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April 17, 2008
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Content with the Patriots, by Patrick D. Odum
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought
nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if
we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (1 Timothy
6:6-8 TNIV).
Hundreds of poor children in Nicaragua are wearing new shirts and caps,
thanks to the relief organization World Vision and the National
Football League. The shirts and caps, donated by the NFL and brought to
the southern Nicaraguan city of Diriamba, commemorate the 2008 Super
Bowl Champion New England Patriots.
Wait. What?
In case you aren't a football fan, the heavily-favored Patriots
actually lost the Super Bowl to the New York Giants -- in the process
ruining the first perfect season in the NFL in 35 years or so. But, did
you ever wonder how championship teams get their shirts and caps to put
on while they're still celebrating on the field or court? Well, the
answer is that the companies who make the clothing crank out versions
with both teams as winners so they can start selling their product by
getting them on the players while they're still on TV. However, that
leaves a lot of shirts and hats that celebrate the wrong team's
victory; so some years ago, World Relief started taking those shirts to
the poor in nations in Latin America and Africa. Better that than to
destroy them, which was what happened before World Relief got involved.
I suppose that for some folks, what team logo is on their shirts just
doesn't make a blip on their radar screens.
Sometimes I wish that this was a world where everyone had the luxury of
worrying about what logos or labels were on their clothing. Sometimes I
wish that it was a world where everyone could be discriminating about
what they eat. Sometimes I wish that everyone could choose to live in
the best neighborhoods, go to the best schools, and drive the best
cars. If we all had the privilege of being finicky, that would mean
that everyone had plenty and no one went without.
Maybe kids in Nicaragua ought to care that their t-shirts and caps have
the wrong Super Bowl champ on them.
But there are hundreds, thousands, who don't. Millions in our world who
wouldn't. Millions who couldn't care less what neighborhood they live
in, as long as they have a place to live. Millions of parents who would
love for their kids to go to a school, a real school, somewhere, so
that they could learn and grow and stretch and have a chance to escape
poverty and hopelessness. Millions who would give anything, anything,
if they could give their kids three meals a day, or even just one, but
instead have to watch their children grow weak and malnourished.
And what do those millions do? They go on about their lives, they do
what they can, and perhaps by some miracle they get through the day
able to find life's absolute necessities for themselves and their
families. And if they can do that for that one day, then they're
content. More than content. Ecstatic.
What if we committed to a generosity that was more sacrificial?
When was the last time you opened your closet and thanked God from your
heart that it was full of clothes? Or do we more often worry about
having "nothing to wear" -- meaning by that, of course, nothing that
makes us look 10 years younger and 10 pounds lighter. When was the last
time you opened the refrigerator or the cabinet and praised God that it
was full of food? Or walked into a supermarket and thanked him for the
abundance you enjoy and the means to buy it? Or are we more likely to
complain about leftovers again, or because something isn't prepared
just how we like it, or because we have to make another trip to the
store? "Godliness with contentment ..." They go together. An important
reminder, in a society where so many of us could, if we chose, enjoy
the luxury of being particular. "We brought nothing into the world, and
we can take nothing out of it ..." the Bible reminds us, probably
because we can easily lose track of what life is all about.
Why do we have that compulsion to accumulate more and more? Why do we
give in to it? After all, it isn't like we can take what we accumulate
with us when our lives here are done. Obvious, of course, but it sort
of opens our eyes to the farcical nature of our drive to acquire. The
more we accumulate in this world, the more we leave behind when we go
on to the next.
As long as there are people doing without the basic necessities of life
in our world, godliness demands contentment and gratitude of us. It
demands that we praise God for all the good things that he gives us,
and it demands that we learn to say "no" to that voice inside that
continually demands more, and better, and to eventually choke it down.
If we have learned the habit of avarice, godliness demands repentance.
And if we have been blinded and deafened by our plenty to the crushing
needs of so many around us, godliness demands that we open our eyes and
ears.
The fact is that there are just too many people in our world without
the basic essentials of life. For a few of us in one of the most
prosperous countries on the planet, how can we be anything but content?
We must be content, because discontent dishonors the God who has given
us so much. And beyond that, we must be content because greed leads us
to spend our lives enriching ourselves while ignoring the predicament
of people who really know what want is. When we're content, we see how
much we have and are willing to help those who have less. When we're
not, all we can see is what we want and feel so sure that we need.
Is it me, or is there something just vaguely embarrassing about the
excitement with which the rest of the world accepts what America throws
away? What if, instead of our cast-offs and hand-me-downs, the church
committed to generosity that was a bit more sacrificial? What do you
think pleases the Lord more: a church full of well-dressed,
well-groomed, people in new clothes and new cars? Or a church full of
people -- content with what they have been given -- who have put off
buying new clothes and new cars so that they can share their abundance
with folks who don't have the essentials?
I think I know the answer to that, and I think you do, too.
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant
nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put
their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our
enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and
to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up
treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so
that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Timothy
6:17-19).
---------
(c) 2008 Patrick D. Odum <p.d.odum@gmail.com>.
RELATED LINKS:
* Down the Dusty, Bumpy Road
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200802/20080214_bumpyroad.html
* Majestic!
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200802/20080218_majestic.html
* The Least of These
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200407/20040718_least.html
* Faith Web
http://faithnet.faithsite.com
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200804/20080417_content.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
WILD AT HEART, by John Eldredge
Helping men rediscover their masculine heart, this is a guide to
understanding Christian manhood and Christian men.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?153
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