I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for 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 can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble...Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.
Philippians 4:10-17
In this series of Reflections, we've tried to fathom St Paul’s contentment, to see something of its depth and quality and to understand how a man could rejoice when enduring so much hardship and suffering. Paul experienced something much more profound than financial contentment, although that is the passage (quoted above) that generations of Christians have focused on. But we can’t experience contentment with our financial situation in isolation to the rest of life.
It’s not necessarily the case that Paul didn’t need the gift sent by the Philippians and I don’t know whether or not it made life more comfortable for him. But when he wrote, ‘Not that I am speaking of being in need…’ he was explaining that his main source of gratitude did not flow from the material gift itself. He was grateful for the gift but he was more grateful for what it said about the Christians who sent it. ‘It was kind of you to share my trouble… Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit’.
The Philippian church was among the few, maybe the very few, that supported Paul. In his second letter to Corinth, he refers to their generosity for the relief of Christians in Jerusalem suffering in the famine. ‘We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favour of taking part in the relief of the saints…’ (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).
The word 'favour' seems to be difficult to translate from the Greek but clearly it means they felt privileged to be involved and saw giving as inherent to their fellowship with Paul. We can be fairly certain that this general reference to Macedonia is to the Philippians because in his letter to them he writes, 'When I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only' (Philippians 4:15).
Their light hold on the things of this world, their selfless generosity, their love for other Christians – even ones living many miles away who probably disapproved of their theology – was a clear signal of the authenticity of their discipleship!
The Philippian church was among the few, maybe the very few, that supported Paul. In his second letter to Corinth, he refers to their generosity for the relief of Christians in Jerusalem suffering in the famine. ‘We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favour of taking part in the relief of the saints…’ (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).
The word 'favour' seems to be difficult to translate from the Greek but clearly it means they felt privileged to be involved and saw giving as inherent to their fellowship with Paul. We can be fairly certain that this general reference to Macedonia is to the Philippians because in his letter to them he writes, 'When I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only' (Philippians 4:15).
Their light hold on the things of this world, their selfless generosity, their love for other Christians – even ones living many miles away who probably disapproved of their theology – was a clear signal of the authenticity of their discipleship!
Paul could enjoy material, financial contentment only because he had a much broader and deeper contentment founded on his faith in Christ, a contentment we've explored in this series of Reflections. Paul trusted God unreservedly and exclusively. He trusted God to work things out for his good, even when things seemed to be going wrong and even when he made mistakes! Without that foundation, we can’t hope to experience material contentment, much less the broader, deeper contentment that Paul enjoyed.
We can simplify our lifestyles, shun the norms of capitalism and the consumer society and live counter culture, and that can be of great benefit to us and to our families. But it takes us no further than the very many people of other religions and philosophies who do the same. To experience what Paul experienced, we have to learn what Paul learned.
This requires not only learning contentment with material things and a mindset that sees the privilege and 'favour' in giving but a certain sort of spiritual discontent as we pursue our relationship with Jesus Christ and lift our eyes above the material world to focus on the eternal. As we reflected on a few weeks ago (23 January) in Paul’s Discontent, we need to covet spiritual gifts and, as we reflected on Paul's lifestyle focus and goal, we need to pursue our relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to value the privilege not only of contentment and generosity but of making intimacy with Christ our life goal and of sharing His suffering and death. This is a fitting subject to reflect on during Easter.
This requires not only learning contentment with material things and a mindset that sees the privilege and 'favour' in giving but a certain sort of spiritual discontent as we pursue our relationship with Jesus Christ and lift our eyes above the material world to focus on the eternal. As we reflected on a few weeks ago (23 January) in Paul’s Discontent, we need to covet spiritual gifts and, as we reflected on Paul's lifestyle focus and goal, we need to pursue our relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to value the privilege not only of contentment and generosity but of making intimacy with Christ our life goal and of sharing His suffering and death. This is a fitting subject to reflect on during Easter.
I close the series with this thought. If we can’t trust God for everything, I doubt we could be content with anything, least of all money and the things it can buy.
© Copyright Philip Evans 2015.
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Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations in these Reflections 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.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations in these Reflections 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.
