Philippians 4:14-17 - Sharing troubles

4:14

In this whole section Paul seems to be walking a fine line between making sure the Philippians know that he valued and appreciated their gifts and support, and at the same time making sure they know he is confident in the Lord’s support, and is not trying to get money out of them. Here Paul expresses his appreciation of their sharing in his troubles. In giving to him they were demonstrating their support for him.

4:15,16

After reaching Philippi (Acts 16:12-40) Paul had then gone on to Corinth, which is in Macedonia (Acts 17:14-16; 18:1-4). At this point, very soon after having come to faith, the Philippians gave to Paul, and indeed were the only church to do so. In this whole section Paul uses a fair amount of commercial language. Here the “giving and receiving” is actually better translated “crediting and debiting”.

4:17

Paul continues with the financial language. He stresses that he is not after their money, but rather he seeks the fruit that comes from it, ie the spread of the gospel, and this adds to their credit. Now there are some interesting things to learn here. There is the so-called prosperity gospel, and there are those who are essentially using the gospel to make money, often taking money from the poor. This can include things like offering to pray in return for a gift. Such things are repugnant, and indeed similar stuff was around in Paul’s day and he speaks about it in other letters, especially 1 and 2 Corinthians. However, in reacting against these sort of abuses we need to be careful that we do not go to the other extreme, and do not condemn people or actions that do not merit condemnation. The church should speak about money, for the Bible certainly does. We should seek to see gifts yield a harvest, a harvest of expansion of the kingdom. And I am actually blessed if I give, the more I give the better my life is. Now this might sometimes show itself in material terms, sometimes it won’t. But our God is a giving God, so we should be a giving people.Just because a preacher speaks in financial terms does not mean they are a charlatan, for Paul spoke using financial terms.