Good Words, Solid Words I; I Tim. 6:6-19

"Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; 8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. 11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. 16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. "

I. Introduction

These culminatory words in I Timothy give sage and practical advice to us, even if there is no reason to think they will be truly embraced in 21st century America. I would be interested to hear from some of my international readers on this--is the rest of the world as money-driven as most Americans are? We applaud a person in America who has ambition to become rich. Donald Trump, for example, is all over the airwaves these days with his time-tested methods for wealth-creation. People flock to his seminars.

Even one of the leading preachers of the early 20th century in America, Russell Conwell, became famous not so much for founding a school, which became Temple University in Philadelphia, but for his sermon "Acres of Diamonds," which he is supposed to have preached more than 5,000 times. This engaging sermon is replete with stories of Arab guides and trips to the Tigris in 1870 and a man who used to live on "Sutter's Ranch" in CA but left it in 1847, sold it to Colonel Sutter, and moved to Southern CA because he heard tales of gold that had been discovered in the South. Though Conwell made many points in his speech/sermon, his simple message is that you can get rich (material/spiritual, emphasizing the former) by staying right where you are...whether in Philadelphia or Topeka or Detroit. The "diamonds" are all around you, and probably are buried deeply in your "yard." Sort of like the Wizard of Oz on steroids.

Stories of rising up from poverty, of finding diamonds on one's lot, so to speak, are legion in American culture. Even though we seem to admire the "Self-made man," whatever that really is, we also admire almost anyone who has "made it" materially. That just seems to be our cultural orientation.

Let me hasten to say, also, that wealth is not the only thing admired in America. I was at a lecture last Thursday evening, for example, by the distinguished Harvard entomologist, E. O. Wilson. He gave a stirring talk not only on the limitations of our knowledge but also of the importance of trying to put together a catalogue or encyclopedia of all life. Upon the lecture's completion, he received a standing ovation. There are many who will pursue knowledge in this culture, who pursue understanding, who pursue adventure, who pursue spiritual development.

For all of that, however, the message this week about the corrosive influence of wealth is one that I think largely falls on deaf ears in America. Or, let's put it differently. It falls on deaf ears to those who put together the advertisements and who make videos of "successful" people. Perhaps there is, however, a strain of intelligence beneath the "external" surface of America which realizes the problem of wealth. Perhaps a message like the one brought from this epistle will "convert" a few more people to the "skeptical of wealth-acquisition" approach to life.

I will comment briefly on three points from the passage: (1) contentment; (2) riches; and (3) endurance.

II. Contentment (vv. 6-7)

The word used for "contentment" here is the Greek word autarkeia. It has a long philosophical heritage but our author "Christianizes" it for his purposes. In Cynic and Stoic philosophy, autarkeia is that sovereign sense of independence or freedom that should be a person's goal in life. It means supporting oneself without others' help. It is closely related to the Stoic notion of "imperturbability" (Gk. ataraxia), the sense that one can cultivate a "tranquility of soul" through gradually accepting all things that come your way. One Stoic author likened our life in the world to that of a dog pulled along behind a cart. We have two choices on how to react to this situation: we can fight against the leash and the cart, but we will be dragged along, injuring ourselves in the process. Or, we can run along with the cart, scarcely noticing the leash around the neck. Stoicism favored the latter approach to life.

The author of I Tim picks up this word but gives it a bit of a new twist, what one might call a "Christian" twist. In fact, his most immediate source for its use is the Apostle Paul, in Phil. 4. In that passage Paul is trying to do two things at once. On the one hand he wants to thank the Philippians for reviving their concern for him by sending monetary gifts for his ministry. On the other hand, however, he tells them that Christ alone is sufficient for him. The two lines that are significant are in 4:11, "For I have learned in whichever situations I find myself to be content" (autarkes). Then, in 4:13, a verse that is the favorite of many, "I have strength in all things through the one who empowers me."

Let's finish these thoughts in the next essay.

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