Less Than

Last week, I asked a friend of mine about an individual that we both have worked with. I had not seen nor heard from this individual in quite some time, and I was concerned both about his welfare and whereabouts. When I said this individual’s name, there was a pregnant pause in the conversation. I got the impression that my friend was swishing this individual’s name around in his mind like mouthwash, trying to decide the best way to respond to my inquiry. Finally, he responded. And his response was searing,

With a sigh of disappointment in his voice, he said, “If a project is due in the morning, Bubba (the name has been changed to protect the innocent lol) isn’t going to stay up in order to complete it. Bubba is my friend who is satisfied with less.” That phrase has bothered me since he uttered it. What does it mean to be “satisfied with less?”

Being satisfied with less could be an indictment of the desire for more, and might actually be a good thing. One of my mentors used to always say that the richest person among us is the one who has the fewest needs. Marketing is based on the creation of dissatisfaction, and on a daily basis we are bombarded with advertisements about the latest and greatest gadgets and gizmos that we supposedly need in order to experience a more fulfilling life. “Up and to the right” is the mantra of our society. We want bigger salaries, bigger houses, bigger offices, and bigger televisions. Our social media feeds are full of filtered photographs of individuals all claiming to be living their best life. But I am unsure if that is as much the case as so many people would have you believe.

Making “more” synonymous with “better” or with “best” is a dangerous formula. Sometimes less is more. One of my favorite stories in the Bible confirms this truth. A man named Gideon was facing an army that was larger than all the sand on the seashore with a mere 32,000 troops. But God told Gideon that his army was too large, and instructed him to dismiss everyone who was afraid and unable to control their appetites. With the 300 remaining troops, Gideon won the battle. So perhaps being satisfied with less is a strategy for victory.

But part of me finds that argument unconvincing to the extent that it ignores a vital truth. Being satisfied with less can be a strategy for victory. But I think that being satisfied with less is more often than not an excuse for sloth. Ben Cramer’s classic book “What It Takes” about the 1988 presidential election is considered one of the definitive treatments of the challenges involved in running for President of the United States. I will never forget what one of the candidates said to Cramer about his campaign. He said “I want to be President. I just don’t want to run for president.”

In other words, he wanted the prize but not the process, the blessing but not the burden, and the acclaim but not the agony. Being satisfied with less is often more about surrender than it is about strategy. Being satisfied with less is often a surrender to our fears, a capitulation to our faults, and a resignation to our resources. We often accept less than we want, less than we need, less than what we can accomplish, less than what is possible, and less than what God intends in order to justify our lack of courage and unwillingness to exert the energy required to succeed. 

So here is today’s question: Are you satisfied with less? And if so, why so? Is it a strategy or a surrender?

One thing is certain. Our God is a God of more. According to Genesis 1:22, the first command that God gave to the human beings that he created was to “be fruitful and multiply.” “More” is not just quantitative. “More” is also qualitative. God not only wants to add years to your life. God also wants to add life to your years. God is more than you can imagine, can do more than you imagine, and has more than you can imagine. 

Don’t be satisfied with a full cup when God wants your cup to overflow!