The Power of a Chain

Jail time.  That was Lindsay Lohan’s sentence for a probation violation.  Some deemed the punishment too harsh, while others felt she got off easy.  Speaking of getting off easy, what about O.J.?  Public sentiment definitely sided against the verdict.  And then there are those who pay the time for something they didn’t do while others are guilty of a crime that really isn’t a crime.  Paul, the author of Philippians, falls into this category.  He lived in a time and place when professing belief in the resurrected Christ was illegal.  He was fully aware of the consequences of his faith.  In fact, he originally sought out Christians in order to persecute them.  He zealously climbed the corporate ladder of chastising, torturing and even approving of the death of those who bore the name of Christ.  And then, a radical conversion.

It would have been easier to remain silent about his newfound belief.  Safer, too.  But he couldn’t.  The love of God changed him so powerfully that he couldn’t help but tell others.  Fervently, earnestly and passionately.  Shunning the cost of probable imprisonment or death, his faith oozed out of him as he went from place to place in order to tell others about the depths and the riches of God’s love.  He would have been in more bondage by squelching that which naturally poured out of him than he was in the chains that came as a result of his faith. 

We are lucky to be able to study part of what he shared.  Yet we also run the risk of forgetting his chains and gloss over the sincerity and depth of his words.  As we study the book of Philippians, I challenge you to not just read the text, but to stop and ask yourself what it means in light of Paul’s chains.  It is a powerful charge to “do everything without complaining and arguing” (Philippians 2:14), but how does it affect you knowing it comes from someone shackled to another?  How does “always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4) resonate when we remember the status of the one who didn’t just say it, but lived it under harsh conditions?

I hope Paul’s chains change the way we interpret Philippians.  But I also pray they change the way we live.

Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”  Paul, Philippians 1:14