A wealthy industrialist was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. “Why aren’t you out there fishing?” he asked. “Because I’ve caught enough fish for today,” said the fisherman. “Why don’t you catch more fish than you need?” the rich man asked. “What would I do with them?”
“You could earn more money,” came the impatient reply, “and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase better nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you’d have a whole fleet of boats and be rich like me.”
The fisherman asked, “Then what would I do?” “You could sit down and enjoy life,” said the industrialist. The fisherman replied, “What do you think I’m doing now?”
Isn’t it interesting how some people are content with little while others never seem to be satisfied with so much? Some people have all of the wealth, fame, and opportunity that they could ever ask for, and yet, they are miserable, but others have very little by way of financial security, material possessions, or physical health, but they are perfectly content. We all know people on both sides of this spectrum, but how about you? Are you the type of person who is content with where you are and what you have, or are you the type who says, “If I just had…, then I would be happy?”
The false teachers who were disrupting the Ephesian church were like that: they were not content with what they had. These teachers, who are the reason for Timothy’s presence there, were conceited and had caustic craving for controversy. And all of this, it turns out, because the bottom line is greed and selfishness. They equated “godliness” with financial gain. Just like the proponents of the “health, wealth, and prosperity gospel” of today, they were using religion as a means of profit and personal gain. In this passage, the Apostle Paul highlights the difference between false teaching and true contentment.
False Teaching (2b-5)
Paul begins this section by commanding Timothy to “teach these things”—which refers to genuine faith in Jesus Christ that changes people and people’s relationships. Timothy is to teach these things in contrast to the lies that the false teachers were spreading in Ephesus. They were teaching different doctrines which conflicted with the sound words of Jesus Christ. Any religious teaching or philosophical proposition that is inconsistent with Jesus Christ as revealed in the Holy Scriptures is false and it does not lead to true godliness.
These false teachers had abandoned the teachings of Jesus and his apostles. They had become arrogant and ignorant. They were puffed up with conceit and were wise in their own eyes, but they were trusting in their own foolishness wisdom. This selfishness and desire to engage in controversy lead to an unhealthy discord among the community. Verse 4 lists a whole host of detrimental results (envy, dissention, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction) that come from depraved minds who are deprived of the truth.
In this particular case, the false teachers had adopted a belief that godliness is equated with personal financial gain. This final indictment on the false teachers seems to reveal their true motive of becoming “teachers” in the first place—they saw it as an opportunity to turn a dollar! They did not find their contentment in their identity with Christ, they were using Christ of strive for contentment in financial gain.
Unfortunately, these false teachers still exist in today’s church. You don’t have to watch religious television very long before you start thinking that Christianity is big business. You will hear preachers sounding like pushy salesmen. They will offer you all sorts of religious trinkets: prayer shawls that “invoke the presence of the Holy Spirit,” Holy Water from the Jordan River so you can be baptized with “the water that Jesus was baptized with,” or a glow-in-the-dark cross necklace so that “Jesus will be with you during your darkest nights.”
Even worse, you will hear holy hucksters offering fine religious deals like, “Your back pain will vanish if you send your personal check to our ministry! God will multiply your investment tenfold, but we need your money order by 4p.m. today! All of your prayers will be answered if you give us your credit card number!”
Yes, there is money in false teaching! And false teachers promote it because they are not content with what they have! Likewise, do you know why so many people fall for these ridiculous schemes? Because they are not content with what they have! True Christian faith may not generate monetary wealth, but it does produce peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and humility: all of the things that lead to true contentment. Don’t fall for the false teacher’s schemes!
True Contentment (6-10)
In direct contrast to the false teacher’s use of religion to pursue financial gain, Paul says that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” A life that is truly centered on God and an honest acknowledgment that God has given a person everything he/she needs is true gain. Living by the words of Jesus Christ is the source of true contentment; monetary wealth and material possessions do not produce lasting happiness.
The reason for this is that we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out of it. When babies are born, they have nothing. No food, no clothing, no toys! Everything that they have is provided by someone else. And when we die, we can’t take anything with us. Our homes, cars, machines, jewelry, art, and electronics all get left behind. The old proverb is true: “You never see a Hearse pulling a U-haul.”
So in the interim between birth and death, Paul says that if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. God provides our basic needs and gives us everything we need to be content in this life. Money and possessions do not add up to personal satisfaction. Those are the lies of the devil. That is why Paul says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap” and their ultimate end is destruction. Indeed, the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil because it leads people away from God—it causes people to wander from the faith.
Do you recognize that God has already given you everything that you need to be content in this life or have you bought into the devils lies that you need more to make you happy? Is your identity rooted in a real relationship with Jesus Christ or do you try to impress others with what you have? Have you gotten to the point where you have finally learned that money does not have the power to make you happy, but it does have the power to destroy your soul? Please think deeply about this question: Are you truly content?
Erma Bombeck used her eloquent humor to make people laugh from 1965 to 1996 through her newspaper column titled “At Wit’s End” which chronicled the ordinary life of a Midwestern suburban housewife. By the 1970s, her columns were read, twice weekly, by 30 million readers of the 900 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. Bombeck also published 15 books, most of which became bestsellers; they include such titles as The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, Wait Until You Have Your Own Children, and If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?
In the early 90’s Bombeck was diagnosed with breast cancer and began to experience the emotional roller-coaster that comes with that dreaded disease. Ironically, at that very time Bombeck was diagnosed, she was already working on a book about children with cancer. Every time she began to feel sorry for herself, she remembered the words of one of the little girls she had interviewed. Christina was only eight years old and she had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard and finally said, “I don’t know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!” Indeed, contentment is great gain!
Years ago, Russell Conwell, the founder of Temple University in Philadelphia and part of my Alma Matter, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, told the story of an ancient Persian, Ali Hafed, who owned a very large farm that had lush orchards, lavish grain fields, and luxurious gardens. He was was a wealthy contented man. One day a wise man from the East told the farmer all about diamonds and how wealthy he would be if he owned a diamond mine.
Ali Hafed went to bed that night a poor man–poor because he was discontented. Craving a mine of diamonds, he sold his farm to search for the rare stones. He traveled the world over, finally becoming so poor, broken, and defeated that he committed suicide.
One day the man who purchased Ali Hafed’s farm led his camel into the garden to drink. As his camel put its nose into the brook, the man saw a flash of light from the sands of the stream. He pulled out a stone that reflected all the hues of the rainbow. The man had discovered the diamond mine of Golcanda, the most magnificent mine in all history. Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug in his own garden, then instead of death in a strange land, he would have had acres of diamonds.
Are you out there searching for acres of diamonds, or have you realized that you already have acres of diamonds?