LIVING ABOVE YOUR
CIRCUMSTANCES
Philippians 1:12-18
One
of the most influential writers to market a system of psychology in the latter
part of the 20th century was B.F. Skinner. Skinner was a behavioral
psychologist out of Harvard University.
The psychology espoused by this man and his disciples has inundated
universities and colleges throughout the United States and Europe. B.F
Skinner was instrumental in forming a world
and life view called Behavior Modification which has gained wide
acceptance as the solution for the world’s ills. Anyone in the field of education should be familiar with
Skinnerian psychology.
Man
is capable of realizing his utopia if he is willing to surrender the age long
myths of dignity and human freedom and to submit to his environment. In other
words, man is the product of his environment.
Control the environment scientifically and you control the man.
Man
is simply a high-class animal that you can train and control by his
circumstances. Man has no inner
self. The essence of man is behavior
and behavioral patterns. That behavior
is shaped and modified by environmental conditions.
The
Word of God contradicts Skinnerian mentality.
The Bible states categorically that the Christian can be transcendent to
his circumstances. He can be in them
but not controlled by them. You can
have a positive outlook on negative situations. In an age of pessimism and moral capitulation nurtured by a
corrupt society, this is a priority that believers need to work on. The apostle Paul demonstrated this mentality
in his imprisonments. Note three
attitudes reflecting Paul’s philosophy:
He Had A
Proper Interpretation of His Circumstances v.12
One of the most profound theological and
philosophical questions to confront intelligent minds of any age is the problem
of human suffering (the areas where theology and philosophy meet). If there is a God, why does He permit human suffering? If He is all-powerful, why doesn’t He
prevent it? If He is a loving God, why
would He allow it? I’m sure these
profound and complex problems cannot be answered fully. However, the Bible gives us at least four
reasons why suffering may come into a believer’s life
1. because of a failure to judge sin in his life (I Corinthians 11:31,32)
2. to gain spiritual experience – Romans 5:3-5
3. as a preventative against sin -
II Corinthians 12:7-9
4. as an aid to enhancing Christian testimony –Philippians 1:12,13.
The
Christian life is filled with paradoxes to the natural mind.
• the path to glorification is death –John 12:23-26
• the path to exaltation is humiliation – Philippians 2:8,9
• If one wishes to save his life he must lose it – Matthew 16:24-27
• the first shall be last – Matthew 19:30.
In
Paul’s case confinement was a release – the release of a message to a class of
people from whom it would have remained confined if Paul had remained free.
Paul states, “My circumstances have turned
out for the greater progress of the gospel.”
Progress here means furtherance, advance. It means “to cut before.”
It is believed that this word
was used of an army of pioneer wood cutters which preceded the regular
army. It is cutting a road through an
impenetrable forest and therefore making possible the pioneer advance of the
army into regions where otherwise it would not have gone.
What
are your circumstances today? In Christ
they can work for you. They can advance
the cause of your Savior. We will look
at the remaining attitudes in our next pen pulpit. God bless!