3 Reasons Contentment Ought To Set Christians Apart (And Why It May Not)

The resurrection of Jesus ought to foster contentment among Christians, yet many still struggle to choose contentment over consumerism.

By Skylar Spradlin

There’s one often overlooked way in which the resurrection of Jesus changes a Christian’s life: contentment.

A 2024 study from Lifeway Research centered around issues of consumerism and contentment. Most of the results regarding consumerism revealed an even split. Just less than half of Americans want the latest technology (48%) or nicer things (43%), and just over half say they don’t have enough money (54%). Surprisingly, questions about contentment were largely positive. Most respondents claimed contentment when it came to their clothes (81%), entertainment (80%), or fun experiences (71%). Embedded in these results, however, is a rather alarming revelation.

Lifeway Research found those who attend church more than once a week are more likely to fall into consumeristic thinking. Those without evangelical beliefs and who attend church less frequently are less likely to be consumeristic. In other words, professing Christians are more likely to be consumers who find personal worth in their material possessions. According to the study, “Religious service attendance is correlated to embracing a consumeristic mindset.”

This is troubling news because the resurrection of Christ creates people with a different perspective, a different destiny, and a different purpose. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, God’s people should be content and not consumeristic.

Here are three reasons the resurrection makes us content and one reason we may not be.

1. The resurrection produces contentment because it changes our perspective

Contentment is a Christian virtue exemplified in our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:6-7) and expected of God’s people. Paul told Timothy:

Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. — 1 Timothy 6:6-10, CSB 

The author of Hebrews, grounding contentment in a relationship with Jesus, instructed readers to, “keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5, CSB). At least twice, Paul espoused his own contentment as an example to be followed or admired (2 Corinthians 12:10; Philippians 4:11).

This standard of contentment comes through the resurrected Jesus. Focusing on the resurrection of Jesus drives our hearts to peaceful contentment because it reminds us of His eternal victory over sin and death, securing for us an eternal relationship with Him. If this does not lead to contentment, what will?

“Focusing on the resurrection of Jesus drives our hearts to peaceful contentment because it reminds us of His eternal victory over sin and death, securing for us an eternal relationship with Him.” — @SkylarSpradlin Share on X

2. The resurrection produces contentment because it changes our destiny

Christians are people destined for heaven. We know this world is a temporary tent (2 Corinthians 5:1-4) and we are people of a “better place—a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16, CSB). We are subjects of a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). Our citizenship is in heaven with Christ (Philippians 3:20; John 14:1-7). Therefore, we fix our eyes on Christ in heaven and not on things of this earth (Colossians 3:1-4). We lay treasures in heaven and not on earth (Matthew 6:19-20), for this world is passing away along with its desires (1 Corinthians 7:31; 1 John 2:8; Revelation 21:1-4).

In short, this world is not our home, and the resurrection of Jesus is a glaring reminder of this promised reality. The resurrection of Jesus should make us consider our eternal destination, thereby leading us to be the most content people on earth.

3. The resurrection produces contentment because it changes our purpose

When God’s people long for heaven, we’re bearing witness to the truthfulness of the gospel. We’re testifying that our hearts have been changed by the gospel we profess. We’re being evangelistic as we live for a new home secured by Christ’s resurrection.

In contrast, what does it say to the world around us if we profess a gospel we claim can save but gives us no desire for eternity? What does it say to the world when we profess hope in a resurrection but live consumed with the here and now? As God’s people, the things we live for can either validate the message we proclaim or not. We adorn the gospel when our lives showcase its transforming power through resurrection-induced contentment.

“We adorn the gospel when our lives showcase its transforming power through resurrection-induced contentment.” — @SkylarSpradlin Share on X

A reason Christians may struggle with contentment

So why are Christians more consumeristic? Might this say something about the methodology of our churches? I wonder if churches are discipling people to become consumers rather than to be content.

Increasingly, church services have become about an experience with the general thrust of these experiences often being consumeristic in nature. People are trained to evaluate churches less as places of orthodoxy or worship and more by what it can offer to them. Large parts of church budgets and attention are devoted to things like light walls, coffee bars, and showstopping effects, all in the name of hospitality.

To be fair, coffee, lights, and experiences aren’t the issue; making these things the standard for ministry is the problem. Before we know it, excellence has replaced sincerity and worship is less about a holy God and more about an awesome experience. Therefore, people tend to think of church in terms of self-enjoyment, rather than in terms of service, worship, or holiness. Self-satisfaction becomes the metric that makes a church attractive, and attracting a crowd has become the only goal of many churches. In the end, a vicious cycle of secular consumerism is created.

A better way

Instead, churches should be more about holiness than atmosphere. The church should advertise the gospel and Christ more than programs and amenities. Churches must devote more attention—not less—to sound Bible teaching, corporate prayer, confession and repentance, and personal spiritual growth. These are less flashy, more ordinary, and maybe unattractive, uncomfortable, or unknown to most attendees. But these things lift our eyes from the world around us to the glories of heaven, which in turn not only produces contentment but also adorns the gospel.

I wonder if our approach to ministry is part of the reason Christians are more likely to be consumeristic than others. Are we training people to be consumers by making our churches consumeristic? Have our churches become materialistic?

Perhaps we should pivot and begin to make the experiences of the church about Christ’s sacrificial love, a heavenly destiny, and a consistent call to holiness. Then we will disciple people to be content with Christ, the gospel, and their future home of heaven rather than the material possessions of a fading world.

For permission to republish this article, contact Marissa Postell Sullivan.