Ironies and paradoxes and enigmas galore,
The Christian has the best of these,
In a life they can explore,
One of these twists is to be self-sufficient,
To be able to have autonomy,
And not be deficient.
“It is only in Christ, in spiritual union
with him, that the Christian is αὐτάρκης, self-sufficient. His presence gives
strength to do and suffer all things (comp. 2 Cor. 12:9).”[1]
“I can
do everything through him who gives me strength.”
— Philippians
4:13 (NIV)
The meaning of Philippians 4:13 – as
proposed by its author: Paul, the Apostle – includes the idea of self-sufficiency in Christ. This is a
paradoxical concept and seemingly an oxymoron. How can someone be ‘in Christ’
yet self-sufficient?
To have autonomy – because we are trusted
by God to continually enter self-awareness and to think theologically through
everything – is to be free of worldly deficiency; besides the flesh – which
always inhibits.
The cognitive position for Paul – his
thinking mode – controls his perception of his situation, no matter the outer
circumstance. His heart can feel and it can inform his thought, but his
emotions don’t control his thinking, because he conforms his thinking to Christ.
His thinking has primacy, because he can reflect over the faithfulness of God,
from a long history of knowing God’s blessed deliverance. He has endured the harsh
things, so, therefore, God has given him strength through Christ.
Supreme self-sufficiency is not comparable
to the worldly self-sufficiency in a dichotomy of extremes. They are worlds
apart. Supreme self-sufficiency is entirely selfless because of the
comprehensive reliance on the strength that being as Christ provides.
In this state of Christian adventure
nothing is beyond our enduring of it and all joys may be contained such that we
will not be spoiled by them. So there is both patient long-suffering and
contented containment: contentment all around.
Being in Christ is the only safe autonomy –
the only autonomy that lasts and that can be sustained. It is an autonomy of
being subject to one, which, by virtue of that doesn’t appear to be autonomy at
all. But this autonomy is true, because we are swayed neither by outer
circumstances nor by people who might otherwise influence us negatively. This
autonomy is about investing in relationships and life that take us into the
territory of growth in God.
***
The
only good and healthy self-sufficiency is that where God reigns supreme over our
hearts and minds. It is an autonomy where the world doesn’t intrude and
influence, but where God speaks cogently in all circumstances, whether those
circumstances involve joy or suffering or anything else.
© 2014 S. J. Wickham.
[1]
Spence-Jones, H. D. M. (Ed.). (1909). Philippians
(p. 158). London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.
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