Josh Irby is a tremendous writer, musician, basketball player, and basic all around renaissance man. He has also been a good friend of mine for more than 15 years. Josh is hosting an Open Letter Challenge contest on his excellent website. He asked me to participate, so here is my attempt. The following letter is my response to An Open Letter to You from the Rest of the World.” Would love your thoughts at the end!
Dear World,
Let’s learn to be content in all things! The older I get, the more I see quality of life wrapped up in this little concept of contentment. Allow me to explain.
As I have shared several times in my blog, contentment is somewhat of a theme in my life. Rather, I should I say a pursuit of contentment.
I currently live in an Asian culture where the dominant world-view is atheism. It is taught from birth with religious zealousness. At its ideological core, this philosophical system teaches that this life is it. You live and then nothing.
I hail from an American culture which constantly pushes me away from thinking about the “ugly reality” which is death. Intellectually, we all know death is inevitable. However, my home culture wants us to forget this, push it aside, and just not acknowledge it.
However, in both Asia and the United States, the majority of people seem to be filled with discontentment.
All of this has been on my mind lately as I have thought about this letter to you, World, and as I cracked open my little 3 by 5 inch Bible this morning. These words jumped off the pages.
But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. (1 Timothy 6:6-7)
The wisdom here is palpable. The key to contentment is simply living in unity with our God, comfortable in the reality that this world is temporary. We came into this world with nothing and we will depart with nothing. Just as God has cared for us in our infancy, so he will in our eternity. As he oversaw our entry into this world long before our personal cognition, so will He be there in our passing from this world and onto the next.
There is incredible comfort in this for me!
Personally, I looked towards pleasure, relationships, and personal accomplishments for contentment, yet it was nowhere to be found. However, only in staring directly into both my own personal finiteness AND the infinite beauty and strength of my Creator and Friend do I find contentment. Only in the face of God do I find purpose and a true “resting place” for my naturally discontented soul.
This Bible passage nudges me towards contentment for three simple reasons.
First, I am reminded that the troubles of this present age are but temporal. They will end. There will be a day where all tears will be wiped away. All wars, albeit between countries or individuals, will cease. This is wonderful news.
Second, I see in this passage that all accomplishment will also come to an end. I can rest from my own pursuit of personal validation. Trophies, monuments, and mounds of cash will not follow me beyond these days. Why allow the pursuit of them to bring toil, consternation, and discontentment?
Finally, this passage DOES bring me to a point of focus upon those aspects of life which truly are eternal. My soul will live for eternity. Therefore, the pursuit of godliness (or contentment with God) is worth my time and energy. Those around me will live for eternity. Therefore, serving my fellow man is a good thing. It will bring me towards godliness, leading to contentment.
The longer I live, the more I see contentment as THE issue in my life.
Only in embracing my personal finiteness and the vastness of the God whom I serve, I am freed up to live the life my soul longs to live.
Your Friend,
John
Good on ya for taking up the challenge to write in this contest and the challenge to tackle the topic of ‘contentment’! Neither is an easy feat! Not having read your friend’s letter, I think you’ve done well to challenge a couple of the predominant views regarding this topic. I think, if we’re honest, there would be many other people (myself included) who share this struggle with you. “Only in embracing my personal finiteness and the vastness of the God whom I serve am I freed up to live the life my soul longs to live.” Now that’s good stuff, John! Grace & peace…
Thanks a lot, Alexis! Yeah, it was pretty intimidating entering this little contest. Don’t think I would have if Josh weren’t such a good friend. I’m not used to actually having to write on a topic. I’m more of a “vomit my thoughts out in type” kind of a person.
Hope you are well. . . have a great week!
Good post. I would add/echo that the pursuit of success/contentment can also be a very subtle distraction, so that we seek to have Christ plus this-and-that, whatever those things may be.
Great thoughts. Think you borrowed that from our friend, Rev. Al LaCour!
I’m in my 60s and have recently realized that I was not content. I have not striven for fame or power but yet made my success at my work an idol and a source of meaning. After retirement I realized that my work should not have been my goal. The book of Ecclesiastes has taken on new meaning. All we do is vanity unless God is our supreme goal. Living life for His glory is what counts. Also our work and hobbies have meaning in the doing of them, not in any ultimate glory or praise we may get from our accomplishments. As you said, it all gets left behind. Good article, John. I enjoy reading your thoughts.
Wow, great thoughts Roger! I really appreciate your example of wisdom in adding in your thoughts here on the subject.
Great thoughts!
John, I’m amazed by your wisdom in addressing these issues and thanks for taking up the challenge to write this.
The issue of contentment or lack of it, for me, is something I grapple with regularly and on different levels. It’s like it upgrades itself…or something like that. When I think I have dealt with it, it will show up another day…dressed differently. So, well, contentment, I am not sure when I will say I am fully content but I am headed there.
Thanks for the reminder that, “The key to contentment is simply living in unity with our God, comfortable in the reality that this world is temporary. We came into this world with nothing and we will depart with nothing.” I will mull over that as I deal with my today’s contentment issues.
I hope you are having a good evening!
Tatuu, thanks for your thoughts here. Yeah, I’m not sure, in actuality, that we will ever be TRULY content until heaven. However, we can keep trusting the Lord and depending on Him to change us in this area.
On a different note, I have been praying for you, Jess, and your country with all the news of your country lately. I grieve with you guys during this tragic time.
Your Brother in Christ,
John
Great stuff as usual. I always say that the new technology I’m working on is actually tomorrow’s garbage. It will have its value, but for only a very short time. Of course, we’re given work for good reasons, and we should do our best and enjoy the trophies/monuments that come about along the way; they simply pale in comparison to contentment grounded in eternity.
As always, great thoughts, Tommy. You have some impressive “trophies”, so I knoow you speak from a deep well of wisdom.
Man, we are WAY overdue for a hangout. Hopefully one of these days our paths will cross again.
truly truly love this! Great wisdom threaded all through this.
Stumbled on your blog via a comment from Carlos Whittaker’s blog. Times like this that I love social media. 🙂
Rachel, thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it!
I’ve looked at your blog and it is great. . . good job!