Misused Bible Verses, Example 5
How many times have you heard someone say this about the word all? “All means 'all' and that’s all that all means?” While this is true (the word all does mean “all”), the word all doesn’t always mean every possible thing all at once. While this may seem obvious, we don’t always apply this simple fact to our personal study of the Bible. As a result, we easily misinterpret and misapply what the Bible says when it uses the word all. I’ll give you a common example.
A Verse forWinning Ballgames?
Athletes oftenscrawl Philippians 4:13 onto their sneakers or quote this verse in a pressconference when they win. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthensme.” They say that this verse motivates them to play hard, fight throughadversity, and come out winning in the end. But what happens when an athlete onboth opposing teams is motivated by the same verse? Only one can win, right?
If allmeans “all” in a universal sense, then this verse would be appropriate forplaying a game to win. But that’s not what Paul was talking about when he saidthis.
Facing Feelings of Anxiety
Paul was speakingto believers in the church at Philippi. These believers were experiencing somemeasure of hostility for their faith, just as Paul had faced hostility when he plantedthe church in the beginning (Acts 16:16-24).
As a result oftheir difficulties, they were succumbing to feelings of anxiety. That’s whyPaul told them, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer andsupplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil 4:6).
SomeAppreciation for Financial Support
After providingthem with some additional guidance, Paul thanked them for some financialsupport they had given to him (Phil 4:10, 14). This helped him at a crucialtime which he described as his “distress,” which means a time of “extremepressure and difficulty” from a financial and material standpoint. In fact,they were the only church who provided for his material needs when he was plantingand pastoring churches in Eastern Europe (Macedonia) (Phil 4:15). Even the churcha Thessalonica, whom Paul called an exemplary church (1 Thess 1:7), failed toprovide financial support (Phil 4:16).
Because of thisdifficulty, the church at Philippi had stepped up to meet the need from adistance on repeated occasions (Phil 4:16). To demonstrate why this financialhelp was important, Paul described it as a pleasing and acceptable sacrifice,not to him but to God (Phil 4:18).
Furthermore, he encouraged them by pointing out that by meeting his needs this way, they would receive abundant spiritual fruit (Phil 4:17). This indicates that when you give to meet the needs of someone else this way, especially for the cause of the gospel, then God exchanges your financial contributions for eternal rewards, which he applies to your heavenly account to earn compound interest.
God exchanges your financial contributions for eternal rewards, which he applies to your heavenly account to earn compound interest.
Paul makes it clear that he was not teaching these things because he wanted more money (Phil 4:17). (Whenever a preacher talks about these things, it will be easy for people to accuse him of doing that.) To reveal that he had the right attitude, he explained that he was not making a request for support to meet his needs (Phil 4:11). Nor had he done so before.
Here’s how things had played out. He was in a dire financial situation, especially when he was caring for the church at Thessalonica. At the same time, the church at Philippi was looking for opportunities to meet his needs. When they discovered his need, they sent Epaphroditus (and perhaps others at other times) to provide the help Paul needed (Phil 4:10, 16, 18). They had done the research for themselves and they had taken the initiative to meet his need.
Content in AnyCircumstance
Ultimately,Paul was not asking for their help, though he needed help badly from somewhere.Despite his need, he had chosen to embrace a bedrock principle for Christianliving. “Not that I speak in regard to need,” he said, “for I have learned inwhatever state I am, to be content” (Phil 4:11).
Contentment is an inner frame of mind that learns to adapt to your circumstances, even when the circumstances do not change. This mindset does not panic and worry when your financial situation is grim. Nor does it wander from God when your financial situation is abounding with resources. That’s exactly how Paul describes it. He said, “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need” (Phil 4:12).
Contentment is an inner frame of mind that learns to adapt to your circumstances, even when the circumstances do not change.
This leads meto the oft-quoted verse I mentioned at the beginning of this study. “I can doall things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). Knowing the context,to what does “all things” refer? Does it refer to anything at all? Does it meanthat you can climb a mountain on an extreme wilderness hike? Does it mean thatyou can win a football game if you pray beforehand? Does it mean that you canpass your exam at school? Does it mean that you can go to work and exceed thesales goals at work because you claimed this promise by faith? Unfortunately itdoesn’t mean any of these things.
This verseteaches us to receive from Christ the inner, quiet strength of contentment. Weneed this contentment no matter what we face. We need this contentment when therefrigerator is full, when we own the house, and when the retirement account isoutperforming the market. But we need this contentment when the refrigerator isempty, when we don’t own the house, and when the retirement account is goingnowhere fast.
This is not averse for winners only. It’s a verse for losers, too. Whether you are winningor losing on the material and financial side of the ball today, you need thisverse. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. You can handlefinancial success with quiet calm and peace, and you can handle financialhardship and suffering with the same quiet confidence in God.
Not Just aVerse for Pastors
Why did Paulshare this truth with the believers at Philippi? Not just to say thank you fortheir financial support, and not just to explain his personal mindset towardssuffering and success. He shared this with them because some of them were alsofacing financial difficulties. That’s why he encouraged them by saying, “And myGod shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”(Phil 4:19).
This is not just a verse for pastors. It’s a verse for every believer .
This is not just a verse for pastors. It’s a verse for every believer, whether you are experiencing abundant financial blessings or severe financial need. You can do all these things through Christ who strengthens you, knowing that in every situation, God will provide for your needs somehow, in his time and in his way.
Does this describeyour situation today? Are you blessed with prosperity or are you going througha financial crisis? In either case, are you living the life of completecontentment in Christ? If not, then you can embrace this perspective today asPaul once did and as he encouraged the church at Philippi to do as well.
