Meditating on 1 Timothy 6:6-10
Godliness is the expression in life about what we know of God. If we know God to be love, then godliness is to love. If God is faithful, then we too should be trustworthy people. If God is kind and compassionate, then as godly people we should be biased towards those who cannot help themselves, those who cannot repay us, those who are shunned and rejected by others just for being who they are. If God has created the world and placed us there to tend it, then we should embrace the world as our home, both to enjoy it as God’s blessing and to care for it as our home. This is what it means to be godly; to live in the truth of God.
Contentment has to do with what drives us (or not). We must not be driven to be godly and be impatient and upset with ourselves (and others around us) for failing to meet God’s high standards. The easiest way to be content in our growth as spiritual beings seeking to be godly is to let God judge our progress and let him be our teacher and coach and you will know that he is no driver but a wonderful coach. “Recognise and acknowledge your failure and let’s go on” would be my paraphrase of 1 John 1:9.
Paul, however, recognises that discontent is often the driver in our spirit and that discontent stems from the desire for power (my take on “financial gain”). The drive for the power to overcome all obstacles feeds on itself and can bring a person to do great things, both for good and for bad. But it is a destructive power. It is, however, what the world has tapped into and continues to teach people that that is the only way because without drive people would be indolent. We must have power to control our circumstances and our environment; but we have no power to control ourselves. We sacrifice our spirit. “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
How can we be content and not be indolent at the same time? Isn’t contentment a lack of ambition? When we are content with just food and clothing would we have nothing else to show in our lives?
This is why Paul talks about godliness with contentment. God is always doing things. He rested on the seventh day but created in the 6 days. When we are godly we will never be indolent but we will also not be driven, which is the consequence of our sinful nature. Instead, we are constrained by God.
As we seek to express in our life the God we know, we will do great things, not in terms of tall skyscrapers and the destructive power of nuclear bombs, but in terms of love, joy and peace in the world—creative expressions in the arts, hospitality, medical and nursing care, a healthy environment, a flourishing biodiversity in fauna and flora, a greater focus on agriculture and the decentralisation of communities from cities fostered by enhanced communication and travel (just letting my imagination run). The way of the world is to accumulate power and cities are the apt expression of it, the way of our good God is to empower everyone and seek the good of all.
(My reflections on 1 Timothy 4-6 include “Honour” as a life principle, The corruption of the mind, Godliness with contentment, and True spirituality.)