Mark Giacobbe

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Dear downhearted,

A lot of us are feeling discontent this year. As I think about it, the feeling of discontentment, as common as it is to our human experience, is actually intimately connected to who we are as people created in the image of God. The reason we are discontent, at bottom, is because we live in a world that is not as it’s supposed to be. We were created for glory—for rich relationships, rewarding work, and intimacy with God—but since Genesis 3, the world as we know it does not give us those things – at least, never as much as or in the way we want. 

This year we are probably more prone to discontentment than ever. Maybe you are alone, struggling through lockdown with little or no companionship. Perhaps you gaze wistfully at the reverse-image wall of your apartment or house through your zoom webcam, longing for a better place to call home. Perhaps work has taken an unexpected turn—or there’s no work at all. For these reasons and more, we feel like what we have is not enough.

When we poke under the surface a little more, however, darker thoughts emerge. For we who believe in a loving and merciful God, “I don’t have what I want” quickly turns into “God isn’t giving me what I need.” We harbor hard thoughts of God, acknowledged consciously or not, and begin to accuse him of holding out on us.

Happily, the cure for discontented souls is the same as the cure for most everything else that ills us: repentance and faith. However, where discontentment is concerned, a couple of other steps actually help to fill out the process.

First, be thankful. Taking honest stock of all the rich and beautiful things that God has given us can often help get us unstuck, and move us to the place where we can repent and turn to him properly. The Apostle Paul writes, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Spend some time dwelling not on what you’re missing, but on what God graciously and freely has already given you – and watch how your thoughts begin to turn around.

Next, repent. Bring those hard, ugly thoughts of God into the light, and reject them for the lies they are. James writes, “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (James 4:2-3). Not all desires are wrong, but many are, and many good desires get twisted by our never-ending obsession with ourselves. Give it all to Jesus. Receive afresh His forgiveness and cleansing (see 1 John 1:9-10).

Third, acknowledge (or believe) that God actually has already given you everything you need in Him! One of the most encouraging verses in the Bible to me is Romans 8:32: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” Look to the cross—the place where God once and for all proved His love for you. If He gave you Jesus, can’t you trust Him to give you everything else you need, and for the things he hasn’t given you, to believe that it’s for your good somehow? Replace those hard thoughts of God with true ones based on His good and gracious character.

Finally, rejoice! With a new-found appreciation for what God has given you, and a heart that thinks rightly about God and His ways, enjoy the freedom of walking humbly with Him, casting your cares on Him because he cares for you (See 1 Peter 5:6–7; Philippians 4:4–7).

If you’re anything like me, this little regimen can work wonders. Your situation may not change, but your perspective can, quickly—and the freedom this brings is worth more in the long run than any of the things you hope God might give you but hasn’t yet.

My friend, I pray that God encourages you by lifting you out of the discontentment and into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

 In Christ,

 Pastor Mark

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As you’ve surely heard by now, Donald Trump has been elected the 45th President of the United States, after what has been one of the most divisive and acrimonious presidential elections in modern memory. This is Mark Giacobbe, one of of the pastors at Citylight, and I’m writing today to consider: What does this mean for us, the church of Jesus Christ?

Well, in one sense, nothing has changed since our previous email earlier this week: as Christians we are still, as always, called to pray, engage, build up, and hope. We must pray for our President, as commanded in Scripture, whether you were for him or against him (1 Tim 2:1-2). We must pray also for our country, that wounds might be healed, and justice might be done for the poor and marginalized (Prov 29:7). We must also continue to engage with issues of concern to us as believers, making our voices heard and speaking the truth in love (Eph 4:15).

In light of how divisive this election has been, however, we want to particularly emphasize the Christian commands to build one another up and to hope. We your elders realize that some of you were pro-Trump, while others were pro-Clinton. Many others found grave problems with both candidates. But with the election behind us now, we want to encourage you, in the strongest possible terms, to place our identity as brothers and sisters in Christ first and foremost in our minds and hearts. Whether you are Republican or Democrat or neither, whether you felt the Bern or were with her or wanted to make America great again, our citizenship is first and foremost in heaven (Phil 3:20), and we are all members of one another (Eph 4:25).

Let’s live this way. Let’s be careful, in our speech and social media interactions, to love one another and bear with one another (John 13:34; 1 Cor 13:7). Let’s try to understand where someone of another perspective is coming from, especially those who are hurting, angry, or afraid, being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:9). And let’s show the world, by our commitment to truly love one another, that we are disciples of Jesus, shining like stars in the midst of a crooked and depraved generation (John 13:35; Phil 2:15).

As John Piper has recently said, every president–and America itself–will one day be just a footnote in history. All human kingdoms will fall, but the Kingdom of God will stand forever (Rev 11:15). And Scripture says that we all, of various races, nations, and languages, called out of darkness and into his wonderful light in Christ Jesus, will be priests together in this Kingdom (1 Pet 2:9; Rev 1:6).

As God’s priestly people, throughout the next four years and beyond, let’s mediate the grace of God to a broken and dying world that so desperately needs it. For in the end there is no President, no party, no system, and no leader that can put the world to rights again. Only King Jesus can do this. Let our hope be fully in this, in the redemption of the world that comes through Him. And through our prayers, words, and deeds, let’s work together to see His Kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10).

P.S. There are many good Christian leaders writing now about the aftermath of this election. For further thoughts from a trusted source, see this piece by Russell Moore.