Part 3: Contentment in the Age of Mammon

Contentment in the Age of Mammon

Over the past several weeks we have been doing a deep dive into a subject that has been exposing my own heart: mammon.

If I’m honest, this isn’t a topic I chose because I have it figured out. Quite the opposite. I chose it because I don’t.

This week our discussion turned to contentment, because contentment is the spiritual opposite of mammon. And once again, I realized how much I still need God to reshape my own heart in this area.

Years ago, a friend of mine regularly played the piano at our Bible study. One week I asked him to play the hymn I Surrender All. He smiled and said, “I don’t like playing that hymn—it makes me out to be a liar.”

I laughed, but I understood exactly what he meant.

That’s how I feel talking about contentment.

I believe what Scripture teaches. I want to be content. But God is still sanctifying me. He’s still exposing places where I look for security, significance, comfort, and control somewhere other than Him. His work in me is far from finished.

Maybe you can relate.

The Whisper of Mammon

Mammon is much more than money.

It is the relentless pursuit of wealth, success, possessions, and control. More deeply, it is the demonic whisper that says we can experience abundance without dependence on God.

Its message is subtle but relentless:

• You don’t have enough.
• You need more.
• More money.
• More success.
• More recognition.
• More comfort.
• More control.

For me, that whisper often sounds like:

• Just one more watch.
• One more Poncho shirt.
• One more bike.

That sounds ridiculous, right?

Your list may look completely different, but every one of us has one.

The gospel tells a completely different story.

In Christ, you already have everything you truly need.

That doesn’t mean we stop working hard or stop pursuing excellence. Christian contentment isn’t complacency or laziness. It’s not a lack of ambition. 

Contentment is the settled confidence that God’s provision, God’s plans, and God’s presence are enough—even when life doesn’t unfold the way we hoped.

Over the years I’ve realized that mammon attacks me in three primary places: my possessions, my plans, and my pain.

1. Contentment and Stuff

The world teaches us that happiness is always one purchase away.

The next vehicle.

The next house.

The next vacation.

The next promotion.

The next upgrade.

Yet Jesus reminds us that life “does not consist in an abundance of possessions” and warns us that we cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6:19-24; Luke 12:15).

The problem isn’t owning things.

The problem is expecting things to provide what only Jesus can provide:

• Security.
• Significance.
• Satisfaction.
• Rest.

Jesus never promised that possessions would give us rest. He invited us to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28-30).

I’ve realized something else: every possession costs more than money. It demands attention. It requires maintenance. It quietly occupies space in our minds and hearts.

Contentment isn’t having less.

It’s needing less because Christ is enough.

One practice that has helped me is beginning each day with gratitude before asking God for anything else. Gratitude shifts my focus from what I lack to what I’ve already been given. 

Delaying non-essential purchases for a week or two has also exposed how many desires fade simply by waiting.

John Wesley famously capped his income when he became one of the richest men in England due to his prolific writing. Instead, he gave away almost everything beyond his modest living expenses. More recently, Alan and Eric Barnhart adopted what they called a “lifestyle finish line,” intentionally capping their family’s cost of living so that increasing income resulted in increasing generosity rather than increasing consumption.

We are on a similar path since we retired and gave up a large income in favor of living off savings and a part-time income. Living modestly has been good for us and forces us to see where our comfort and joy come from. And it’s not our stuff.  

2. Contentment and Life’s Direction

Mammon doesn’t only tempt us with possessions.

It tempts us with comparison.

“I should be further along.”

“I should have accomplished more.”

“I should have more influence.”

“I should be making more money.”

Many of us aren’t dissatisfied with what we own—we’re dissatisfied with where we are.

Paul wrote about contentment while imprisoned in Rome. From a worldly perspective, he looked like a failure. Yet he wrote, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” - [.no-reftag]Philippians 4:11-13[.no-reftag]

Notice the word learned.

Contentment isn’t automatic. It’s something God patiently teaches us.

True contentment means trusting God’s assignment, God’s timing, and God’s definition of success.

One practical step that has helped me is asking a different question. Instead of asking, “What more can I accomplish?” I try to ask, “What has God already entrusted to me that I need to steward faithfully?”

That simple shift changes everything.

Faithfulness becomes more important than achievement. It puts the focus on the next right move done in faithful obedience, not a particular outcome. 

3. Contentment in Hardship

Perhaps the greatest test of contentment isn’t success.

It’s suffering.

Anyone can be content when life is easy.

The real question is whether we can trust God when health declines, relationships disappoint, finances tighten, dreams collapse, or prayers seem unanswered.

Christian contentment doesn’t pretend those things don’t hurt.

It simply declares that God’s presence is greater than our circumstances.

Paul pleaded three times for God to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” Instead, God answered, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Even Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”- [.no-reftag]Matthew 26:39[.no-reftag]

We pray for God to remove us from our horrible situation, but often His path for us is through the hardship, not around. 

Scripture never teaches us to deny pain.

It teaches us to trust God in the middle of it.

Years ago my wife, Muffin, walked through a difficult season of health challenges that included multiple surgeries. We prayed constantly for healing. During that time, a wise mentor asked her a question neither of us has forgotten:

“What if this is part of your story? What if God doesn’t heal you? Is God still good?”

That question didn’t minimize the pain.

It reframed it.

Sometimes God’s answer isn’t to remove the hardship but to meet us within it, using it to deepen our dependence on Him and shape us into the likeness of Christ.

Looking back, I can see that some of the greatest growth in my life didn’t happen despite hardship. It happened because of it.

Choosing a Better Story

Every day we are being formed by one of two stories.

Mammon says:

• You don’t have enough.
• Life is about acquiring more.
• Your security depends on what you can accumulate.

The gospel says:

• Christ is enough.
• You already possess every spiritual blessing in Him.
• Your security rests in the God who has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

The question isn’t whether we desire abundance.

We all do.

The question is where we seek it.

Will we pursue abundance apart from God?

Or will we discover the far richer life that comes through deeper dependence on Him?

I’ve certainly not mastered contentment. But I’m learning that contentment isn’t found by finally getting everything I want.

It’s found by discovering that what I already have in Jesus is greater than anything this world can offer—or take away.