The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment Quick Summary ReviewLord's Library

Lord’s Library contributor Jared Helms offers this Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment summary and quick review by Jeremiah Burroughs. Lord’s Library’s Ministry Leaders Series is a collection of contributed articles written by ministry leaders on key Christian topics.

Outside of the Bible itself, there are but a few choice books which one might recommend to every follower of Christ. Jeremiah Burroughs’ The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment is such a book for two reasons. First, contentment is a virtue that is always enriching and always under attack. The situation Burroughs writes into (one of widespread economic hardship) is timeless and immediately relevant to the present moment. You, I, and everyone are tempted to be discontent, and all of us would benefit if we could hold more tightly to the rare jewel of true contentment.

Burrough’s is a Puritan, a group that has suffered unjustly under the biased and foolish criticism of a few popular writers, but is enjoying a much-deserved rehabilitation amongst Bible-affirming Christians. To read this work is to see that the Puritans were exacting in the sense that they were exact towards the purpose of helping their hearers to live all life to the glory of God and so to their own good. The work is thorough to the point of being difficult to take in. The modern English from the publisher, Updated Works, makes the contents more accessible without losing anything.

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment Summary & Review

Burroughs begins by defining contentment. He proceeds to show the evil of discontent in a very practical way. He shows you how disconnection hurts you. It is the kind of careful (full of care) treatment one finds in many Puritan works. Burroughs answers objections, deals with obstacles, and dispenses concrete advice on obtaining and maintaining contentment. By the end of the work, one has a complete understanding of the topic. That said, the writer will leave his audience wishing for more as he hints at a related lesson on dealing with abundance.

While some readers might wish for shorter, modernized treatment of this most relevant of subjects, and such books do exist, those who make the effort to read longer, more involved writing, which marked earlier times, will be rewarded. First, they will gain perspective outside the current moment of history. Second, they appreciate the truth more for the pains of getting it. Third, they will see something of the transcendence of God’s Word.

The reader will gain by reading a Puritan as well. First, they will have enjoyed a fully engaged discussion with a very practical bent. Second, each truth will be given its due attention. Third, the glory of God will be magnified at every turn, both by the full reliance upon His Scripture as the sole reliable source of ultimate truth and by the care to keep Him exalted in all things. For all these reasons and more, we do well to read the Puritans and other writers from history. Indeed, we might do even better to recover not just the truths they imparted but some of the methods they employed to impart truths.

Now, you might guess that I am an ardent supporter of Puritan writings, and I am the first to admit that my reviews of their books are not perfectly balanced. Then again, which book reviews are? In recommending books, we must understand that each person learns differently; the tome that helps me greatly might do nothing for you, and that which has changed your life might fall flat with me. We should try the books that have proven helpful to others, and especially those so helpful to so many that they have been preserved for hundreds of years. If nothing else The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment will set you thinking about this life giving virtue.

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Jared Helms

Jared received his Bachelor of Arts from Bryan College in 2012, and his Masters of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2017. He has pastored churches in Kentucky and Tennessee. Most importantly, Jared has walked with Christ most of his life. His interests extend from theology to church history, but he is particularly passionate about ecclesiology and homiletics.