Philippians 4: Personal, Practical, and Financial

These are some parting words to the Philippians (not one church, by the way, but a group of churches which would circulate the letters in that area or city, meaning that they had a relationship with one another even though they met separately, and he addresses people who must know each other).  There is a lot of close fellowship talk here.  Paul knows these people and they know him.  What it must be like to not be distracted by media and to be totally dependent on communal activity for information and every other human need.  Today, due to media and big government, we can live almost completely isolated and yet be in a big city.  To be isolated in the past, people had to be hermits, living in the mountain caves. We can have a cave in a subdivision today.  Unlike these folks, we can choose fellowship and relationship.  Modernity has split us up, not brought us together.  Media, which should be a means of communication, have not made relationships deeper.

This can be separated into personal notes, practical notes, and financial notes.

v. 1  Is Paul the only person in history who can say these words in 4:1?  I don't think so.  Anytime we spend significant time on the spiritual development of another--even our children--we can say that that person will be our joy and crown.  The church is talking a lot of discipleship, and that is not just attending a Bible study.  The model is such that a mature person invests his or her life in someone else for a year or so, with accountability and a balance between doctrinal teaching and trusting relationship.  If it's all relationship, the person can't stand firm; if it's all doctrinal teaching, it's dry and unmotivating and impractical.

v. 2 and 3 bring up a practical matter Paul has to address, two women who were apparently leaders and laborers, who have had a severe disagreement that is affecting other people.  What could it be over?  I doubt it was something minor or typically "womanly."   Nor do I think we are supposed to assume that women would have more trouble with this than men.  Again, the instruction is communal help. 

"At Philippi, women were the first hearers of the Gospel, and Lydia the first convert. It is a coincidence which marks genuineness, that in this Epistle alone, special instructions are given to women who labored with Paul in the Gospel. In selecting the first teachers, those first converted would naturally be fixed on. Euodia and Syntyche were doubtless two of ‘the women who resorted to the riverside, where prayer was wont to be made.’" (Jamieson, Faucet, Brown Commentary)

Of course, the fact that companion is singular is interesting.  It means he is addressing a specific person, either Timothy, Silas, or the bishop of Philippi (a bishop would be the spiritual overseer of many house churches).  Companion is actually "yokefellow in the gospel."  So it is someone who has a role of spiritual oversight.

There is a difference of opinion here on who this Clement is, whether it is the Clement who was the bishop of Rome and a very important early church father right after the death of Paul and Peter, or just another one.  If it's the bishop of Rome, it means two things:  That Clement did a lot of writing and never said that Peter was the first bishop of Rome (and therefore Pope).  Second, that this is a rare mention of "next generation" of church leaders and bishops and adds to historical proof and continuity.

The next set is practical living matters.  These are great verses to memorize.  The fact that Paul gives these exhortations shows that he recognizes that Christians deal with anxiety (and this is not just niggling worries but severe, soul-dividing concern and fear) and mental distractions. 

v. 7 is sweet:  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard (set watch over) your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Can you remember a time when this promise was real for you, or a time when your life would have been better if you had held onto it?

I think we probably disobey v. 8 as much as anything.  Now, I don't think Paul is saying "ignore the reality of evil and suffering in the world."  He addresses those matters directly, and all the Christians of that period knew about the evils of persecution.  But what would happen if we focused our thoughts on truthful, honorable, righteous, pure (sexually), beautiful, commendable, praiseworthy matters for just one day?  What if we went on spiritual retreat with that as our goal?  Maybe, just maybe, our appetite for sin would diminish.  I don't think appetites diminish by being fed; they get stronger by being fed.

Someone gave me a murder mystery to read.  I had never read the writer and wanted to see how he wrote.  It was a good read but trashy, and my life was in no way enriched by it.  Since it was about a serial killer, it only gave me ways to kill people.  I read it knowing I was not practicing 4:8.  Our lives would be revolutionized by practicing this verse for just one week.

Starting in verse 10 Paul is addressing financial matters.  Paul did not take a salary from churches so that he couldn't be accused of profiting from them.  However, he did take offerings for others and for specific trips.  On the other hand, in I Corinthians 10 he says that his way is not a model, and that a person who serves a group of people spiritually should be cared for financially.  It was just his choice, so he was a bivocational minister.  Paul made tents for a living, and I think that kept him in the "real world."  I am personally of the opinion that a person who goes into the ministry should work in the business or professional world for a while to understand what the people in the pew go through.  I think it would solve a lot of the "us-them" mentality that happens in churches.

There are two verses in this section that often get quoted a somewhat out of context.  The first is 13:  "I can do all things through him who strengthens me."  The context is the extremes he has gone through for ministry--facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  It doesn't mean "I can win the ballgame" or "I can make a million dollars."  People have used this verse to justify all kinds of behavior.  This is one of the few places where the phrase "learned the secret" is used.  God's revelation is not a secret, but some lessons are learned through hard work and experience and enlightenment by the Holy Spirit.

The second verse is 19:  And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  The context is that the Philippians were faithful in giving.  Many teachers believe that a person who is unfaithful in giving and irresponsible about finances can't use this verse, and then there is the issue of need vs. want, which we Americans are very confused about.  Is a college education a need?  Is a college education at an expensive school a need?  Is a car a need?  Is a specific car a need?  Is a cell phone a need?  Is a Droid a need?  I am pretty sure that need in a Biblical sense boils down to essentials.  I also think that this promise is not limited to physical needs.  

The part to focus on is "his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."  The source of our supply vs. the kind of our supply.  

There is a small note at the end.  All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household.  Some servants or family members of the emperor had become  Christians.  The work of God is unbounded; there are no boundaries to His work when we get out of the way.