By Dr. Greg Cochran, ICC Fellow

More than a century ago, the Titanic embarked on its ill-fated voyage, famously sinking to the bottom of the sea just four days into its journey. The sinking of the Titanic has given rise to countless instructions for maintaining a sober mind about progress and failure, wealth and value, life and death. Consider the story of an unnamed woman who reportedly stepped out of line for the lifeboats to run back to her cabin briefly — a three-minute excursion — at great personal risk.  

As a first-class passenger, she had money and jewels in her cabin, but, as the story goes, she left those commodities untouched. Instead, she collected three oranges from her counter, tucked them into her clothes, and darted back to the lifeboat line. Whether the story is fact or legend is unclear, but the point it illustrates could not be more plain. As Jesus taught, “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Before the tragic iceberg encounter, this woman — like the other passengers of the Titanic — was enjoying wealth and affluence. The Titanic was emblematic of success and abundance.  

If not an outright mirage, affluence proved to be at least a deception. Affluence creates a status quo mentality of plenty, thereby paving a path toward coveting superabundance as the next normal. Westerners in the 21st century are living in the most affluent time in history. And Westerners are not content. Ironically, affluence never seems to drive its recipients to contentment. When is enough enough?  

The West currently abides in superabundance. Though Westerners live with slight angst that we might be running out of resources — or running out of habitable earth life — the reality of the last two centuries has been precisely the opposite. Humans prove to be remarkably resourceful. In their detailed book “Superabundance,” Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley document the western trek from scarcity to abundance to our current state of superabundance:  

“Contrary to what many people have been expecting, the growth of the human population from roughly 1 billion in 1800 to 7.8 billion in 2020 has not been accompanied by a lowering of living standards but by an explosion in material abundance. If you approach this [book] with an open mind, you will be astounded by the progress that humanity has made, especially over the last 200 years or so.”  

While we likely don’t consider ourselves superabundantly wealthy, we are inheritors of great affluence. Such superabundance exerts moral pressure. How might Christians situate themselves rightly regarding 21st-century affluence?  

For one thing, the Christian gospel compels contentment while condemning coveting. Paul, who was shipwrecked, stoned, whipped, and imprisoned, famously said that he had learned the secret of contentment no matter his circumstances: “In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Philippians 4:12). The gospel offered Paul, and offers us, both spiritual power through Christ’s resurrection and an eternal perspective on suffering and success, thereby empowering contentment regardless of temporal trials and triumphs.  

Such empowerment is rare in everyday life. Typically, such clarity of priorities is beyond the reach of our affluence, though it might come into view in extreme circumstances, such as the sinking of our cruise ship or a mob attacking with stones. With our legendary Titanic traveler, we might be content with three oranges when circumstances are dire. But, again, these are extreme crises. In normal circumstances, we struggle with coveting. Nevertheless, Paul said the Christian possesses the capacity for contentment in normal circumstances and extreme ones.  

By nature of their relationship with Christ, Christians have yet another potent capacity for contentment without regard for circumstances: Giving. Giving offers a powerful antidote both to coveting and to discontentment. Imagine being in the lifeboat line on the Titanic and having the wherewithal to use the occasion to give to others! Some did this very thing — giving their place in line to people more needy. Isidor and Ida Straus were offered one of the first spots on the lifeboats on account of their wealth and status, yet they both chose to give their spots to others, ultimately giving their lives to give away life to others.  

Our orange-bearing woman might have been compelled to give an orange each to two other people. Giving in this instance would be a multiplied gain, too, benefiting the woman and at least two other people. In this way, the Scriptures would prove true, as Jesus taught, that giving is more of a blessing than receiving (Acts 20:35). Giving increases life and empowers others. Giving is evidence of abundant living while negating the fear of death. 

This resource of Christian giving is empowered by relation to Christ. Christians love because God first loved us in Christ. Likewise, Christians give because much has been given by God. Christians become God-like when giving, demonstrating a capacity far exceeding survival. Forsaking the vulnerability of loss, Christian giving demonstrates fearless surrender to the life-giver himself. And Christ-like giving leads to great gain. Jesus likens this life-giving to a grain of wheat. His followers are free to lay down their lives like a grain of wheat dying on the earth. The result of such life-giving is again gain — preserving one’s own life into eternity while bearing much fruit for good in the lives of others.  

The point here is that giving is living in the Christian scheme. But the giving is related to Christ, to his work, and his purposes. Giving to Christ and his purposes is a process guaranteed to produce good results through time and eternity (1 Corinthians 15:58). Christians, it turns out, give out of the superabundance of all that God has given to them. This mindset empowers contentment regardless of circumstances while producing empowering gifts that multiply life. The persecuted church today — like the Apostle Paul 2,000 years ago — models the capacity to excel in circumstances of suffering and give life away.  

Surely, Christians can excel in everyday circumstances of affluence and find ways to give more abundantly. If you would like to explore giving in ways that empower others, check out International Christian Concern’s latest projects.  

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