and we get to do this?

We have water even in our toilet.

I won't go that far because I know it gets a little gross, but how crazy we have a room that just takes it away.

We flip a switch and all of a sudden light.

And we take for granted these little things that most of the world doesn't even have.

But if I have food or clothing, I'll be content with that.

Don't confuse wants or needs.

Those are nice.

Let's do let's call them what they are.

They're nice, but they're not a need.

Let's be clear on that.

And when you get clear on that, then you go, man, that's nice, and I'm gonna enjoy that.

We'll talk more about that next week of how to enjoy the good that God has given you.

But when they become needs, then they become expectations.

They become demands, and we live discontent, dissatisfied lives.

Focus on what will last forever.

Don't confuse needs or wants for needs, and then he's gonna give us this warning.

And here's the warning chasing more always leaves you wanting more.

He's actually gonna set up more as an appetite.

You know what appetite is?

Right?

Yeah.

Right now you're hungry.

You're saying, Ryan, land the plane.

We have a lunch because I'm hungry.

It's an appetite.

And here's what he says: listen to this.

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation.

That word want is a desire or purpose, an appetite, a strong want.

Fall into temptation and trap into many foolish, harmful desires or cravings or appetites that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Chasing more always leaves you wanting more.

Why?

Because it's an appetite, and an appetite is never finally or fully satisfied.

And so the more you acquire, here's the danger the more you desire.

The more you acquire, it's natural, it's an appetite.

What you feed grows.

Isn't it amazing how you can eat the biggest dinner the night before and you're stuffed?

And the next day, I've been guilty of saying this later in the day.

Man, I'm starving.

Because it's never fully satisfied.

So you have to be aware of more.

It's nice, but we have to understand it's an appetite, and what you feed grows.

And we understand if you consume more sugar, you're gonna crave more sugar.

The more you acquire, the more you desire.

And chasing more always leaves you wanting more.

It has this thing that just is a pool.

You gotta be aware, you gotta have this.

I, you know, like, okay, I'm I'm gonna, as we step in, even as we step into this new house, I'm like, okay, I want to be so aware.

I don't ever want to lose the gratitude of, like, whoa, a closet.

That's unbelievable, or a drawer for my deodorants.

Wow.

He goes on for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Some people eager for money have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Here's the reason why this is such a big deal.

He says, the love of money, you're like, well, Ryan, I don't love money.

No, you're right.

You love what money tries to provide.

And I love what money tries to provide.

And some of you are like, no, actually, I do love money.

Let's just be real.

Let's keep it.

I love when my stock market is going up, uh, portfolio that is.

I love um, you know, building this.

But you know what I love?

I love the security that it often tries to provide.

I love the comfort that it tries to provide.

I love the autonomy and the freedom that it provides.

Like that is, you know, I may not say I love money, but I love what it provides.

And here's so what's interesting.

For the love of money is a root.

So if earlier we quoted the most often misquoted verse out of context, this is just the most often misquoted verse in the Bible.

See, it doesn't say for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, but it does say it's a root.

Now, here's what's fascinating about roots, and you know this.

The root is the source of life for any plant, right?

And if you have a weed in the garden, if you just cut the top off, what's gonna happen?

The weed's gonna grow back.

You get this.

If you get the root, you get it out.

We have to pay attention when the Bible says of the root.

A lot of the stuff we deal with is just surface stuff and behavior modification.

When he says it's a root, you should pay attention.

You're like, I don't really think I have a problem with this.

I think we live in the most wealthy country in the world, and if I'm discontent, we have a problem with it.

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

Well, let me just unpack what does the love of money look like and what is a root on here?

Love of money, a strong desire to get or keep money or possessions.

I want to get it, I want to keep it, I gotta have it.

And then this idea of evil, because I want to give you a word we don't use a whole lot.

Um, because I think sometimes we wrestle, well, evil, I don't know about evil, maybe not the best.

You know, we try to squirm out of this.

Like, I don't want to, evil's strong, Ryan.

I know it's God's word, it's deal with it.

Um but the evil, another word for it, pernicious.

Go ahead, next slide.

Pernicious.

We don't use that.

Isn't that fun?

Say that.

That's a fun word to say.

Pernicious, yeah.

Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

The love of money has a harmful effect on your life, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

It's one in which you don't notice it, and you're just, it's where he's talking just earlier, it's a temptation, it's a trap.

You don't notice it and it takes you over.

Think about this, and we know the stats.

Half of all marriages in America end in divorce.

That's Christian or non-Christian.

Did you know that 80% of divorced people indicate that financial issues played a primary role?

Think about this.

If we just, as the church, really got serious about what God's word said about money and our hearts and decided how we were going to address this, maybe our relationships would be way better.

Our marriages would be stronger, kids would grow up in a home with both parents together.

Well, how do you counteract the love of money?

Rich simplicity.

It's not complicated.

It's just give generously.

How do you counteract it?

Give generously.

That's it.

I realized this recently, because I'm like, man, we for most of our life we've never made a lot.

Then Jenny, you know, started working, we have more than we've ever had.

And we've decided in our giving from the early days, my parents taught me give, save, spend, give 10%, save 10%, live on the rest.

And we've been doing that.

And so we have this percentage-based giving, it's regardless of what you make.

And I realized that man, the love of money was creeping and getting in my heart when I saw that the amount of money starting to go out.

You ever do this?

Because when you do percentage-based, it's not like you're giving more, it's just you have more.

It's not that you're more generous, it's just you have more.

And I looked at that and there was this tension in my soul.

I'm like, oh, where did that come from?

What in the world?

And I had a choice to make.

A decision of the heart to make.

Will I just begin to drop the percentage down as the income goes up?

By the way, the richer you get studies show, the less generous you become, ironically.

Or no.

I'm gonna continue to give generously.

I wrestled with this question.

Maybe for you.

How difficult is it for you to give consistently, systematically, and significantly?

How difficult is it to give consistently?

Not one time you see a person on the side of the road, you give to them, or you, you know, like, hey, there's something happening at church, there's a special thing.

Oh, yeah, I'm gonna give, but consistently, like it's a habitual part of your plan.

Like, I'm gonna consistently give of what I make systematically, like you have a plan for it, like the Bible says, the first fruits of what you come in, like give it away.

Like I have a system and a plan.

It's not just like, hey, whatever is left at the end of the month, let's figure it out.

No, I have a system and that is significant, like where you choose a percentage, and it's not like, oh, well, this is nice.

How difficult you want to see is if the love of money is in you?

What would it look like consistently, systematically, significantly?

And here's why this is so important.

And this is what Jesus would say.

We've said this over the years.

Where your money goes, your heart follows.

A decision of the heart.

Where your money goes, your heart follows.

Like there's this invisible line between your stuff and your possessions and your heart.

And when you begin to redirect it after the purposes of God, when you begin to give it away, when you allow the love of money to not have its way, but then you begin to steward it because life is short, eternity is long, and I'm gonna focus on that which will last forever, and I begin to steward it that way, then your heart begins to turn that direction.

And it releases the grip of greed and the love of money on your heart.

Jesus said it this way do not store up for yourself treasure on earth where moth and vermin destroy, and where the stock market drops every time the Fed raises.

Oh, that's not in there.

Um but store up for yourself treasure in heaven, eternal value where moth and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in the stin.

Why?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Rich simplicity.

Cultivating contentment.

Contentment has a far better return than more.

And so we're going to focus on what will last forever.

We're not going to confuse wants or needs.

We recognize that chasing more always leaves us wanting more.

And here's the practice.

We understand wherever our money goes, our heart follows.

And so if you want to experience contentment, you actually just have to practice generosity.

You just have to practice it consistently, systematically, and significantly.

Because wherever your money goes, there your heart follows.

And for some, you do that.

And you've experienced the power of contentment.

But I'd say for many of us, we don't actually lean in.

And you have that moment that I had where you look at it and you go, ooh.

Oh, you know what?

I don't like that.

I don't like what that's doing in me.

I don't like the hesitancy of my soul.

I don't like that my natural inclination is that little kid around the shrimp that wanted to make sure his brothers didn't get any of his shrimp, and so he just consumed it as fast as he could.

I gotta get mine, I gotta protect mine, I gotta secure mine.

Rich simplicity is just giving generously.

Contentment.

It's a decision of the heart.

And for you, where are you at?

What decision do you need to make?

And by the way, this isn't a message to get you to give to awakening.

I think it's a great place to give, and you should give here.

But many of you don't know us, you don't trust us.

Give somewhere else.

Give to some incredible place that God's doing incredible work at.

But for contentment's sake, give.

For your heart's sake, give.

If you want your heart to break for orphans and widows in their distress, just like James says, start giving to organizations and places like that.

And what you'll find is your heart will go there.

And so, as we close, we'll pick it up next week with living richly.

Like, how do you actually live richly?

Because Ryan, this was a bit of a downer at points, I'm not gonna lie.

Like, there's a rich life that God invites us into, and he actually calls us to enjoy our stuff.

That's next week.

How do we live richly?

Well, let me leave you with this question.

What's your contentment worth to you?

Because isn't it true that you've been going about life, striving after the myth of more and trying to gain and attain?

And how's that working?

What's your contentment worth to you?

Would it be worth trying for a season?

Say, God, I'm just gonna for a season.

I'm gonna start giving generously.

It's gonna be consistent.

There's gonna have a system, a plan.

It's gonna be significant.

I gotta have that bit of like, okay, um, I'm not just kind of adding a little extra at the end of the month.

What's your contentment worth to you?

And we'll pick it up next week.

With contentment and living risk week.

Why don't you stand with us and we'll close?

Heavenly Father, I thank you for my friends.

And we live in a world of excess.

And yet what's crazy is we're constantly dissatisfied.

Leave us with, we can do all of this, whether in plenty or in want, through Christ who gives us strength.

And so, right now, in this moment, God, would you strengthen each heart?

Would you give them the wisdom to know what to do with what they just heard, and then the courage to follow through and do it.

In Jesus' name, amen.

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