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Jesus Probably Won't Help My Team Go Undefeated

Friday, 19 March 2010

[This is the second in a series of posts on "Scriptures Taken Out of Context and Why They Matter".]

It is fairly common to see Philippians 4:13 quoted on all types of motivational materials. Most recently, I've seen it on a number of sports-related images and posters. And, in terms of general Christian culture, it isn't uncommon to hear this verse quoted in the following manner (which are based on real conversations I have overheard):

Conversation 1: The No Consequence Version

Person 1: "Man, I haven't studied for my final. I think I'm going to bomb it!"

Person 2: "Don't say that! You can do all things through Christ!"

Conversation 2: The Athletic Version
[On TV interview for FCA]

College Athlete:  "I think this year we're going to go undefeated."

Interviewer:  "What gives you this hope?"

College Athlete:  "Well, as a team we've been looking to Phil. 4.13, which tells us that in Christ we can do anything we set our mind on. Nothing is impossible. We're holding to that promise and believe God is going to give us an undefeated season."

Interviewer: "Isn't that great that God wants us to have and reach our dreams!"

College Athlete:  "Like the Scripture says, 'God is for us'."

It should be noted that the team did not go undefeated that season.

Another example along the same lines, but on a more personal rather than team level, is this excerpt from an article about Stephen Curry last year:

For Stephen to achieve everything he sets his mind to, he needs to believe it completely. And right now, he believes that he can do anything. That mantra is inscribed on the forefront of his sneaker, penned as “I Can do all things…” (Editor’s note: The full quote is “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13) Tomorrow won’t come across his radar until tomorrow. But when it rolls around, know that he’ll have the same confidence and faith that he has today.

Conversation 3: The Life Dream Version
[Really a sermon by a well known TV pastor]

Preacher: "Dream big! God wants you to achieve your dreams. He's the one who placed them in your hearts. Do you want to be debt free? You can do it through Christ! Do you want a healthy marriage? You can do it through Christ! Do you want a six figure job? You can do it through Christ! The Bible says here that 'you can do everything through Christ!' Dream big!"

This is another example of how our "sound-bite" knowledge of the Bible, based upon a few verses taken and used out of context have wrongly influenced our understanding in a number of ways.

Philippians 4:13 in Context

In reality Philippians 4:13 isn't about achieving dreams, setting goals, or any such thing. In context Paul is writing while under house arrest, and in the specific passage he is talking about the troubles that he has faced and the support he has received from the Philippian community of believers. To understand 4.13 it may be better to see what Paul says in Philippians 3:

...Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard.

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:1–16 NRSV)

I've quoted a significant portion of the letter because I wanted to point out a couple of things about the passage. Note, first of all that Paul is downplaying and even rejecting his own personal goals and gains. Contrary to this being a passage about personal dreams and aspirations, it actually seems that those types of ambitions have been laid aside. This is a contextual theme throughout Philippians, with Paul stating in Philippians 2 that the we should "do nothing out of selfish ambition". Second, we shouldn't forget that there is an emphasis on suffering in this passage. Paul actually says that he wants to not only know the power of resurrection, but also share in Christ's sufferings and become like Christ in his death! This is a great example of Luther's concept of the "Theology of the Cross"--a view which turns the world on ends because it seeks the cross rather than glory without suffering.

It is from this contextual understanding of Paul's present sufferings and the support that he received from the Philippians in the midst of such sufferings that Paul makes his statement in 4.13. It is important to see this verse in the context of its surrounding verses:

I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. In any case, it was kind of you to share my distress. (Philippians 4:10–14 NRSV)

Rather than Philippians 4.13 being about achievements it is more about a Christ given endurance and contentment in the midst of good times and bad. This passage isn't even about escape from trials. Christ's power allows Paul to be content with whatever life may be bring, and given the previous contextual passages in chapter 3, whatever a life following Christ may bring. Additionally, Paul is focusing on the fact that the Philippians also chose to share in his sufferings and distress (which also continues Paul's previous theme concerning sharing in Christ's sufferings).

It is unfortunate that we have made this beautiful and inspiring passage about contentment and community, and turned it into a self-focused motivational mantra about personal dreams or accomplishments.

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Is Your Body The Temple of God?

Tuesday, 16 February 2010

my_other_body_is_a_temple_tshirt-p235485523028494316y3sq_400.jpg [This is the first in a series of posts on "Scriptures Taken Out of Context and Why They Matter".]

It is commonly stated by Christians (and sometimes even others) that our individual bodies are the "temples of God." However, the Bible doesn't explicitly say that.

Well, to be more exact, English translations do say "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own..." (1 Corinthians 6:19) But, the way we in our individualistic culture read this and what it actually says are very different. The contextual problem here is an issue of language and the context of Paul's whole letter; and, unfortunately, from the ambiguity of the English "you" it is easy to see why people have developed the theological and anthropological view that their bodies are little temples of God.

What the passage says is: "Do you (plural) not know that your (plural) body (singular) is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you (plural), whom you (plural) have received from God? You (plural) are not your own(plural). . ."

Now that's quite a bit different than thinking of my individual body as being God's temple. What Paul is saying is that the whole Corinthian community of believers represents a temple of the Holy Spirit. If we look at Paul's other uses this makes more sense in the context of his entire letter. The idea of the community of believers being a single metaphorical or spiritual "building" or "body" is a theme that Paul uses throughout Corinthians and even in some other Pauline works. Ultimately in 1 Corinthians, it leads up to the metaphor of "the body of Christ" that Paul uses to describe the church itself. If we are going to look at the body as the temple in context, we need begin reading in verse 3:9, where Paul is concluding a discussion of the works of different ministers/leaders to the Corinthian community:

"For we are God’s servants, working together; you (plural) are God’s field, God’s building. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ.

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward. If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss; the builder will be saved, but only as through fire.

Do you (plural) not know that you (plural) are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you (plural)? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. For God’s temple is holy, and you (plural) are that temple." (1 Cor 3:9-17)

Later Paul also says:

“Do you (plural) not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you (plural) not know that whoever is united to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.”

But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you (plural) not know that your (plural) body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you (plural), which you (plural) have from God, and that you (plural) are not your own? For you (plural) were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your (plural) body.” (1Corinthians 6:15–20 NRSV)

Notice that when Paul wants to refer to the individual bodies of the Corinthian believers he uses the plural "bodies" in verse 9. This is an important distinction to note regarding his use of the singular "body" with the plural "you" in other places. If Paul were using "body" (singular) as a general reference to the individual bodies of his recipients, verse 9 should read something like: "Do you (plural) not know that your body is a member of Christ?"

And then lastly in 1 Corinthians Paul uses the body (singular) to refer to the entire community of believers in 1 Corinthians 12:

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.”

On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (1Corinthians 12:12–27 NRSV)

Paul seems to be very concerned that the Corinthians recognize that they are one. Together they (we) are the body of Christ, and that body (not each of our individual bodies) is the temple of God. We also find this concept in other locations. In 2 Corinthians Paul says, "What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2 Cor 6:16 emphasis added) It is because God's presence is within His people that we are the temple. Ephesians contains a similarly minded passage that can almost be seen as a summary of some of the concepts in 1 and 2 Corinthians:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you (plural) also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.” (Ephesians 2:19–22 NRSV)

In summation of the Scriptures on this topic, should be pointed out, however, that Jesus does refer to his own body as a temple of God at John 2:19: "Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

So why does this matter?

It matters because in this case is the scripture not concerned with the individual but with the corporate existence and self-understanding of the church. Our own culture is obsessed with the individual--personal morality, personal spirituality, personal ethics, etc. This doesn't seem to be an issue for the biblical authors very often. The Scripture is more concerned about our life together as the people of God. The church as a gathering of believers is the community where God is present in a special way, and our individual actions have bearing upon that corporate reality. If I sin sexually I sin against the body--not just my own body, but the Body of Christ. Paul is also saying in segments of these passages that God is very concerned about someone who would damage the Christian community by singling out persons or gifts for special honor in terms of rank.

Another point to b made is that if you are going to quote something as an important verse (or build whole sermons or doctrines out of them), please be sure you know what the verse says. Study both the terms used and the context of the passage within the book or letter. And a great word of advice when reading "you" in the Bible: always check to see if it is plural or singular.

References

If you would like to do a little of your own research, the totality of NT uses of the word "temple" can be found at:

Matt 4:5; 12:5–6; 17:24; 21:12, 14–15, 23; 23:16–17, 21, 35; 24:1; 26:55, 61; 27:5, 40, 51;

Mark 11:11, 15–16, 27; 12:35, 41; 13:1, 3; 14:49, 58; 15:29, 38;

Luke 1:9, 21–22; 2:27, 37, 46; 4:9; 18:10; 19:45, 47; 20:1; 21:1, 5, 37–38; 22:4, 52–53; 23:45; 24:53;

John 2:14–15, 19–21; 5:14; 7:14, 28, 32, 45; 8:2, 20, 59; 10:23; 11:56; 18:20;

Acts 2:46; 3:1–2, 8, 10; 4:1; 5:20–21, 24–25, 42; 14:13; 19:27, 35; 21:26–30; 22:17; 24:6, 12, 18; 25:8; 26:21;

Rom 9:4;

1 Cor 3:16–17; 6:19; 8:10; 9:13; 2 Cor 6:16;

Eph 2:21;

2 Thess 2:4;

Rev 3:12; 7:15; 11:1, 19; 14:15, 17; 15:5–6, 8–16:1; 16:17; 21:22

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Wesley on Wealth

Sunday, 17 January 2010

John Wesley: "[Wealth] is an excellent gift of God, answering the noblest ends. In the hands of his children it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, raiment for the naked. It gives to the traveler and the stranger where to lay his head. By it we may supply the place of an husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless; We may be a defense for the oppressed, a means of health to the sick, of ease to them that are in pain. It may be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the lame; yea, a lifter up from the gates of death."

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Bible Reading 3: Genesis 7-9

Monday, 04 January 2010

This year I'll be posting the daily readings from a 1-Year Bible reading plan. It runs straight through the Scriptures. I'll also be linking to free audio downloads of an updated version of the American Standard Version, so you can listen if the reading isn't possible. It may not be the best translation, but it is free and open source.

Today's Reading: Genesis 7-9

MP3 Audio:

Gen 7 | Gen 8 | Gen 9

Here's my personal translations from Genesis 1-11 that I blogged last year:

Genesis 7 Translation

Genesis 8 Translation

Genesis 9 Translation

For reading, I highly recommend The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox as a great English version of Genesis-Deuteronomy. In my opinion it captures the feel of the Hebrew text great, while also being a very readable and accurate translation. I discovered it after I had worked on my translation and was thrilled that in some places I had made similar choices.