By Morgan Cates

There was a Christian missionary in the 1st century. He was a scholar of the highest quality. In fact, he was such a deep writer that we still debate some of the things he said today. He went on three long mission trips to unreached people. This man spent his entire Christian life living out the Great Commission, and he was willing to endure any hardship necessary to do so. While traveling to share the Gospel, this missionary was shipwrecked in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Malta, an island off the coast of southern Italy. He spent an entire night floating in the water by himself, stranded. On five separate occasions he was tied to a post and whipped 39 times. Three times Roman soldiers took a vitis stick and beat him, a vitis stick was a common weapon used by Roman soldiers made of hard vine wood. Once, in Antioch, he was stoned by a crowd until he was unconscious then drug outside of the city before he got up and went back inside. This missionary was arrested three times, and spent a combined five and a half years in jail before he was finally beheaded in Rome in 65 A.D. While he was in prison, he wrote a letter to one of the churches he oversaw. These are his words: 

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. 

Philippians 4:13 has been one of the most famous verses of the last 20 years. Tim Tebow wore that verse on his face for the majority of his college football career before changing to John 3:16 in the 2009 national championship. Christians, especially athletes, have loved applying Philippians 4:13 to whatever situation they are in, in order to motivate themselves. However, we often miss the context behind what Paul is talking about in this verse. The apostle Paul, who lived through years of torture on the mission field, was not concerned about basketball games. He was focused on outlasting persecution for the sake of the Gospel.

So, can you do all things through Christ who strengthens you? Not necessarily. To say that you can do anything because of your faith in Christ creates a broad umbrella that far too often leads to unbiblical expectations. Without the context Paul gave, Christians can easily read that verse to mean that anything you desire to do can be accomplished if you have enough faith. In fact, there are pastors who teach this false ideology to the Church. However, when we understand who the author of Philippians is, what Paul is experiencing at the time he is writing this letter, and the passage that this verse is used in, we can easily see what the apostle Paul is trying to communicate to the church in Philippi: Sell yourself out for the proclamation of the Gospel. Do good works prepared in advance for you to advance the Kingdom of the Lord. When you do this, you will almost certainly run headfirst into persecution. It may look different than Paul. You may not find yourself under physical persecution. For you, persecution may be losing your job because you refuse to bow the knee to secular culture. It may be that your professor drops your grade because you will not agree with their ideology. Whatever it looks like for you, the apostle Paul says that when you are in that situation, you can do it, through Christ who strengthens you.