The Best Question Ever

Financial Friday 12/13/19

Last Friday we looked at the formula for financial success and faithfulness from Gary Johnson’s book, Too Much: Living With Less in The Land of More. If you’ll recall the equation looks like this:

4 Principles: Gratitude, Contentment, Trust, Humility PLUS 4 Practices: Debt Free, Savings, Budgeting, Giving EQUALS Real Profit

I’m going to take the next few weeks and discuss some of these elements. Today let’s tackle the one that I most often struggle with: Contentment. Over about the last 5 years I have been in a battle over being content with what I have. The specific issue is…well, it’s just that…I want a new TV. Specifically, I want a bigger one! So about 11 years ago we bought a new, pretty expensive Sony flat TV. Whereas they had some bigger ones back then, we bought a 40″ TV and this was considered big. I’m not even going to tell you what it cost, because compared to what they cost today it was an exorbitant amount. But I can truly say that we were justified in getting it for many reasons.

The problem with our current TV is this: It’s 40 inches. Because of the advances in them today we could fit a considerably bigger one in our entertainment center. And the price of good TVs has come down so much that we could get one. But here’s the thing-just because we could doesn’t mean we should. Ours still has a great picture. It’s HiDef though not the resolution today’s TVs have. I mean have you been to Costco or Best Buy and seen the new ones? Seriously, they are amazing. When I look at them I begin to become discontent and want one of them and think up reasons to get one. But, yet, when I sit in my house and watch something on our 10 year old, 40 inch Sony I think to myself “That’s a great picture! How awesome that a TV that’s nearly 11 years old has such a great picture and has caused us no trouble in all those years.” So contentment has been winning the new TV battle so far.

Now I am not criticizing anyone who has the latest 60 or 80 inch Samsung with 8k resolution (which probably cost half of what I paid for ours 10 years ago!). I am not always so victorious in the contentment department! It’s just that there is no reason in the world why we should spend a few hundred dollars on a new TV. Just because we could doesn’t mean we should.

The Bible of course has much to say about this. The apostle Paul wrote “I have learned the secret of being content.” The writer of Hebrews simply exhorts “be content with what you have.” Why does God want us to be content? Because our contentment leads to gain. 1 Timothy 6:6 reads “godliness with contentment is great gain.” That’s what God wants for us-great gain.

So the question is how do we know when, to use a 1st world problem example, we should buy a new TV, or a bigger house, or a new car, or whatever? I think the answer to that question is really pretty simple and viewed through this lens can usually be quickly deduced. Andy Stanley wrote a great book a few years ago in which he talks about “The Best Question Ever.” This question can be used in any situation, especially relating to our finances. The question is simply this: What is the wisest decision? What is the wisest decision. Hmmm. I have to say that figuring out what we should do is pretty simple for Christians. What is the wisest thing? The Bible is full of wisdom on many subjects. But also, I think that deep down we usually know what the wisest thing is.

So if it is pretty simple to know what is wisest then why do we so often do the exact opposite? There are a lot of reasons. We are pretty good at convincing ourselves of something even though deep down inside we know that it’s not the wisest, best thing to do. And our entire economy is geared to make us discontent so we’ll keep buying more stuff we don’t really need. Can you imagine what would happen if all of the sudden every American decided to practice contentment and not spend money as often or freely? The market would be in a free fall! So the question is “What is the wisest decision?” Not “what do I really want,” or “what do I really deserve,” or “what is impressive to neighbors or friends,” or any other reasons we come up with. Ask “what is the wisest decision?” Choosing contentment is the wisest decision far more often than we think it is. This I know. It’s pretty clear. Yet, too often we choose a path other than wisdom. And when we do that on a regular basis our financial situation deteriorates and the equation leads to loss not gain.

So a few years ago I got it in my head that I needed a bigger motorcycle. I had a great Honda VTX with a 1300cc engine. That’s a pretty big engine and I loved it. It fit me perfectly. But I came up with many, many reasons why I needed a bigger one. I had my eyes set on a very lightly used Victory with an 1800cc engine. The store had it at a discount because it was a couple years old, yet it had only a few hundred miles on it. It was a bargain! It was such a great deal! Probably never again for the rest of my life will I have the chance to get such a great bike at this price! I really couldn’t afford not to get it! And on and on went the “logic.”

I had cleared it with Lori and I was ready to do the deal and get it. Now almost never do dealers let you test ride motorcycles. It’s not like cars. And so I was ready to buy it when, at the last minute, the guy at the dealership asked me if I wanted to take it for a test ride. I said sure! So before I signed on the dotted line I took it for a spin. I’m glad I did because I absolutely HATED it. It just was so different from mine and handled so differently I couldn’t wait to get off it. Before I rode it I knew in my heart what the wise decision was–keep riding the bike I loved and that was paid off. But I was about to make an unwise decision that I would have regretted so much. I was saved from the costly consequences of an unwise purchase (thank you God!) and continued to ride my Honda for a couple more years before selling it. It really was a great bike. I had put about 40,000 miles on it and had nary a problem with it in 10 years. My decision to stop riding a couple years ago was the result of pondering the best question ever and deciding it was not the wisest for me to continue riding…but that’s a whole other story.

What is the wisest decision? I think it probably is the best question ever. I believe really getting honest about that question will help you practice contentment. It’s not always easy to do the wisest thing, but the question is pretty simple and, again, deep down we usually know the answer.