Contentment?
How can we even consider such a notion in a world riddled with confusion? Anarchy in national, state, and local branches of government. Turmoil in the public education systems. Discord in relationships. Voices of hate, hurt, harm. The list is endless.
Pastor Chris Maxwell
Yet, amidst the chaos and drama of life in the now, Chris Maxwell has written a book titled, Contentment: What You’re Searching for Is Already Yours.
The inspiration for the volume (Maxwell’s thirteenth publication to date) originated toward the end of a counseling session in late 2024. As Chris prepared to leave, his counselor asked permission to speak a word, just one word, for Chris’s contemplation: contentment.
“I knew in that moment contentment was more than a counselor’s idea. It was the mindset I needed then. I still need it now,” Chris confesses. That word launched a search in the new year for the meaning of contentment: what it is not, what it is, and how to live it. He describes it as “the search that never had to begin.”
Chris Maxwell, a master wordsmith, addresses the topic from experience. Most people are capable of handling one or two, perhaps three, responsibilities at a time without breaking under the weight of duty. But accepting four, five, or six assignments is surely a recipe for bedlam. Yet Chris maneuvers through the maze of his busy life with peace as campus pastor and director of spiritual life at Emmanuel University; author of thirteen books; editor, and ghostwriter for other authors; speaker and advocate for a pharmaceutical company; and council member for the IPHC LifePoint Conference. Add to those appointments his role as a devoted family man, pastor of a local PH church (Goldmine), host of a weekly podcast titled, “Next Step Leadership,” and narrator for the IPHC Ministerial Credentialing Program videos.
Surely juggling that many assignments would cause most people to cave. Yet, Chris is enjoying his life and walking in thanksgiving and contentment. “Somewhere along the way, I discovered—and I continue discovering—something deeper than all the noise. Something steadier than applause. Something stronger than shame. Something called contentment,” he says.
Chris and his wife, Debbie, live near Emmanuel University. They met at the school when Chris was a student there.
Meeting Chris today, one might wonder if this gentle and humble man has ever experienced a setback—a time of confusion and hardship. However, he is open and forthright about rough seasons of life he has experienced.
In March of 1996, Chris was pastoring a congregation in Florida when he became extremely ill. His doctors were unable at first to determine the source of his pain. It had begun with a headache that morphed quickly into hallucinations. After a ten-day bout in the hospital, the medical team pinpointed and diagnosed the infection–encephalitis, inflammation of the brain. The disease left Chris with severe brain damage that resulted in his dealing with epilepsy and an inability to remember and perform rudimentary activities, such as how to speak, eat, read, and even tie his shoes.
Through extensive rehabilitation, perseverance, and hope in the healing and sustaining power of God, Chris eventually regained his faculties to the point that he is now in demand as a convention and event speaker. He also speaks as an advocate for individuals living with epilepsy.
Chris’s role as campus pastor and director of spiritual life at Emmanuel University opens doors for him to minister into the lives of students, some of whom are struggling to find their way out of confusion, disappointment, and anxiety. “I want this university to be their place of hope,” he says. “They need to experience contentment in the now. Not passivity, but spiritual grounding.”
The Maxwell extended family includes their three married sons and their wives, and 10 grandchildren.
The premise of the book, Contentment: What You’re Searching for Is Already Yours, is a message that serves older leaders who need renewed confidence and purpose; younger leaders wrestling with performance, ambition, and comparison; and pastors and ministry families who feel stretched thin or quietly overwhelmed. “My purpose in addressing these issues is to give ministers a fresh way forward—one marked not by exhaustion, but by contentment already available in Christ.”
Contentment in chaos! That phrase surely strikes a note of longing in so many leaders who stagger under the load of responsibility. In a lawless and fallen world, finding that place seems to be the urgent cry of every searching individual.
Written in his readable and relatable style, Maxwell’s book (scheduled for release in April 2026) deals frankly with the three basic queries with which the searching soul grapples: What Contentment Is Not; What Contentment Is; How do I Live It?
The book can be ordered on Chris’s website (Maxwell.me) or on his Amazon page.
Shirley G. Spencer retired in 2010, after having served 30 years as executive editor of publications for the International Pentecostal Holiness Church. She continues to write and edit on a freelance basis.
