For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

4:5   Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

Reasonableness. Yes, this is a clear command from the apostle to be nice, agreeable, non-confrontational, and malleable in the hands of those in and out of the church. To be compliant even with those who are against the gospel?

Is this Paul’s instruction? Are we to go along with everyone in order to be considered reasonable?

The Greek word is ἐπιεικής epieikḗs and describes one who is equitable, fair, patient, mild. The ESV typically translates this term as gentle. Given the many passages where we as believers are commanded to stand strong in the Lord and to fight for the faith, how does this “reasonableness” work itself into the equation?

It seems to make sense to me in that when we are fighting for the faith, or standing strong in the Lord, holding onto our convictions of how good and loving our God is and of the sacrifice of our Savior for our sake – in the midst of all of what He means to us, we are to have a gentle spirit.

A gentle spirit in front of everyone. Not just in Sunday School when it may be easy to put this front on, but in the workplace, where we are to be peacemakers, gracious and gentle when it comes to our relations with our co-workers, peers and those who are responsible to us in their duties.

Reasonable (gentle) when we have been attacked verbally by a neighbor, when we have been a victim of a crime, or have suffered a loss.

How can Paul expect this of believers? He provides the reason for the reasonableness.

The Lord is at hand. He is near. Paul may be referring to the Lord’s location or of the Lord’s imminent return from heaven. The term “near” can have either intent, yet for Philippians 4:5, Paul seems to be referring to the immanency of His return.

But hold up. If that is correct, how could Paul say that to the Philippians in the first century? He was writing to believers around 62 AD, and over 1,960 years have passed since, with no return. Was Paul wrong? Was he simply mistaken?

Or do we as modern believers sometimes think it is all about ourselves, that the Word was written 2000 years ago just for our generation? That is surely how I read the Word for many decades as a believer, yet Paul was writing to a local church, trying to encourage them in the Christian life.

What could “the Lord is at hand” mean for those believers?

One teaching that has made sense to me is that during this time after the resurrection, that first few decades, much upheaval was going on in the nations. The Roman government was going through civil wars, the land was experiencing many climate phenomenon’s, (the occurrence of earthquakes in the region had increased) and many false prophets had been opposing the gospel message. Our very next verse speaks of the church’s anxiousness. Things were in upheaval, and yet the Lord is at hand, He would be returning.

Yet the church is still on earth! So does that mean He did not return?

His specific return for the church may not be referred to here. There are times when the Word speaks of His return, of His coming in response to a churches relationship to Him. Consider the book of Revelation.

2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

2:16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

2:25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.

3:3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

With all this content speaking of the Lord’s coming to His church, many of these verses speak of a judgement, or a return to clean house, to put the church in order or even to “close it down”

This coming in Philippians 4:5 is most likely not the nature of Paul’s reference in our passage today, I am of the opinion Paul is speaking of the Lord’s coming to the nation of Israel in the form of the Roman army’s annihilation of the nation of Israel. This act of the most powerful nation doing the bidding of the Lord in taking the nation of Israel out of commission, would confirm the church’s status as the voice of God in the world.

This short study has definitely become a bit longer than anticipated, so I will close for now. If there are some out there who may have questions on this understanding, I would love to discuss further.

For now though, let us have a reasonable spirit as we live amongst everyone we come in contact with, while we stand for the Lord, and declare His goodness to all.

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