Holy Discontentment

First of all, my apologies.



I'm blogging late this week, but I have a good excuse. The staff and I (minus a couple of members who couldn't make it) have been in New Orleans on a staff retreat. It was my first staff retreat--at any church--and it was great. It's a real joy to work with people you genuinely enjoy being around (and I'm not just saying that because they'll read this). Plus, it's great to get away from our daily routine and refresh our sense of calling and commitment. I appreciate Westbury giving us the freedom (and the budget) to do this.



Now, on to the topic of this week's message.



Back in the Sixties, the Rolling Stones had a huge hit (one of many) with "Satisfaction" (as in, "I can't get no..."). The song was meant to mock our consumer culture, which makes money by convincing us we should never be content with our car, our house, our food, our clothes...instead always striving for something newer, better, more expensive. I think we all agree that Jesus wouldn't work overtime so He could upgrade from a Buick to a Beamer...and He wouldn't want us to make that the goal of our lives, either. Paul in 1 Timothy admonishes us that if we have enough to eat and drink, we should be content.



So it might surprise you to find out that Paul listed discontentment as the key to experiencing the good life. Not the self-loathing discontentment of legalism, nor the self-indulgent discontentment of materialism. This Sunday, we'll look at Philippians 3:12-14 and find out how refusing to be satisfied actually leads to the greatest joy of all.