Content or Discontent...Which is it?

"The Thought of You stirs us so deeply that we cannot be content unless we praise You, because you have made us for Yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You."  Augustine

 

Augustine's quote, William Barcley, the following passage from Philippians, and our own dear Dianne all cause us to ask this question: "Is it okay to be content, yet discontent at the same time?" Mr. Barcley says, "...godly discontent is present in the contented Christian".  Here is Paul, who we know was VERY content in his letter to the Philippians:

^"12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³ Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14
 

So, what are some examples of how a contented Christian can have a "godly discontent"? Much of our discussion was based on this question and on the passage above.  Here is a peek at some of that discussion:

• "We are most content when we are not satisfied with our accomplishments" -William B. Barcley.  Paul wasn't, neither should we be. 
• The "this" in the verse above,  refers to the preceding verses.  We have not obtained a full knowledge of Christ nor conformity to His image and we should not be content in these areas until we reach heaven. 
• Single-mindedness is necessary in pressing on to know Christ more, and in being conformed to His image.
• We need to imitate Mary, Martha's sister, in her choosing to be single minded.
• Getting to know Christ includes making Him known to others.
• This process of pressing on includes forgetting what lies behind
• This is not forgetting God's past mercies or all that we have learned, but forgetting all bitterness, hindrances in our walk with the Lord, griefs, and sins that have already been forgiven and repented of, to name a few.
• Our striving for the goal of the upward call of Christ is all because of Christ
• "We work because God has worked to make us his and is working with in us." William B. Barcley

To sum up this part of our discussion:

"Still, the peaceful, contented Christian, who knows that his eternity is secure in Christ, presses on to know Christ better. Content, yet discontent. This is a mystery. But it is the way to true peace."  William B. Barcley

 

The next part of our discussion was the answering of the questions in the back of Chapter 4.  Here were some of the comments made:

• Sometimes times of peace and contentment spur us on to more, because they make us want to know Christ and His peace more
• Our Secret Sister program is a picture of this godly discontent.  Our Secret Sister gives us gifts and leaves us notes and because of these gifts we want to know who she is and know her better.  We are not content with the gifts...we want to know her!
• Also...education can be a picture of this godly discontent.  We have a degree, but we should never be content with just that. We want to learn more all through out life
• There are many examples of hurts and hardships because of our Christian walks but we need to learn to remember the big picture and keep our eyes on Christ. And this takes work.
• ^"22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin." Romans 7:22-25
• Witnessing to others helps us to know Christ more.
• because we feel our lack of knowledge and this drives us to Him
• because we are speaking of Him and sometimes the Spirit is speaking to us at the same time
• because when we proclaim Him this sometimes leads to persecution which makes us appreciate all that He went through even more

Lastly...we were given homework as a follow up to this blessed lesson!   Tune in tomorrow for a little further explanation. Until then...

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Who am I?
• Where did I come from?
• Why am I here?
• Where am I going?