#91 - Kyle Thompson // Yeah, That’s Not What That Means - Philippians 4:13

We're exploring commonly misunderstood scriptures in our series "Yeah, That's Not What That Means," tackling Philippians 4:13 and revealing its true context as a teaching about contentment rather than personal achievement.

• Philippians 4:13 ("I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me") is frequently misused as motivation for personal success
• The verse appears on merchandise and in sports facilities across the Bible Belt
• When read in context (Philippians 4:10-13), Paul is actually discussing contentment in all circumstances
• Paul's life included extreme highs (education, privilege) and lows (imprisonment, beatings, shipwrecks)
• The strength mentioned comes from Christ living in us (Galatians 2:20), not from personal willpower
• True application is about stepping aside so Christ's strength can work through us
• Tomorrow's episode will address the prosperity gospel

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Daily Blade.
The Word of God is described asthe sword of the Spirit, the
primary spiritual weapon in theChristian's armor against the
forces of evil.
Your hosts are Joby Martin andKyle Thompson, and they stand
ready to equip men for the fight.
Let's sharpen up.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
All right, guys.
So this week we're doing aseries of episodes called yeah,
that's Not what that Means andso I'm going over five of the
most common, misapplied andmisunderstood scriptures in all
of the biblical canon.
So yesterday I talked aboutLuke 17, verses 1 and 2, and the
fact that Jesus was notreferring to children when he
said little ones, but referringto childlike disciples.

(00:41):
So sorry, I had to burst someof your millstone bubbles
yesterday, but I'm back at ittoday.
And I'm had to burst some ofyour millstone bubbles yesterday
, but I'm back at it today andI'm here to ruin all of your
high school weight room PRs.
Okay, so let's go to the fourthchapter of the Apostle Paul's
letter to the church in Philippi.
I'll be reading Philippians4.13 in the New King James
Version, and I can already hearsome of you getting ready to
quote it.
So quote it with me.
I can do all things throughChrist, who strengthens me.

(01:04):
Okay Now, when I was early inmy Christian walk, remember when
I was talking about going tothe salt cellar and seeing all
these different gear and allthis stuff with scripture on it?
This verse is on everythingright, it is on Bible cases and
on coffee mugs and t-shirts andall kinds of stuff.
And you see this scripture onhigh school weight rooms,
football locker rooms, all overthe South, all over the Bible

(01:26):
Belt I mean Oklahoma, we're thebelt buckle of the Bible Belt
and we have the most tornadoes.
I don't know if that'sconnected in any way, but I
digress.
And that verse is really clungto by a lot of people that are,
you know, trying to do anything,from getting straight A's or
climbing the corporate ladder orgetting that next job or
whatever the thing is.
But, in a nutshell, thefundamental misunderstanding of
these words from the apostlePaul is that this verse is about

(01:46):
personal empowerment so that wecan experience success in life
in general, regardless of whatwe do.
And yeah, that's not what thatmeans, because, in its correct
context, paul is telling us thatwe need to be content in all
circumstances and that we mustremain obedient regardless of
trials or successes.
Okay, so we come to thisunderstanding by starting a few

(02:08):
verses before verse 13.
So let me read Philippians four, 10 through 13 in the new King
James but I rejoiced in the Lordgreatly that now, at last, your
care for me has flourishedagain, though you surely did
care, but you lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in regard toneed, for I have learned, in
whatever state I am, to becontent.
Okay, and man, if anyone canunderstand the need for godly

(02:47):
contentment, regardless ofabounding or suffering need,
it's Paul.
So if we go to some of Paul'shighlights, as Saul, you know,
he was a Jew from the tribe ofBenjamin.
He was a Pharisee of Pharisees.
He was a Roman citizen, whichhad tremendous privilege
attached to it.
He was educated in Jerusalemunder Gamaliel and he was a very
well-respected teacher.
He experienced conversion toChristianity right.

(03:08):
So that's a huge deal.
And he was a leader in theearly church.
But also I mean we just kind ofneed to give his whole baseball
card here as a Christianmissionary.
He was beaten, he was stoned,he was shipwrecked, he was
snakebit, he was imprisoned.
I mean, he was betrayed bypeople that were close to him.
Yeah, he had some sort of thornin the flesh that he constantly

(03:29):
was praying for God to removefrom him, but for whatever
reason, god wouldn't do that.
So if anyone gets it, guys, paulgets it.
And for a lot of you you'veexperienced something similar.
You've had these tremendoushighs.
You know this, you know top ofthe resume, amazingness.
And then you've had thesehorrible, awful, sinful, dark
lows.
But does Paul give us this, youknow, stoicism-based dictate

(03:51):
that we are to somehow summonthe strength to endure from
somewhere deep inside of therecesses of ourselves, you know,
to find this inner grit to getus through.
No, paul's not claiming to havepersonal strength like that.
However, he tells us where thestrength we are supposed to rely
on comes from from Christliving in us.

(04:14):
Let's go to Galatians 2, verse20.
I'll read it in the ESV I havebeen crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, butChrist who lives in me, and the
life I now live in the flesh.
I live by faith in the Son ofGod who loved me and gave
himself for me.
Again, for some of you it'slike, okay, I'm just going to
say this verse and then I'mgoing to get up under the bar

(04:34):
and this is going to be my benchpress, pr and it's all those
types of things, and I guess,however, you want to motivate
yourself, okay, go for it.
But again, you just can't takescripture out of context and use
it for whatever purposes thatyou want to willy-nilly.
So it's not about this verse,is not about increasing our
capacity for strength.
It's about us stepping aside sothat the strength of Christ can

(04:57):
abound in us.
Okay, guys, come back heretomorrow, where we are going to
take the prosperity gospel tothe woodshed.
Come back here tomorrow, wherewe are going to take the
prosperity gospel to thewoodshed.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Thank you for listening to today's episode
Before you go.
If you want to help equip othermen for the fight, share this
podcast around and leave us afive-star rating and review.
Stay sharp.