Christian Contentment

“I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:10-13).

Throughout much of this letter, Paul has spoken of his joy in the Philippian church. Here, nearing the end of the letter, he returns to one of the reasons for his joy, also reflected in the beginning of his letter: The generous financial support of the Philippian church while he is in chains for the gospel.

Paul’s comment about the Philippian’s inability to show their concern initially suggests that they may not, at first, have been willing or able to provide support. Their own financial limitations, or the reality of their persecution we have discussed previously, may have inhibited their ability to aid Paul. Or perhaps they did not initially have a messenger like Epaphroditus, discussed in chapter 2, willing to risk caring for someone imprisoned by the empire. This further emphasizes the significance of their communal sacrifice which prompted this joy-filled letter from Paul. It may also explain Paul’s comments about learning to be content in all circumstances.

This Greek word used for “content” in these verses is a word that appears only in this single context in the New Testament. However, it was a well-known philosophical concept in the Greco-Roman world, connected with groups like the Stoics and Cynics, which spoke of contentment as an ideal state resulting from supreme self-sufficiency.

Paul’s use of this word, however, conveys a contentment that comes, not from self-sufficiency, but from God’s sufficiency. Both poverty and plenty are states in which he is comfortable, not because they are a result of his choices or effort, but because his economic circumstances do not reflect his status before God. Paul’s “secret” of contentment, a contrast to the Greco-Roman ideal, is further stated in verse 13: “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Now, this verse has often been taken out of context to exaggerate human capacity. But it is important that we retain a distinctly Christian anthropology (or, in other words, view of what it means to be human). This verse does not imply any change in what it means to be human creatures. God does not give people super-human capabilities. What Scripture testifies about humans–that we are finite and fallen, that God is God and we are not, remains true. But Paul’s testimony is that accepting the reality of human finitude yields a contentment that grasping for control over one’s circumstances could never produce.

This is perhaps why Paul speaks of contentment in the context of his joy at the gift he has received from the Philippians–and why, as many scholars have pointed out about this letter, he never actually directly thanks the Philippians for what they have given him. Perhaps it is because he knows that, in their generous giving out of what little they have, they are in turn being gifted the possibility of learning contentment. A contentment dependent entirely on who God is, and not what they have.

So where are you striving for self-sufficiency today? What might you relinquish to find contentment in God’s sufficiency?

So as you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you. May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm. May he bring you home rejoicing; at the wonders he has shown you. May he bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.