10/25/13

From Jim McGuiggan... Now you see it, now you don't — Phil 4.13


Now you see it, now you don't — 

Phil 4.13


Frustration and all that goes with it and can grow out of it (including depression and resentment) comes when our eager expectations are consistently not met. You see this in Christians a lot when you would think that they’d be the happiest people in the world. Well...that’s saying too much—is it not?
But look at this. In Philippians 4:13 Paul says, "I can do all things in him who strengthens me." And then in 4:19 he says, "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

What are we to think of such claims? I know what we’ve done with them for ages. Let’s see, we make "all things" all things (why wouldn’t we?) and we make "can do" of immediate effect (why wouldn’t we?) so that there’s nothing the believer can’t do. Sensibly we don’t apply "all things" to matters outside of living for God and furthering his purpose. I can’t turn scrap iron into gold, for example, or sprout wings and fly. We rightly sniff at such nonsense and feel sure that Paul’s experience, while it’s unlimited in its area, should be restricted to life before God. That makes sense. But in what way does it make sense? God would rather that I did not sin and since he is in me to enable me to do "all things" then it should follow that I can be sinless. No? Why not?

Now imagine some poor soul that’s plagued by a particular sin. Let’s make it one of the ones we usually zero in on. He repeatedly falls to sexual temptation or maybe he can’t keep his gossiping mouth shut. He reads Philippians 4:13, or more probably, he hears the preacher going on about it, and he thinks, "there’s nothing I cannot do because God strengthens me so I ought to be able to control my mouth or my desires." But he continues to fail when he tries to get control of his blabbering mouth or keep his hands to himself. How does he explain that? How does the preacher or teacher explain it?

Well certainly God offers the strength to overcome the sin but we must want it. [Hmmm. That sounds like a bit of fine print that you have to use a magnifying glass to see in Philippians 4.] What is our failing sinner to think? If he wants the strength to overcome the sin, then he gets it. But the fact is that he’s been wanting this overcoming strength for years so why doesn’t he have it? The answer’s obvious, isn’t it? He mustn’t really want it. [Ah, I see. The fine print has fine print.] Yes, but our struggler has always thought he really wanted it; he’s wept sore over it and prayed fervently against the sin, as he pursued purity or mouth-control. Perhaps, but it takes more than prayer to access the overcoming power of God. You must purpose and act on preventing the re-occurrence, maybe even set up a protective network of friends. [So, the text isn’t nearly as simple as it looks. In fact, it’s a bit of a scam to quote it as if it were that simple—"It’s simply a matter of trusting that it’s true."] Well naturally it’s not that simple. But our struggler didn’t just trust and pray, he purposed and set up hurdles against the usurper, even went for counselling and such like—all to no avail. What now? More fine print?

Well, God doesn’t always answer prayers in an instant. How about within a week or a month or a decade, or what about half a life time? And so we add caveats to qualifiers and "buts" to plain affirmations. Before we know it Philippians 4:13 is hardly recognisable as the passage we smilingly (and glibly?) quote; the passage we quote with something of an implied demand in it (since Philippians 4:13’s true, you need to behave and make no excuses!).

Sometimes we think that biblical texts are spoken/written in a vacuum. But this simply isn’t true. Existential realities are assumed as Paul and people like him speak or write. They know very well that there’s no such thing as moral "magic" and they know very well that acts of sin are all tangled up in the vast network of a human’s experiences, fears, shaping, emotional pre-dispositions, habits and felt needs. They know very well that a recurring sin isn’t cured without a change in the struggler’s inner structure. The act may be effectively blocked by numerous hurdles built against it (a good thing too) but it’s hardly a cure. Since they know all these things and assume them all as true even while they write, we mustn’t quote them as if they were stupid or sheerly simplistic. We need to stop promising instant transformation. Instant coffee, instant oats, tanning creams, maybe—but not instant transformation.

So does Philippians 4:13,19 mean nothing? No, that can never be true, but it’s time we stopped dabbling with texts; it’s time we stopped quoted verses that are rooted in other rich complex truths as if the verses stood alone. Stop promising things God didn’t promise! We lead masses to think that God has promised this or that and when he doesn’t come up with it serious self-doubt is generated in the believer who begins to think he doesn’t truly want God’s will. Or resentment is provoked against God who, it appears, won’t keep his word.

So does Philippians 4:13,19 mean nothing? Certainly not! What does it mean then? Work with it!