Philippians
4:17-19
“Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is
that more be credited to your account. I have received full payment and have
more than enough. I am amply supplied, now that I have received from
Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable
sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to
the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.”
A word of affirmation has a powerful effect.
Thanking someone for their service, recognizing the hard work of an individual
or a group, or praising someone for making a hard but Christ-like decision often
fuels perseverance in the Christian life. Think about times you have been
affirmed, or thanked, or praised for something you did. What was the result? Often
the result is a deeper desire to continue in the same work or action. I know
that for myself, when someone affirms me, it encourages me to continue in the
work that God has called me to, having seen some of the fruit of that work.
But this leads us to somewhat of a dilemma. How do
we affirm and praise people without elevating those people over God? It is
great to be encouraging, but does our affirmation create a situation where we
are focused more on people than on God? D.A. Carson notes that some churches
can be so generous in the praise of others that they simply become what he
calls “mutual admiration societies” that are no longer focused on God…they
simply spend a lot of time patting each other on the back.
However Carson notes that we can also err too far
in the other direction…where our fear of not wanting to elevate anyone above
God leads us to never affirm or praise anybody. We never tell the pastor we
were blessed by the sermon that morning because we fear the praise will go to
his head and make him prideful. Or we do not tell those under our ministry care
when they have made a good decision for God, because we don’t want that to lead
to self-centeredness and arrogance. So we can err with praise that ignores God,
or we can err with not giving any praise out of fear of leading someone to
pride and arrogance.
Thankfully Paul, in these closing verses of
Philippians, gives us a model of how we can be affirming and encouraging and
not make either of these errors. The Philippian church, while still very young
in all senses, had supported Paul over and above all expectations as he had
moved on to other cities in his gospel ministry. And Paul is thankful for them
and expresses his praise of them for their generosity. But notice how he gives
out his praise…he does so by including God in it. His praise of the Philippians
is not just for their financial support, it is about how he is seeing God work
in the Philippians through their support. Carson says it this way:
“But Paul has the matter right. In his letters, he
does not simply thank people…he thanks God for God’s grace in them—but he
utters his thanks to God in front of the people. In effect, he approaches these
believers and says, ‘I greatly rejoice at the grace of God displayed in your
life’ or ‘I thank God every time I remember you’ or ‘Your life is a fragrant
sacrifice to God, a sacrifice with which God is well pleased.’ That is
precisely what Paul does here.” –D.A. Carson, Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians
What does this God-centered affirmation mean for
us practically? Well, if our praise of others is first and foremost directed at
God, then we can be wildly affirming of each other, knowing that we are not
elevating others above God. If the Lord blesses you through a Sunday sermon,
tell the pastor that the Lord really blessed you and challenged you through the
message. If the Holy Spirit used a certain song in worship to speak to your
heart, tell the pastor or worship leader how God worked in you through that
song. If you see someone making difficult decisions to honor God in their
lives, praise them for how you see God at work in their hearts. If our praise
is directed Godward, then there is absolutely no reason for us to be stingy
with our praise and withhold our affirmation of each other. If God is receiving
the glory (4:20), then our praise and thanksgiving towards God and others can
and should overflow.
Finally, there is the benefit that such praise and
affirmation has for the one giving the praise. Certainly there is a benefit to
receiving God glorifying affirmation; it does drive us to see God glorified
more in our lives, and strengthens us in our relationship with God. But the
same benefit comes to the giver of such affirmation. Giving God glorifying
praise to others directs us to focus on God. Affirming God’s work in others
leads us to desire God to work in our lives in a similar manner. And praising
God for who he is and what he has done in others gives us the strength to
persevere in the Christian faith, even when times are difficult…especially when
times are difficult. God-centered affirmation of our brothers and sisters in
Christ really does help us persevere in the Christian life! Therefore, this is
a fitting end to this section and to this letter as a whole: Don’t give up…praise
God by affirming others.
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