Recently I sensed the Holy Spirit guiding me to read and study Solomon’s Ecclesiastes. It is a sort of “dark” cynical look at life from a secular vantage point for the most part, not a place you would expect to find something life giving. Was I wrong!

I have reached the age when I find myself looking backward in an assessment of my life, to some extent. Even if I reach the age of my parents, I am now in the last quarter of my earthly existence. Each day could be my last one here on planet earth; so, it’s a good thing to take stock of things in the hope of making my remaining days the best possible. In this Solomon and his father King David agree with me. We do not look backward in nostalgia or regret, hopefully, but to learn. I would like to think that what I have learned thus far has prepared me to finish well. How about you?

I have pastored Liberty Church / LifeNet for going on 34 years. Before that, I was an elder and assistant pastor at my father’s church in Greensboro for a number of years. In other words, I have been at this for most of my adult life. The church growth movement entered the scene during the seventies and eighties, which introduced a new sort of competitiveness among local churches. It became the goal of pastors to engineer a growing church, usually at the expense of neighboring churches. New Christians were not coming into the kingdom in record numbers; so, if a church enjoyed astronomical growth, it was because people were leaving their former churches to join the growing church. In general people want to feel good about themselves, and being part of a “happening” church can help with our self-image. It’s like pulling for a winning team. Everyone likes to win.

All sorts of methods and strategies were employed to insure growth, so much so that the idea of church franchises came into being. Church networks figured out how to blitz an area with advertising and launch a new fully funded church plant with a core of committed people which would be up and running in no time. I came to view these behemoths as “vacuum cleaner” churches because they were sucking up members of other churches by the droves. It would be like Walmart moving into an area and sucking customers away from the more traditional “mom and pop” stores. The movement toward huge has been a part of our society for a long time now.

For smaller churches to survive, they had to learn how to fill a niche, so to speak. For many, it was the promise of real community, which is more likely to happen in smaller groups. For charismatic churches, we could say that our churches were open and encouraging to the gifts of the Spirit, something megachurches shied away from to avoid offending the uninitiated. Every church seemed to be in competition for members, which harmed unity among pastors. Large church pastors sometimes looked down on small church pastors. Small church pastors were suspicious of the motives of megachurch pastors. Working together became difficult if not impossible. Even small churches competed among themselves for members. Among charismatic churches, following the latest spiritual “fad” might be a way to draw people. It had a wearying effect on me over the years as I watched people come and go in their search for something better than what we offered. Eventually I realized that I had had enough.

The last significant exodus from our church happened after we made the decision to become more “missional”. That is, we decided that making disciples would be our main thrust, since that is what Jesus commissioned us to do. We began to rethink how we did church and move toward a model that focused on helping people to become more intentional in their pursuit of discipleship. That required us to try to adequately define discipleship. What does it mean to be a disciple? I came to the conclusion that it meant following Christ and fishing for people.

We have been doing this for about twelve years now. Eventually we got rid of our building and began to meet in homes and other venues, believing that small groups offered the best opportunity to build solid relationships and influence our communities. We plunged into trying to impact our neighborhoods in various ways through friendship building, ministry projects such as doing yard work for needy people, hospitality, neighborhood watch creation, praying and ministering to people, etc. Over the years we saw some good fruit from this activity, but overall it was disappointing how few people seemed to want to join us in our quest to build an authentic community of disciples in a small group setting. Tradition is a huge influence, and not having a building made some regard us as a kind of cult. A lot of people expressed their liking for the idea of what we are doing, but few were willing to make the commitment. We grew little by little, but usually it was with people who just seemed to find us, rather than the people we pursued.

Then Covid hit, which effectively put an end to most outreach. People got used to being holed up at home and would look at you suspiciously if you simply showed up at their door. Our small groups continued to meet after a very brief time of Zooming, but some of our folks were still skiddish about going maskless and being in small groups. Many of us caught Covid and survived, even the ones who were jabbed. Eventually less people feared the dread disease and our groups are running as before the outbreak.

If Covid did nothing else positive for us, it got us all off the treadmill of trying hard to be a “successful” church. We were just glad to be with one another on this challenging journey called life.

This January we are in the process of fasting and praying for LifeNet. We are asking the Holy Spirit to speak to us as individuals, families, and as a church, and that brings me back to Ecclesiastes. I have been pastoring long enough that I have done most everything there is to do to grow a church. In fact, I am a sort of church growth expert, I tell people, because I have helped churches all over our area to grow. Many of our former members are happily ensconced elsewhere, as other churches’ members are now with us. We have tried most church growth strategies and found them wanting. Like Solomon, I can say.

Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content. Ecclesiastes 1:8 (NLT) 

I see people who are not content in their marriages, their jobs, their ministries, or their churches. I decided a long time ago that it is impossible to satisfy the needs of discontented people; so, I gave up trying. I truly enjoy being with people who are content in God’s love and how God made them, who they are in life, and with the people around them that they love. Yes, I still want to share the good news of what Jesus did for us to reconcile us to his Father. Yes, I still love teaching the Bible and ministering in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. Yes, I still have a heart for lost and hurting people, but I do not want to try to make discontented people happy any more. Only God can do that.

This brings us to the whole idea of what it means to be content. Solomon shared what he thought brought contentment.

Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. 19  And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. Ecclesiastes 5:18-19 (NLT) 

Some of us are so engrossed in the pursuit of what we do not have that we fail to enjoy and appreciate what we do have. What a waste. I could lament that our church has never grown very large or I can rejoice in the wonderful family of friends that we have become. We can see life as a glass half empty or half full.

Contentment begins with appreciation for what we have.

That is a huge key to relational happiness as well. It is a very grave mistake to focus on another person’s faults because, if we are not careful, that is all we will be able to see. Likewise, we can fault find at work and at church. It never ends well because we always reap what we sow.

When we know we are loved and make it our goal to love others, we find a large measure of contentment.

John wrote about this in his first letter.

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. 17  And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. 18  Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 19  We love each other because he loved us first. 1 John 4:16-19 (NLT) 

Earlier when I tried to define discipleship, I failed to mention love, which is a surprising oversight, since Jesus said that people will know we are his disciples by our love for one another. (John 13:35) How could I have missed that? Was it because I was still too focused on doing the work of making disciples rather than on being one? Was it because I was still pursuing something God has given to us? Was it because I was still missing the main point? Most likely. I was focused on teaching people the mechanics of being a disciple without properly emphasizing the heart of it.

When we are not sure that we are loved by God for who we are rather than for what we do, it engenders discontent. Picture a cat purring as it nestles up next to his owner. That is a great example of contentment.

God wants us to be thoroughly content in his love for us. That is the foundation from which we can do the work of the kingdom without sending a mixed message.

John Piper once said that God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him.

There is a reason that Jesus rose from the dead on the day after the Sabbath. We begin our week resting in Christ’s victory. We start from a place of rest.

We are not trying to earn our victory or rest: it is a gift to us.

Jesus invited us to join him in his position of perfect contentment and rest.

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29  Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NLT) 

This is Jesus’ invitation to the discontent. Come to him to be set free from your wearisome pursuit. Learn what it means to be content in God’s love. Let that love overflow to those around you, including the lost.

When love is our foundation and the Holy Spirit is our guide, we will find contentment in whatever God gives us to do because we are content in who he is and who we are as his beloved children.

So don’t be surprised if I am not overly enthused with church growth strategies or methods to convince God to pour out revival on us. Been there, done that, and have the t-shirt. What makes me enthusiastic is being with my family of friends as we come together in God’s presence to talk about what it means to be God’s children. I am excited when the Holy Spirit opens a door to share God’s love with someone. We cannot orchestrate the Spirit of God. He orchestrates us.

I believe people who are searching for contentment will be drawn to those who have found it in God.

I also believe that discerning people will flee from any so-called gospel message delivered by someone who is using ministry to try and quench his or her desperate longing for acceptance by God. Why should I buy into a movement that makes its people discontent? When I came to Christ, he gave me peace and joy as I had never experienced before. When I share Christ, it is with the promise that he will open the door into the experience of God’s amazing love. Who we are is perhaps as important as what we say. People will pick up on our spiritual vibe as well as our words. If we carry in our person a different message from our words, people may doubt our words. It would be as if a harsh critical parent tells his child that he loves him or her. The mixed message inspires doubt instead of security. As we find our joy and contentment in God’s love, our demeanor will match the gospel message. People will be drawn toward the God who makes us content in his love.