BEWARE OF CONTENTMENT
Numbers 32:1-25
* When God called me to preach, Dr. Ted Traylor (whom I view as my preaching mentor) introduced me to the writings of George Barna. The first book of his that I read was entitled, “The Frog in the Kettle.” Through data gained from surveying, George compared our nation to the picture of what our 9th grade science teachers taught us: Put a frog in hot water and he will jump out. However, put a frog in water that is room temperature then gradually heat the water and the frog will die unaware that his surroundings have changed.” I will call this contented until death. The Bible warns about this.
* The story has long been told of the three elderly pastors who were comparing notes. The first one said, “I pastured on 3 churches in 41 years.” The second one said, “I only pastured 2 churches in 39 years. The third chimed in, “I pastured 3 church in 45 years and stayed with everyone of them until they were dead and gone.”
* On Wednesday evenings, we are teaching a series of messages entitled, “The Local Church—Dead, Dying, or Dynamic?” The question “Why do churches die?” is of upmost importance. While a number of reasons exist, I submit that contentment would be one of the main causes in the local church.
* Now contentment is not always bad as there are some things we should be content with and about. We should find contentment in our Salvation and with the Security from that salvation.
* However, contentment does play a big role in death of many things. In sales or business, get content with your present customer base and little by little, you see your business go down. In sports, let a coach get satisfied with the production of his players and they’ll start losing. In a church, the same thing happens.
* When people get content with their church (I.E. we have enough people, MY class is large enough, this feels too good, etc) and then decide to sit on the Premises & soak up the Promises; we forsake the higher ground where God is calling up to go. Jesus was never contented with the crowds because HE knew that of the crowd only a handful were seriously committed. In fact, only 120 were committed enough to return to the prayer meeting after the resurrection.
* Tonight we have read about the Children of Israel preparing to enter Canaan, the land of promise. They had taken census to establish army size as they got ready for battle. The sons of Gad and Reuben had come to Moses (and the leadership) to say this, “We like it here. We content here. God may want us to go across the Jordan, but we believe it’s easier and just as good on this side so we want to stay here.” Ultimately, Moses allowed them to stay but not without requiring them to do their share of the fighting.
* May I suggest that when God’s people get content where they are, with the people who have been reached, and generally with ministry, that we fail God? I’ll offer 3 liabilities of Contentment within church:
1. CONTENTMENT LIMITS EXPANSION – Some in this room may not think this is a problem but I remind you of the words of Jesus. When He says, “I will build (construct) my church” He is speaking of an ongoing, never-ending process of which He has commanded us to be involved. Think about this; every business in the world is about expanding. Whether they sell one item or 1 million items they want to expand. Have you given any thought to why this is true? The more skeptical people will say, “To make money.” Admittedly, that is one reason, but I’ll submit that the larger reason is because they believe they do the best, do it best, and want to give the best to their customers. So they seek ways to improve what they do.
* Had the children of Israel listened to this crowd (once again), they would have never possessed what God wanted them to have. They would have not known what it was to cross Jordan, see God’s hand, & dwell in Canaan.
* Let me suggest 2 obvious things contentment does to the Local Church
a) Limits spiritual Growth – There is no place in the life of a Believer to think He’s arrived, to become satisfied, to stop his growth. And yet, contentment will develop in us the thinking that we need nothing, so we will do nothing and our spiritual life will dwarf. Jesus says, “Seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and then everything else will follow.” This speaks of actively following our Lord.
b) Limits Church Growth – Now, I am talking about the “Local Church." When attitudes are expressed in phrases like; “I like the way things are,” or “I want to keep our church small, or even “We are better off than most churches”, you’ll discover they’ll be no need to worry about such nasty problems and parking problems, Sunday School space shortage, nowhere to sit in the service, and heaven forbid “two services.” Contentment tells us we are fine and done need to worry about reaching people. I can give you a firsthand story of how this works out. In my first pastorate, the church had been dying for a number of years. When Deb and I arrived we began the uphill battle of reaching new people, we were able to reach new people. But these new people got excited about the Lord, came into the church, and generally left inside of 6 months because of the complacency they witnessed. Some went to congregations who were “Alive” while others became disheartened with the church. Today, that church no longer exists. Why? The pastor who followed me was told, “Preacher we like things like they are. We are not interested in doing much to reach new folks.” At least, this lady was honest.
Beware of Contentment – Pg 3
* While I might comment her for honesty, I condemn the attitude which was expressed and the consequences of such are easy to see. We read it in our text this morning, “To Him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” Number tells us, “And be sure that your sin will find you out.
2. CONTENTMENT LIMITS ENCOURAGEMENT – Have you ever considered that if Moses had allowed the sons of Gad and Reuben to be left behind that the rest of Israelites could have become discouraged? Look at verse 7 and apply it to today. It is human nature to desire people who will encourage, embrace, and even involve themselves in completing God’s assignment. When you and I become content and want to stay on this side of Jordan we discourage the group.
* Let me simply offer us a couple of practical thoughts about this truth:
a) Support – This is a “poster-boy” text which teaches us that the member of the family (I.E. body of Christ) must support one another and the entire ministry. Too often, we support what we want, what we like, and what it is that punches our hot button. The local church was never built on the premise that you only respond to something that you have the heart for. In fact, we are to have a heart for Christ and do all we can, whenever we can, with all we can, to encourage one another in the Lord. And when we get content, we get complacent; we get lazy, and don’t support the family.
b) Sharing – Because we are family, we should share everything. Now, don’t make of this statement what the Bible doesn’t say and I don’t me. We are called and commanded to share the responsibility of the gospel, the work of the Kingdom, and the hurt which come along the way. We are to honor all the one anothers of scripture: love, edify, encourage, pray for, fellowship with, be concerned for, forgive, and accept one another. If we are “saved,” we are in the family and owe it our Father to not withhold our support and sharing from our brothers and sisters. If we do, they can become discouraged even to the point of quitting. Never forget this: in the end, they were all required to fight.
* To me it is simply inconceivable that a member of God’s family would allow his brothers and sisters to do the work alone. My heart is for this group (the cream of the crop) is that we not become satisfied on this side of Jordan. In this church, God is ready to carry us up to the next level. There are enough who will complain. Seemingly, there is little which we can do about that. But we can refuse to be led by the complainers.
* Were I to offer a prayer right now, it would be “Lord, never let us get to satisfied that we lose heart for people: Neither those in the family or those whom you desire for us to reach. Never let the logistical difficulties we face distract or discourage us in our task.
3. CONTENTMENT LIMITS EVANGELISM – Whether we like this or not, our task is to “change lives for time and eternity.” Changing lives means we begin at the point of presenting the gospel to the people who need it; lead them into faith, develop them in their faith, and then send them into the world to duplicate that process all over again. Anything less than this, is a perversion of the Lord’s church. Our marching orders are bounds up in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment and to fulfill these two great statements requires EVERYONE!
* Had Gad & Reuben not been required to accompany the nation of Israel and go to battle would the army have been left shorthanded? The divine task they were attempting to complete might have, once again, gone incomplete. What would that have meant? Possibly another 40 years in the wilderness, another 40 years of manna and water, another 40 years of wandering, and possibly 1.2 million more deaths. To miss God is disastrous.
* God calls every ONE of us! He redeems, places us, and calls us. He calls us to HIS task. Much of the time our calling is to a place we don’t care to go, to do a job we don’t care to do, and even reach people which wouldn’t be our first choice. If we don’t go, perhaps some never get the gospel and saved.
* What are some of the signs of contentment? Laziness, apathy, and even hardness of heart. If I become content, I am in danger of becoming a fat baby. God calls us to the field to work not to the pew to rest. We are to be laborers not loungers.
* Contentment is an enemy of Christ, the cross, and the Church. Let this message be a warning to you. God has been, is, and will continue to be so good to us that we should love him with all of our hearts, soul, & strength.
* However, God’s calling us not to contentment but to commitment. It is not whether we like something, want something, or need something; it is about pleasing someone (and not us). Jim Cymbala tells the story of interviewing potential choir members. After interview them, He says, "Let me relieve you of something. You don’t have to like music, dress, or the program. But you have to love the Lord more than anything else.” With that approach the Brooklyn Tabernacle has one of the most respected choirs in the nation. It is a call to commitment not to contentment. This is God’s call for us.
* Years ago Frank Howard, the Athletic Director at Clemson was asked to put rowing in their sports program. He declined saying, "We will not add a sport where you sit down and go backwards.” In most cases this is what contentment is, sitting down and going backwards. God call is for us to stand up and go forward. “Onward Christian Soldiers.”
