If you are discontent, then you need this post. If you are perfectly content, then you need it too. We were made for contentment, but ever since Adam decided that God wasn’t enough, contentment has been a problem for all of us. Evidence of this problem is everywhere, from storefronts to the thoughts in our head. Some of our discontentment is for superficial reasons, and some of it from sickness, hurt, loss, and sin with its various and pervasive effects.
What does Christianity offer to discontented people like us in an unsatisfying world like this? Exactly what we need. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus came to die for our sins of discontent. But he also came with thirst-quenching living water. He came to satisfy us with the bread of heaven—that is, himself. He promises that one day he will satisfy us completely in a whole new creation.
C. H. Spurgeon put it this way:
The Christian is the most contented man in the world, but he is the least contented with the world. He is like a traveler in an inn, perfectly satisfied with the inn and its accommodation, considering it as an inn, but putting quite out of all consideration the idea of making it his home.
Rick Phillips and Thabiti Anyabwile recently teamed up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to address the theme of contentment in the Christian life at Clarus ’14. Attended by 700 from across the region, Clarus is TGC’s Southwest Regional Conference hosted by Desert Springs Church in partnership with TGC Albuquerque.
Click here for photos from this year’s conference, here for songs we sang together, and here to download the song “My Father Planned it All.” This is an old text to a new tune recorded live at this year’s conference and a great match for this year’s theme.
Thabiti Anyabwile
“Contentment Consummated: The New Heaven and New Earth” – Revelation 21:1-22:6 (audio, blog recap)
“Contentment with Our Possessions” – 1 Timothy 6:3-10 (audio, blog recap)
“Contentment through Communion with Christ” – 1 John 2:28-3:3 (audio, blog recap)
“Contentment with Christ’s Body, the Church” – 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 (audio, blog recap)
Rick Phillips
“Contentment Lost: Sin and Restlessness” – Genesis 3 (audio, blog recap)
“Contentment Found: Jesus Saves and Satisfies” – John 4:10-15 (audio, blog recap)
“Contentment with Our Weaknesses” – 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 (audio, blog recap)
“Contentment with Identity” – Psalm 16 (audio, blog recap)
Panel Discussion
Thabiti Anyabwile and Rick Phillips (audio, blog recap)
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
