Yesterday I mentioned Philippians chapter four. I may have misquoted St. Paul, suggesting that he was a Kansas City Chiefs fan. That was obviously absurd. They were known as the Dallas Texans back then.
Nevertheless, I have been thinking about Philippians chapter four quite a bit lately.
If you don’t know, Philippians is a letter in the New Testament that Paul wrote to the church in Philippi from prison in the early 60s. That is, the early AD 60s. In chapter four (of course his letter didn’t have chapters, those were added later) he talks about some things that I am striving for: joyful living, anxiety free living, and contentment.
I want to talk about contentment today.
Yesterday I used the context of my fave football team, the Chiefs, to explore how difficult it is to achieve contentment, even when the stakes are so low. The stakes are low for me at least. Taylor’s boyfriend may not agree that the stakes are low, but for me, it makes no real difference if the Chiefs win or lose. On a practical level that is. During the game I act like I’m waiting on a jury verdict in a death sentence case against me.
The stakes were much higher for Paul, who really was on trial for his life, and was stuck in prison. I’m no expert, but I understand that when in prison in Paul’s day, the state didn’t feel obligated to feed you three squares a day. Instead, you had to rely on the generosity of friends and family for your sustenance. In chapter four, Paul thanks the Philippians for their generosity, because they did in fact send him a gift to provide for his needs while languishing in that Roman jail.
Paul says, though, that he had learned to be content, while well fed, or hungry. In 4:13 he says he can do it all through Christ, who strengthens him.
I’m sure there a number of Chiefs, Niners, others, who have 4:13 printed on a tee-shirt or something, meant to inspire them in their athletic performance. But Paul was talking about being hungry or being well fed. Being in want, or having plenty. Not kicking field goals.
If you took Psychology 101 in college, you no doubt ran across Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow contended that for any of us to find fulfillment, or self-actualization, all of the needs in the lower levels of the needs pyramid had to be met.
At the very bottom of the pyramid are physical needs. Food, water, air. That sort of thing. They hang out down there with the grains and cereals in the food pyramid. The two pyramids ought to get together. Maybe the people at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid could eat some of the grains at the bottom of the food pyramid.
We probably all agree. When you’re starving, and let’s say literally starving, not just “starving” cause you missed your 2PM protein shake, then it’s very difficult to think of much else. Although, thank the Lord, I’ve never been in that situation.
But what if you were, and you could still find peace and contentment? What if in the midst of such circumstances, you still had the capacity to be thankful and not be anxious.
We ought to always, always, always feed the hungry. I’m never going to suggest anything to a hungry person until I have first fed him. I’m preaching to myself in the this post, not the hungry person.
Maslow might say it was impossible to get over the base of the pyramid if you’re hungry. But what would Paul say?
I’m not in danger of starving. Quite the opposite. I pay attention to what I eat so that I don’t eat too much. But I still want to know how to be content. I want to live by the golden rule IN SPITE of my physical condition. I want to experience joy and peace no matter what my external situation is. I don’t want outside stimuli to dictate to me how I feel.
If you aspire to live the golden rule then you don’t have the luxury of being “hangry”. We all get grouchy when we’re hungry, tired, or achey. Or when our fave team loses the Big Game. However, do any of those things give us permission to be unkind to our neighbor? In verse 5 of Philippians 4, Paul says, “Let your gentleness be evident to all.” So it appears not.
But what about that inner peace? How can you watch your team let the opposing team drive the length of the field, win the game with a touchdown, and still feel mellow? We should ask Niners fans this week.
However, it was Bengals fans that had to answer that question after Super Bowl® XXIII. I grew up in southern Ohio, and so we were obliged to pull for the Bengals. Joe Montana and the Niners had already beat us in Super Bowl® XVI, but in XXIII all the Bengals had to do was stop the Niners in the last 34 seconds and the Bengals would have their revenge. Alas, they didn’t stop them, and Joe Montana collected another ring.
I remember being so angry about that drive. My mother came in the room and asked me about the game. I snapped back at her because how dare she not be aware that our team was about to suffer an ignoble defeat. She in turn got all mad at me, and there you go. Lack of inner peace leads to external conflict.
The goal is to watch these games, Bengals fan or Niners fan, or Chiefs fan during Super Bowl® LV, and be at peace, and treat your mother right, treat our wife right, treat the dog right, win or lose. If you don’t really care about football it’s easy to do. Like when I watch two teams I don’t really care about. Then I’m just watching a game. I’m not invested.
But when I am invested, like when I’m hangry, or thirsty, or there is stress at work, or stress with family, I have to find that place where there is contentment.
“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
More on this tomorrow, Lord willing.
Pretend Triathlete 