As we enter the holiday season, we ought to take a moment to explore the foundation for our love for God and our enjoyment of this world. Many Christians feel a tension precisely at this point. They ask themselves: “How does a single-minded, whole-hearted pursuit of God and Christ fit with a real and deep enjoyment of created things?
Here are some diagnostic questions:
- Do you feel a low-grade sense of guilt because you enjoy legitimate earthly pleasures?
- Do you ever have a vague sense that you’re not enjoying God “enough” (whatever that means) or that you’re enjoying his gifts “too much” (whatever that means)?
- Do you have the sense that as you progress in holiness, your joy in things of earth ought to diminish because you are becoming increasingly satisfied with God alone?
Where does this tension come from? Think with me about the following Scripture passages. Everything is rubbish compared to Christ (Phil. 3:7-8). Don’t set your affections on things below (Col 3:1-2). Desire nothing besides God (Psalm 73:25).
On the other hand: Everything created by God, and nothing is to be rejected (1 Timothy 4:4). Every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). And in our passage, God richly provides us with everything to enjoy (1 Tim. 6:17).
So which is it: Only desire God? Or enjoy everything God richly provides? Count everything as rubbish? Or receive everything with thanksgiving? Set your mind on things above? Or enjoy the good and perfect gifts that have come down from above? That’s the tension.
1 TIMOTHY 6:17-19
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Paul gives three exhortations in this passage. First, don’t be haughty. It’s easy for the rich to boast in their riches. Riches easily feed pride. Second, don’t set your hope on the uncertainty of riches. It’s easy for wealthy people to think that their strength comes from their wealth and not from Christ. “I can do all things through wealth which strengthens me.” It’s easy to forget Paul’s words earlier in the chapter (1 Tim. 6:6-10). Third, set your hope on God. He’s not uncertain. Moth and rust don’t destroy him; thieves cannot steal him from you. You can take God with you out of this world. He will never leave you nor forsake you.
And then, Paul surprises us. He reminds the rich that God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” That’s not what I would expect Paul to say to the rich. Paul tells us, “Remember rich people, God has given you your wealth so that you would enjoy it.” And so the question becomes: how do you enjoy everything that God richly provides without setting your hope on the uncertainty of riches?
TWO APPROACHES
I want to suggest that Paul here is giving us two complementary ways of viewing God’s relationship to his gifts. The first is a comparative approach, in which God and his gifts are separated and set next to each other to determine which is more valuable. Put God on one side of the scales, and his gifts (your wealth) on the other side, and ask, “Which one will I hope in?” And if you’re a faithful Christian, there’s only one answer. “There is nothing I desire beside you.”
The second I call the integrated approach, in which God and his gifts are enjoyed together. When we set our hope on God, we are free to love creation as creation (as gift, and not as God). God’s gifts become avenues for enjoying him, beams of glory that we chase back to the source. In the words of Charles Simeon, we “enjoy God in everything and everything in God.”.
My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off. (Proverbs 24:13-14)
The sweetness of honey points beyond itself to the wisdom of God. Our souls have taste buds, just like our tongues, and we can train the soul-buds by exercising the tongue-buds. And this means that we can’t short-circuit the enjoyment of the honey. Neither can you stop with simply enjoying honey. First, enjoy the honey. Taste it; it’s good. And then, press beyond honey to the God who stands behind it.
So then how do we relate these two approaches to each other? My suggestion is that we should seek to live integrated lives (Enjoying God in everything and enjoying everything in God) and we use the comparative separation as a test to ensure that our integration hasn’t become idolatry.
TESTING OUR JOY THROUGH SELF-DENIAL
How then do we test our enjoyment of God’s rich provision? We could talk about suffering, and the way that our sovereign God sends both good gifts and hard providences to test whether we treasure him above all his gifts. But I want to talk about the voluntary ways that we test ourselves: self-denial and generosity.
There is an unavoidable strain of asceticism in the Scriptures–Jesus insisting that every one of his disciples deny himself, take up his cross and follow him. This self-denial, such as fasting, serves our joy in God. We temporarily abstain from food in order to increase our physical hunger as a way of confessing to God, “This is how much I want you.” Self-denial serves our joy in God by reminding us that Jesus is better. But self-denial and self-restraint also serves our joy in the gifts themselves. Joy in God’s gifts depends in part on what C. S. Lewis calls resisting the impulse of Encore, that itch to overly indulge our earthly appetites and to have things over again and again and again.
Biblical self-denial puts the lust for Encore to death. By restraining our earthly appetites, we make space for the distinct pleasures of anticipation and memory. Whether we’re talking about a child eagerly awaiting Christmas morning or a married couple planning an anniversary trip, we all know that looking forward to some great event is itself pleasurable. And memories of past joys have a way of growing and maturing and sweetening with time. Again, as Lewis reminds us, a pleasure is only full grown when it is remembered. Resisting Encore makes it possible for us to fully enjoy God’s gifts through anticipation, through enjoyment, and through memory.
TESTING OUR JOY THROUGH GENEROSITY
1 Timothy 6 tells us that God richly provides us with everything, and he has purposes for his provision. There are four purposes: 1) to enjoy, 2) to do good, 3) to be rich in good works, and 4) to be generous and ready to share. So how do you test whether you’re enjoying God’s gifts rightly? By your generosity. If wealth comes to you and you’re enjoying it, but it’s not spilling the banks and flooding the lives of others, then something is wrong in your soul.
Gifts are given for our enjoyment, and gifts are given for God’s mission. Every good and perfect gift comes down from above, from the Father of lights. We receive the gift. We enjoy it with thanksgiving, acknowledging that God is the one who gives it to us. This thanksgiving spills over into worship, since we know that as good as the gift is, it’s just a taste of his goodness. And then satisfied with God and enjoying his provision, our lives becomes a tidal wave of generosity—eager to do good, on the lookout for needs and ready with open-handed and big-hearted generosity. Our goal is this—we want to be as generous with others as God has been with us. We want to freely receive—because he richly provides us with everything to enjoy—and therefore freely give—because he richly provides us with everything to share.
Now I can’t tell you precisely how much to give. The Old Testament required a tithe. The rich young ruler was called to sell everything (Luke 18:22). When Zacchaeus was saved, he gave half his goods to the poor (Luke 19:8). Barnabas sold a field and put the money at the feet of the apostles (Acts 4:37). The poor widow put two pennies in the offering box and was commended by Jesus (Luke 21:1–3). The amount varies, but the commitment to use our resources to meet the needs of others is the same.
And doing good and being rich in good works and being generous and ready to share isn’t just about money. Be generous with your time and your efforts and your talents and your skills. Be creative in how you think about what God has given you and how your life can be poured out for the sake of others.
And when you do this, when you set your hope on God, and you enjoy what he richly provides, and you share what he richly provides, you are storing up treasure for yourself. You save up and you gladly spend it. You store it up and you pour it out. This is the true life; this is the true foundation for the future, the true foundation of everlasting joy.