CONTENTMENT (4): Paul's Detention

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Philippians 1:12-13

In the past few weekends we’ve reflected on the first lessons in contentment: that we need to be flexible in trusting God to work out things him his own way and in his own time, to persist in our trust even when things don’t go as we expect or take a turn for the worst and to know when our work is done. This weekend, we begin to reflect on maintaining our respect for people, and good relations with them, even in the face of injustice.

In his letter to the Christians in Rome, written a few years before his letter to Philippi, Paul explains his commitment to obeying the civil authorities, seeing in his submission to them his submission to the will of God. His rationale can be summarised in the words that Jesus addressed to Pilate. When Pilate told Jesus, ‘Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?’ Jesus replied. ‘You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above’ (John 19:10-11). That is what Paul thought.

These are the key points Paul makes in the passage we now call Romans 13. ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment… Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience…’

Paul’s respect for authority was tested both before and after he wrote this passage. At Philippi and in many other places, he was badly treated by the authorities. The story of his detention in Jerusalem and deportation to Rome, that St Luke records in Acts 22-27, is a graphic example of repeated injustice. Nonetheless, Paul could tell the Philippians that it all had ‘served to advance the gospel’.

When Paul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to appease the thousands of Jewish Christians who, as James put it, were ‘all zealous for the law’. He took James’ advice and began a week-long Jewish purification ceremony. This required Paul to attend the Temple each day and, towards the end of the week, some Jews from Asia saw him there and assumed that he was defiling it. They quickly stirred up a crowd and Paul would probably have been lynched if Roman soldiers had not rescued him.

Paul thought that he could resolve the misunderstanding by addressing the crowd but he failed. Although the misunderstanding could still have been easily resolved, the Jewish authorities seized the opportunity to pursue their persecution of Christians. When that seemed to be failing, the they backed an assignation attempt and so Paul was transferred to Caesarea and into the custody of the Roman governor.

Although Paul had not broken any Roman or Jewish law, Governor Felix, and his successor, Festus, kept Paul in detention for over two years in order not to upset the Jewish authorities. When Festus proposed to return Paul to Jerusalem to stand trial, Paul invoked his right as a citizen of Rome to put his case before Caesar himself. The Govenors were unjust and possibly corrupt but they were not Paul's enemies, which is the subject of next weekend's Reflection.

Paul was kept in detention, a political prisoner, for many years but this did not prevent him from being content. He knew that none of them would have had authority over him unless it had been given them by God.

We all suffer similar injustices from people who would have no authority over us if God didn't permit it. While that may seem easy for me to say living in a modern democracy, around the world the difference is in sophistication of approach and transparency rather than in kind. Those who abuse their authority could be trying to make money from straightforward bribes or by manipulating performance targets to enhance their salaries and promotion prospects. They may be overly zealous or negligent to serve their own ends when they restrict freedoms, appropriate resources, impose fines, deny education and opportunities to work or withhold medical treatment, but God remains sovereign. Wherever we live, in a police state or in a free democracy, we learn contentment by persisting in our trust in God in spite of such injustices.

© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.

As what is freely received should be freely shared and not sold for profit, you are very welcome to copy these Reflections freely and without cost to others. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CONTENTMENT (3): Paul's Unfinished Business

You Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again.

Philippians 4:15-16

Paul had planned to revisit the churches begun during his earlier missionery journey but instead God guided him and his companions to Macedonia, where they headed for the capital city, a Roman colony called Philippi. St Luke tells the story in Acts 16.

After a few days, they find a group of people worshipping by a river who believe the Good News about Jesus. The meetings continue. Then a female slave, empowered by a demon to prophesy, began to follow Paul, shouting that he can tell people the way of salvation. This was the sort of publicity that Paul didn’t want.

We know from the Gospels, and from what St James wrote, that demons know very well the truth about Jesus. But why should one of them publicise it like that? Possibly to taint Paul's message, to try to reduce it in people's minds to the same level as all the other religions practiced in the city.

Paul was annoyed and banished the demon. The slave could no longer prophesy and so her owners had Paul and Silas arrested on a bogus charge of staring a riot. The magistrates were not diligent and probably corrupt because they had the two missionaries publically flogged and jailed without a proper hearing.

I expect all this seemed like a great tragedy to the new Christians, challenging their new-found belief in the Sovereign LORD. It must have severely tested their respect for authority, which is the subject of next weekend's Reflection.

The mission to Macedonia, that had begun so promisingly, seemed to have turned sour. But then, while Paul and Silas are worshipping God in their prison cell, an earthquake frees all the prisoners. Rather than take the opportunity to escape, Paul sees God working towards something greater. This leads the jailer and his family, one of the prominent families in the city, to believe on Jesus. Suddenly, the injustice and humiliation the missionaries had suffered became the means God used to expand the new church. But then there's another setback! The magistrates banished them from the city!

I wonder if Paul and his companions left Philippi with a sense of unfinished business, afraid that the new church he had planted would wither and die without experienced nurturing. Of course, we know that it did continue: it grew to become one of the few churches to support Paul in the years to come. When we read in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians about the financial support he received from Macedonia, we know from the quotation at the start of this Reflection that he is actually referring to the Philippians, because they were the only church in the region to support him.

Planted in the most unlikely of circumstances, and left without any experienced ministry, the church continued to grow and stand as an example to all others. As Paul explained in his letter to the Christians in Corinth, seeking to address the divisions among them that focused on different ministers, one minister plants, another waters, but God gives the growth. I’m therefore sure that Paul left Philippi not with a sense of unfinished business but confident that God would use others to bring the work to completion.

To be content as St Paul was content, we need the discernment to do what God calls us to - to do our bit - and then happily move on. We must never become precious about what God calls us to do, never try to hold on when He calls us to move on or calls others to work over us. If we do cling on, God may continue to bless us, because that’s the sort of loving God He is, but we may miss better things He has prepared for us. 

© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.

As what is freely received should be freely shared and not sold for profit, you are very welcome to copy these Reflections freely and without cost to others.

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CONTENTMENT (2): Paul's Discernment

It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Philippians 1:9-11

St Paul prayed for the Christians at Philippi that their love would increase, with knowledge and discernment, so that they could approve what is excellent. A more literal translation is that Paul wanted them to be able to discern not 'what is excellent' but ‘things that differ’. Paul's point was the need to choose between excellent and excellent: not between bad and good, or between good and better, or even between better and best but between excellent things of equal worth and merit. The story of how Paul first went to Philippi, told by St Luke in Acts 15-16, is a fascinating example of this needed discernment.

A year or so after Paul and Barnabas had completed their first missionary journey, Paul suggested they revisit the churches they had started. This good idea, unfortunately, quickly turned sour when the two men couldn’t agree on who to include in their team. It would be interesting to know just what St Luke means by ‘a sharp disagreement’ but I think that the friends were quickly reconciled: I’m confident that both men would have taken seriously Jesus’ own words about the absolute necessity of love and the obligation to deal promptly with interpersonal problems, even though they agreed to go their separate ways.

Paul’s journey went according to plan until he was ‘forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia’; later, ‘the Spirit of Jesus’ stopped him entering Bithynia. Then something unusual happened that triggered a new direction: Paul dreamed about a man from Macedonia asking for help and knew that this was a genuine call from God.

If Paul had parted from Barnabas without having resolved their differences, I doubt that Paul would have had the discernment to understand how the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus and the Lord Himself was guiding him. In the lifestyle guidance that Jesus gave His disciples, loving God with our entire being and loving our neighbours as ourself is foundational; we are to love even our enemies and our love for other Christians is what marks us out by society as Jesus' true disciples. (See, for example, Matthew 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-31 & John 13:34-35.)

St Paul understood this very well. When he wrote to the Christians at Corinth, he had to remind them that love was necessary for true understanding: knowledge, alone, was an inadequate. Knowledge puffs up, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 8:1, but love builds up and edifies. It was a point he emphasised in his great description of love, 1 Corinthians 13, explaining how that without it our service for God is empty, unprofitable vanity. So in his prayer for the Philippians, love must ‘abound more and more’ if knowledge and discernment are going to be effective in distinguishing between excellent and excellent.

There are at least two reasons why God uses dreams to direct us. First, to get around our natural preferences and prejudices. I doubt Paul was against going to Macedonia but, having set out to revisit the places he’d been to previously, going somewhere so completely different may not have occurred to him. Second, God speaking through dreams can reassure us that we are doing what He wants when things don’t go as we expect. This happened after Paul had been in Philippi for a fortnight or so and is the subject of next weekend’s Reflection.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as a Christian is that God is better at leading us than we are at following Him. But God’s plans do not always seem to us to go in a straight line! We think, rightly, that God has planted an idea in us and we use our ability to think and plan to make good choices. Then a door of opportunity is closed and we’re compelled in a new direction. And then something totally unanticipated is presented to us.

We can't expect to be right all the time but we need to be careful not to jump to conclusions about a work that God calls us to, not to attach our ideas and ambitions to His intention. We need to be aware that when we start on a course of action that it may not proceed as we expect nor take us where we expected. I'm not saying that this is always what happens but, if we're not discerning, we could end up doing a work that God hadn't intended us to do. God may bless that work, because He's like that, but our failure to discern the things that differ may cause us to miss the excellent option designed and destined for us.

I fear that a lack of love among God's people, both for each other and for others, casts a far longer shadow across God's work than we ever realise. Among other tragedies, it blunts our discernment and undermines our ability to be content with God's purpose and provision for our lives.

© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.

As what is freely received should be freely shared and not sold for profit, you are very welcome to copy these Reflections freely and without cost to others. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CONTENTMENT (1): Paul's Letter

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

St Paul's Letter to the Philippians 1:1-2

On 12 September, I concluded the series of Reflections on what Jesus taught about money with His invitation to experience God's rest. This new series that begins today, that I think will run until Christmas, explores how we enter this rest. The series is centred around St Paul’s famous statement towards the end of his letter to Philippi about how he had learned contentment.

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

I used to think that St James’ letter was the one in the New Testament that dealt most with financial issues but I've been surprised to discover that it's Philippians. James, like Paul in his two letters to the Corinthians, wrote to Christians who were preoccupied with the details of life, who and wanted to live as much like everyone else as possible without actually sinning (although, inevitably, they did sin). Philippians, by contrast, was written to Christians who were preoccupied with Christ. While Paul's great statement of financial contentment is important, it's founded on the much broader contentment that Paul expresses throughout the letter - one that describes what it's like to enter God's rest, although Paul does not use that term.

The letter is unique among Paul’s letters preserved in the New Testament because it wasn't written to address problems in the local church, nor to help a protégée, but simply to thank a church for its gift and to share with it in fellowship. This is why Paul introduces himself as Christ’s servant, not as an apostle, and addresses the letter to ‘all the saints’, not primarily to the church leaders. It was written while he was a political prisoner in Rome and it contains a lot of personal information, both about his past and his current situation, and it’s this as much as the guidance he offers that helps us to understand how he learned contentment.

To be an effective antidote to the prevailing avarice (the love of money) and covetousness (the love of what money can buy) in society, we need to be content with all that our life is. When our contentment is partial, limited to one or two areas of our lives, we remain vulnerable because capitalism and consumerism thrive by undermining all basic human need: the need to feel secure, to be accepted and valued by others and to fulfill our potential. Like bacterial infections - the 'superbugs' - that adapt to thrive in spite of known antibiotics, avarice and covetousness constantly adapt to survive the steps we take towards simplicity and serenity.

If Paul could overcome his privileged heritage and violent past, if he could learn and maintain contentment with all the aggression and hardship that he had had to endure, if he could rejoice as the victim of perjury and at the hands of unjust Government officials, we can learn it, too. Whatever our background, whatever mistakes we’ve made, whatever wickedness we’re guilty of, whatever abuse we’ve suffered, we can be content with life. Whatever the type of suffering we're experiencing, how deeply we feel it, how inexplicable or unfair it is, no matter how  long we have had to endure it, contentment is possible. But it doesn't come naturally or easily and, like St Paul, we have to learn.

If you think this series will be helpful, please recommend it to others and encourage them to subscribe by sending me an e-mail at philip.evans@clubhousew1.org .

© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.

What is freely received should be freely shared and not sold for profit, so please feel free to copy these Reflections freely and without cost to others. Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations in these Reflections are all from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A 'Christ-Centred' Approach to Money

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment… [and] if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life…

1 Timothy 6:6-12

Earlier this year, a friend preparing to marry asked me for some advice on organising his household finances. He explained that money had always been ‘something that ticks along in the background’ but in view of his new responsibilities he wanted a ‘Christ-centred approach to money’. From what I knew, I thought that my friend probably had a Christ-centred approach already and that money ticking along in the background was a pretty good way of describing how it should be.

I've been teaching personal finance skills for 12 years and the more I think about it, the more certain I am that there is no such thing as a ‘Christian’ or ‘Biblical’ or ‘Christ-centred’ approach to money. Or, rather, not one that is in any way separate from a Christian, Biblical or Christ-centred approach to life. In fact, soon after I began teaching personal finance, one of the things that troubled me about the financial disciplines that some teachers derived from the Bible is that they seem to leave us still thinking more about money than Christ.

Jesus of Nazareth said that we cannot serve both God and money, although it would be more exact to say that he said we can’t serve the influence of money, called ‘mammon’, rather than money itself. We often think of serving money as a form of idolatry but the fact is that 21st Century society wouldn’t tolerate anything quite so transparent. Rather, the influence of money has transcended to something more like a cosmology. We now take for granted the ebb and flow of money as simply the way the world works: a primal force as natural as gravity and as generally accepted as evolution.

It isn’t a Christ-centred approach to money that we need but a Christ-centred approach to life. Then, money will find the right level in our thinking and behaviour, somewhere in the background.

I always advise people to maintain a budget. That may sound at odds with what I've just written but it's as sensible as watching our diet. We may not be fussy about what we eat but if we were as careless with food as some people are with money we would undermine our health and could even poison ourselves. Or I could liken budgeting to watching the instruments when we're driving a car. How many of us could judge our speed, be confident of the engine tempreture and know when to add petrol without them?

An explanation about how to keep a simple budget is in my booklet, 'MONEY: the small print' that can be downloaded free from the Money-Ed page on the Clubhouse website. It’s important to get into the habit of each week going over the previous week’s spending and making sure there is enough money for the coming month. Everything we spend and the repayments of everything we borrow must be contained within a budget. If it isn’t, we soon undermine our financial health, run out of 'fuel' and end up in debt.

Contentment with what God provides is crucial to living the sort of life that Jesus described for his disciples. It’s therefore important in a consumer society, which keeps itself going by persuading people they ‘need’ what in fact they neither need nor really want, to identify and evaluate marketing, advertising, peer pressure and all the other forces that try to shape our fears and ambitions to keep us spending and borrowing. But contentment that works, and is more than a temporary shield again consumer pressures, has to be a contentment that embraces all of life, all that God gives us and all that he withholds. This is why next weekend I plan to start of series of Reflections on contentment based on Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Churches can, unfortunately, generate as much consumer pressure as a shopping mall. I don't mean to be unfair, but Christians who tithe or give generously often seem to think that God is happy for them to spend the rest on their own indulgences rather than helping people less well off than they are. Moreover, many churches and mission organisations function as micro-consumer societies, looking for significant income from the sale of teaching materials, 'christianized' fashion accessories and a variety of everyday objects bearing scripture verses and spiritual logos. To fit in, to be accepted and to be appreciated at some churches can be expensive!

Nothing I’ve written should suggest that it’s alright to be careless with money or that managing a budget is necessarily easy. Handling money can be complicated, especially for people struggling to make ends meet or already in debt. I've sought to describe an approach that is compatible with Jesus Christ's teaching about lifestyle but you may need one-to-one expert help in your situation.

If you’re worried about your financial situation or if you think you could benefit from help with organising money, with money problems or with debt, then get some free help from people trained to give it. Just as most people need someone to teach them how to drive, and people with weight-related health issues need expert help with their diet and exercise, so many people benefit from help managing their money and clearing credit and debt commitments. In the UK, free local advice agencies are listed in the front of telephone directories or on display in local libraries. Many churches also offer expert help.

'The just shall live by faith', not by money; humans do not live by bread alone - the things that go into their mouths - but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. God created everything by the words he spoke and by his words he can recreate and sustain us. A Christ-centred approach to life therefore refuses to be blinkered by financial considerations in the pursuit of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. It fights the good fight of the faith and takes hold of eternal life without regard to 'the bottom line'.

Jesus said, ‘Do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”. For the Gentiles [by which he meant, unbelievers] seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’ A Christ-centred approach to life trusts God to underwrite our obedience.

© Copyright Philip Evans 2014.

What is freely received should be freely shared, not sold for profit,

and you are very welcome to copy these Reflections freely and without cost to others.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway,

a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.