“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” – 1 Timothy 6:6-7 (ESV)
Perhaps when you hear the word Mercury, you think of the nearest planet to the sun. You might even be aware it was named for the Roman god Mercury. But as the Romans had many gods they worshipped, why did they worship this one? Because he was the god of financial gain and commerce. If you wanted to be wealthy (and pretty much anyone in the Roman Empire did), you would definitely make it a point to worship at Mercury’s temple. Money afforded more than just buying nicer things. Money could move you up the ladder of the Empire, give you power over others, and purchase things to gratify deeper lusts like sex and violence. In a worldly sense, this actually sounds amazing. But there was a problem worshipping Mercury: you could never worship him enough because no amount of money was ever enough.
The Gospel of Jesus that Paul spread completely undermined Mercury’s worship as we see here in 1 Timothy 6. In verse 5, Paul says that many see the worship of the gods or even the one true God in Jesus as a means of getting rich. If I can just figure out what this God wants, if I can be godly, he’ll give me what I want in return. Paul strikes this way of thinking down in verses 6-7: the way to true gain is godliness with contentment. I gain when I stop trying to gain, when I am satisfied. From the world’s perspective, that’s foolishness. But Paul follows it with a logic that both a Christian and a Roman could agree on: you didn’t bring anything with you into this world, and you can’t take anything with you in the end. In verse 9, Paul says that those who pursue riches ultimately don’t gain; they lose. They find ruin and destruction because worship of Mercury and thus worship of money inevitably cost them what truly mattered.
Our American society (including the church) looks at the Roman pantheon of gods and thinks, “How simple and unsophisticated those people were. We would never worship gods in temples like that.” Oh, how wrong we are! Mercury goes by a different name in this country; he’s called the American Dream. Lots of Americans, Christians included, still worship in his temple, thinking like Rockefeller that if we could just have a little more money, a little better paying job, we could live the life we really want to live. But Mercury is still only offering smoke and mirrors. The craving for money leads to craving for vices that lead to our destruction. Worshipping Mercury is a zero-sum game because we end up keeping nothing we are chasing.
Jesus is far more compelling than Mercury or the American Dream. What he calls us to is far wilder and unmistakably beautiful. Rather than getting, he calls us to give. Instead of seeking power, he calls us to humility. Instead of greedy gain, he calls us to godliness with contentment. Jesus lived such a life on this earth, and he died in much the same way. He gave himself away. His blood and his resurrection have the power to rescue us from the tyranny of Mercury’s money-grabbing lies and show us the new way to be human: a life of godly contentment.
Perhaps this season of Thanksgiving is as good a time as any to reflect on this. Thanksgiving and contentment are quite complementary and find a home in the godly seeker of Jesus and his kingdom. The heart that is content in Jesus finds it much easier to give and love and serve. In the end, godliness with contentment is great gain. Mercury offers a promise of happiness through wealth that only destroys. Jesus offers a promise of the eternal riches of his grace that never ends. May we thank him for his abundant provision and faithfulness. May he and his kingdom always be enough for us.