In the course of a recent conversation, I said in a matter-of-fact way that I had made career choices that did not maximize my professional productivity. And that I had made those choices specifically because I was a Christian.
Later, as I have thought about what lies at the heart of counter-cultural career choices we Christian faculty may be called to make, I realized that a key ingredient is contentment.
Contentment: in short supply on campus
Contentment certainly seems in short supply at my university.
We have experienced a great deal of turbulence lately that has made the pages of The New York Times and other national media outlets: changes in tenure policies for faculty, continued fiscal challenges, struggles with morale.
As a Christian faculty member, I find that a biblically based contentment provides a much needed internal compass in the midst of such turbulent times.
Where does such contentment come from? We get some hints from the Apostle Paul.
Contentment: Paul’s model for the campus
We sometimes forget that at the end of his career, there must have been many frustrations for Paul. He was held under house arrest in Caesarea for two years, then shipped off to Rome, only to suffer shipwreck, unexpected encounters with reptiles, and finally house arrest in Rome itself. In 2 Corinthians 6:4-10, Paul lists a set of circumstances none of us would want to face.
During his Roman imprisonment, Paul wrote this to the church at Philippi:
…I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Phil 4:11-13, NIV)
What exactly did Paul discover?
A Contentment that Transcends Circumstances
Paul says he had learned a “secret.” This secret—something that only God could reveal—led to his being “content” (autarkēs). That secret was an inner, Christ-centered sufficiency that transcends circumstances, expressed in the words: I can face all circumstances “through him who gives me strength.”
Earlier in Philippians we see the choices underlying Paul’s contentment. In chapter 1, Paul said, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). Later he wrote: “one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13-14)
These famous verses display Paul’s singular focus.
What we often overlook, however, is how Paul had discovered this crucial secret. Paul says he “learned” it (4:11). The very circumstances he had encountered had shaped him. The Greek verb tense here implies a process, something only possible through lived experiences. Contentment arose out of the difficult circumstances he faced—realizing over time that Christ gives him strength.
A Contentment that Embraces Companions
Still more overlooked perhaps, is who Paul learned this secret alongside. Despite what we sometimes think, Paul was never a “lone ranger” in ministry. In Rome, Timothy and Epaphroditus were there. In a memorable jail-break in Philippi (Acts 16), it was Silas; earlier it was Barnabas. At the end of Romans, he names 70 fellow believers. In his last letter to Timothy, he mentions at least 20 friends. While Christ is all-sufficient, He gives us a community of friends to face the circumstances of life.
Paul’s Christ-centered and Christ-empowered contentment lived in a Christ-present community allowed him to thrive despite circumstances.
I’m learning the same thing.
Jeff Hardin
Univ. of Wisconsin