Philippians 2:19-24
Introduction: How many steps are there to a happy life? There must be eight, because that’s the magic number in all kinds of book titles.Here are some books I saw on this topic: The New Eight Steps to Happiness; Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness; Beatitudes: Eight Steps to Happiness; Eight Steps to Happiness. One writer tried something different: Eight Laws of Happiness. Another book is Eight Steps to More Happiness. Here’s another: The Busy Woman’s Guide to Happiness. Want one more? Eight to Great: How To Take Charge of Your Life and Make Positive Changes Using an 8-Step Breakthrough Process… for Fans of the Happiness Project.
There’s more, but it’s getting redundant!
Well, let me give you one more: Eight Steps to Happiness: The Science of Getting Happy and How It Can Work for You. This particular book is by Dr. Anthony Grant and Alison Leigh. I don’t think they have all the answers we’d like, but they certainly open the book by summing up the problem:
It’s hard to be really happy. To stay happy. People let you down. The fates are unkind. Life conspires against you. The world grows cold and vicious. Life becomes bleak and gray.
Just when you think you’ve got it all worked out and it all seems in balance…the feeling slips away. Optimism and contentment dissipate. Anxiety returns. We get downhearted. We give up.
It’s easier to go shopping. It’s easier to find ways to make ourselves feel good by buying something new, going to the movies, eating nice food, drinking, getting on the internet… other distractions. It feels good. But the hedonic treadmill—the vicious cycle of searching for material things to make us happy and ease our disquiet—is just that, a treadmill.
We can all identify with that! I don’t know of anything we struggle with more than psychological well being. How do we maintain our psychological well being? Why is that so hard?
There’s a paragraph in the Bible I want us to analyze along those lines. It seems like a simple everyday paragraph, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. Let’s read Philippians 2:19-24:
Scripture:
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
Background: There are two background issues here.
First, what was happening? As we’ve seen, just when the apostle Paul was ready to launch his fourth missionary tour, he was arrested and spent five or so years in imprisonment waiting for his trial before the imperial court. At the time he wrote the letter to the Philippians, he was either still under house arrest in Rome or in some holding cell closer to the imperial courtroom. He knew the case against him was weak and the evidence nonexistent, and he also had a very powerful weapon—his official Roman citizenship. He truly expected to be released, but he wasn’t certain. With Nero in the palace, no one felt very secure. So he told the Philippians he would send Timothy with news as soon as he found out how everything would be resolved and visit them as soon as possible.
Second, who was Timothy? Timothy was a very young man. Five years or so later, Paul wrote to him and said, “Don’t let anyone look down on your youthfulness” (see 1 Timothy 4:12). It’s possible Timothy had only been a young teenager, perhaps 13 or so, when Paul unofficially adopted him and began taking him with him on his travels. Now he’s perhaps in his twenties. Notice how Paul describes him.
20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.
Of course, Paul was using Timothy as an example of what he had been discussing up to this point in his letter. He had told the Philippians to look not to their own interests, but to those of Jesus Christ and to have a genuine concern for others. Now he was showing them a living, breathing, true-life example of that.
So Paul was essentially saying, “You need to be like Jesus and have the mind of Christ and care more for His interests than your own without complaining, having genuine care for one another. And as soon as I can learn the outcome of my legal problems, I’ll send Timothy with news and then, Lord willing, I’ll come to see you myself. In the meantime, welcome Timothy as someone who epitomizes what I’ve been trying to tell you in this letter. Look at Timothy and you’ll see a Christ-like man, whose example you can follow.”
That’s what this paragraph is all about. In its simplest historical context, Paul was telling the Philippians he would soon send Timothy to see them and he commended Timothy in very tender terms. But there’s something more here. As I’ve read this paragraph over and over, three phrases have stood out to me.
1. Be Concerned But Not Anxious
The first phrase I want you to notice is built around the word “concern.”
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
Here’s what’s so interesting. The Greek word for concern is merimnao. That’s the word Paul used. Now turn to chapter 4 and look at verse 6: “Do not be anxious about anything.” The word anxious there is merimnao. In chapter 2, Paul tells us to be concerned, and in chapter 4 he tells us not to be, using the same word.
But of course, even in English the word concern can have a range of meanings, depending on the context.
- She’s going to tell a story concerning her mother.
- She’s always concerned for the needs of her community.
- She’s very concerned because her daughter is in danger.
The psychological balance between Philippians 2 and Philippians 4 is a supernatural one. As we go through life, it’s good to be concerned, but it isn’t good to be anxious. Be concerned for others; be anxious for nothing.
In my book, Worry Less, Live More, I wrote:
The zone between concern and worry is a slippery slope. I’ve often wondered how to know, at any given time, if I’m reasonably concerned or unreasonably alarmed. It’s a difficult median, but here’s the key: When our concern is healthy in nature, it doesn’t debilitate us. When it begins to feel debilitating, it has morphed into worry, which becomes a vicious cycle.
That’s very hard for me, but let’s keep digging into this paragraph because there’s another phrase that brings even more balance—that I may be cheered.
2. Be Cheerful But Not Naïve
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare.
“…that I also may be cheered.”
The biblical balance for psychological well-being is to be concerned but not anxious, and cheerful but not naive. This is a very helpful reminder to me because I have always struggled with these things. I think I was born in the negative case. Once when I was in college, I was moping around and depressed and discouraged. Sometimes I had trouble getting out of bed because of despondency. One day my roommate came into the room and said, “Robert, I’ve been studying about the life of the great evangelist Dwight L. Moody, and you remind me of him.”
“How is that?” I said.
“Because you’re moody!”
If you’re moody, I want to encourage you to do what I’ve done. Go through the Bible and find out what it says about the joyful life. According to the word search at Bible Gateway…
- The word “joy” occurs 242 times in the New International Version, either in the verses or in the headings.
- The word “rejoice” occurs 177 times.
- The word “blessed” occurs 217 times.
- The word “glad” occurs 108 times.
- The word “delight” occurs 105 times.
- The word “comfort” occurs 71 times.
- The word “celebrate” occurs 68 times.
- The word “enjoy” occurs 57 times.
- The word “happy” occurs 20 times.
- This word “cheer” occurs 13 times.
- The word “merry” occurs 5 times.
- And so does the word “overjoyed”—5 times.
That’s 1,088 times! It comes almost exactly to three verses for every day of the year, without repeating any of them! I can tell you from personal experience that nothing compares to searching out these verses and making a personal list of the ones that the Lord especially wants to give you. Write them down. Put them on cards. Memorize them. Internalize them. When you feel anxious, go to your cheerful verses and claim them.
You can do the same with any subject—fear, faith, anger, patience…whatever it is. Select the subject you most need to experience, do a word search in the Scripture, read each verse you find in its context so you’re interpreting the words wisely. And then start compiling your list. This kind of project may take an hour or a week or a month or longer. It doesn’t matter. You are building up an arsenal of Scriptures in your mind.
Find ways of keeping these verses at the forefront of your attention.
Julie Chapman, an elementary school teacher at Chattahoochee Elementary School north of Atlanta, was diagnosed with cancer. She struggled bitterly, but her students and friends sent her messages, often including Bible verses. Julie wrote each of those verses on a sticky note and posted it on the wall. She was literally surrounded with Scripture. It was in an article in her local newspaper. The headline said: “For Julie Chapman, Beating Cancer Came Down to Faith, Family, and Sticky Notes.”
Krystal Whitten is a wife and mother in Tampa who, when she was in high school, loved to write out Bible verses in a creative style with Crayola markers. She posted them on the wall of her bedroom. In college, she studied graphic design. But as an adult and a wife, she got away from the Bible. Her mother was very ill and then passed away, and Krystal went through some dark times. For years, she had no interest in reading the Bible.
But one day a friend invited her to a Bible study that provided free childcare. The study group would read a book of the Bible each week, then gather to discuss it. So Krystal found herself reading the Bible every day and becoming reacquainted with it. It came alive to her, and one day she selected a verse and wrote it out in a creative style using hand lettering. In the process she found she had memorized the verse. She framed it and put it on the wall, and every time she went by it she said it in her mind.
Now her hand-letter Bible verses are displayed and sold in the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., Krystal has a best-selling resource entitled Lettering Prayer Journal.
We need to learn to post Bible verses on the walls of our heart, including verses about joy and cheerfulness. God wants us to be concerned without being anxious and cheerful without being naïve. But beneath it all is one powerful truth—and that’s the third phrase I want to give you.
3. Be In the Lord Jesus
Notice how Paul begins and ends this paragraph with the phrase “in the Lord.”
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. 20 I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. 21 For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. 23 I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. 24 And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.
That’s not all. Look at:
- Philippians 1:14: And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the Gospel without fear.
- Philippians 2:29: So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy….
- Philippians 3:1: Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord!
- Philippians 4:1: Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown stand firm in the Lord.
This phrase occurs nine times in the book of Philippians, and the related phrase “in Christ” occurs another eight times. This is Paul’s signature phrase, the summary of all thirteen of his letters. “In Christ” or “in the Lord Jesus.” These phrases occur approximately 216 times in his writings.
Scholars have a hard time pinning down all that Paul meant to convey with this phrase.
What does that mean? It means you are no longer outside. You are an insider. You are inside of the love and the redemption of Jesus Christ. You are in union with Him. The Gospel of John talks about abiding in Christ. Your whole life is lived within His grace.
The summer after I graduated from college, I was part of a Gospel team that toured the Northeast. I preached in camps and churches throughout New England. In one camp, my buddy and I served as counselors to a group of Middle School boys, and we thought we’d take them camping one night. After supper, everyone rolled up their sleeping bags and hiked about an hour to camp there. About 2 am, I was jolted awake by water being thrown in my face, which I quickly realized was the rain was coming down in torrents. There was no shelter anywhere. We had to hike an hour in the driving rain, and it was cold and miserable. Imagine how good it felt to get into that dry cabin, into a hot shower, into a warm bed.
Being inside is better than being outside in the rain. But today so many people are standing out in the cold rain, outside of Christ, outside of peace, outside of the eternal life He gives. Jesus said in John 10:8 (NKJV): “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.”
Conclusion
If anyone is standing in the cold rain, I want to invite you to come through the door and find yourself in Christ. It doesn’t take eight steps—just one.
When you are in the Lord Jesus Christ, He Himself provides the foundation for psychological well-being. He helps you to grow emotionally and spiritually, to become someone who knows how to be concerned without anxiety and how to be cheerful without being naive.
The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV).