We’ve spent two weeks on “the peace of God,” yet there remains more to be said. The Apostle Paul urges us to give careful attention to contemplation and practice. The end result is “the God of peace will be with (us)” (4:9). Do we wish to live lives free of worry, of anxiety? Then we must pray with praise, confession, thanksgiving, and petitions. The contemplation of the divine and eternal in prayer is the key to our peace. However, we also must be very careful about what we allow to fill our minds once we get off of our knees, and that we actually put the virtues contemplated into practice. In other words, it won’t do to pray, and then fill our minds with impurity or even with nonsense. Neither will it do to pray, to contemplate virtue, and then fail to practice what we contemplate. The Apostle Paul spells out for us “how a Christian should think and act.”1 Contemplate and practice Christian virtue and we will have not just peace as an abstract state of mind, but “the God of peace,” God who is the source of peace and the guarantor of peace, will be with us. There can be no greater promise than this. The God of peace––in our trials, in our troubles, in our fears, in all that challenges us and threatens to overcome us––will be with us.

Contemplate

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. (Phil 4:8)

“Finally,” the Apostle says, drawing this section to a close with final instructions on peace. He then lists a number of virtues and urges us to “let (our) mind(s) dwell on these things.” “Let your mind dwell” is one Greek word, logizō, meaning to think to consider. It is to “focus your minds on.”2 It is to “take into account (logos), reflect upon and then allow these things to shape your conduct.”3 “Practice these things” (v. 9). It really does matter what fills our minds.

Recognize that the mind is never really empty. It is always occupied with something. This is especially true in the modern world. Just a few decades ago a person could go home, close the door, and be alone with his or her thoughts. Today our homes are filled with intruders: radios, TV’s (with not a half dozen but dozens of channels), the internet, cell phones, videogames. We are constantly bombarded by worldly messages that disturb the soul, that stir up discontent, covetousness, ambition, and lust. These messages disrupt our peace. They unsettle us. They ultimately can corrupt us, altering our behavior. Advertisers stir up covetous desire for things. Entertainers fan the flames of lust. Upon what is your mind focused? With what is it occupied? It is vital that our thought life consist of virtuous concerns. The Apostle Paul emphasizes this with six “whatevers” followed, for rhetorical effect, by two “if anys.” The net impact is powerful and convincing. We must pay careful attention to our thought life and exclude whatever is contrary to virtue.

A number of the ideals listed in verse 8 are either found only here in the New Testament, or used only here by the Apostle Paul. Yet these were commonly discussed by the ancient Greeks. This is particularly true of the word translated “excellence.” This is the Greek word aretē, meaning “virtue” or “moral excellence.” The Greeks wrote extensively on the virtuous life. They were interested in defining and describing of what that life consisted. The Apostle, says O’Brien, “has taken over terms that were current coin in popular moral philosophy, especially in stoicism.” Why? Because “he wants his Philippian friends to develop those qualities which are good in themselves and beneficial to others, so he has pressed these items into service.”4 The use of so many of these pagan Greek terms, coupled with his “whatevers” and “if anys,” indicates that these ideals are to be contemplated and appreciated wherever they are found, and not restricted to a Christian context. There is liberty, in other words, for Christians to appreciate excellence wherever they encounter it. We are not restricted to art that has a fish on it, or literature or architecture or music. O’Brien clarifies the intent by rendering hosa, “whatever,” as “all that is.” Our minds are to dwell on “all that is virtuous or excellent.” Nothing is to be excluded. Pagans do stumble upon the truth and do practice virtue and portray it in their art and literature. Eschew their sensuous, their materialistic, and especially their pornographic art and literature, but their virtuous work is worthy of our respect. The final two clauses beginning “if there is any,” do not express doubt but certainty. They could be rendered “since.” These clauses summarize what has preceded them and describe comprehensively, says O’Brien, “the characteristics that should distinguish the Philippians’ thinking.” 5

First, we are to let our minds dwell on “whatever is true.” The world is full of lies and deception. “Many false prophets have gone out into the world,” says the Apostle John (1 Jn 4:1). The devil himself said Jesus is “the father of life” (Jn 8:44). We won’t find much theological truth in the world, though Augustine discusses how it happened that the Platonists got so much right in their speculations about God.6 Our first commitment, then, must be to the Bible, our only certain source of truth about Final Reality. “Thy word is truth,” Jesus said (Jn 17:17). We are instructed to “meditate upon it day and night” (Ps 1:2). Only then can we know the truth about God. Is He the creator of all? Does He govern and sustain all things? Is He holy? Will He one day judge the world? Will we all one day give answer to Him? The world thinks not. It lives as though there were no God. Its motto is, “Eat, drink, and be merry.” We will live like the world unless we remind ourselves of the truth.

Has God provided a way of escape from His judgment? Has He appointed a Mediator? a Savior? a Deliverer? Is it true that there is but one Mediator between God and man, the Man Jesus Christ (1 Tim 2:5)? Is it true that “there is salvation in no one else”?; that “there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12) Did Jesus Himself say,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” (Jn 14:6)

This Jesus calls us to faith and to self denial (Mt 16:24-28). He requires that we love Him above all else (Mt 10:37; Jn 21:15ff). The world doesn’t think so. It is flippant about religion because it thinks that God is benign to the point of indulgence; that all will be forgiven; that one need not worry or get too worked up about religion. We too will live like universalists, casual about God to the point of indifference, unless we constantly contemplate the truth. Otherwise we will not stand long; otherwise we may find ourselves swept along in the great tide of religious relativism and irrelevance. Our chief end, we must remind ourselves, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (1 Cor 10:31). The truth is, with specific reference to peace, there is a God, He is on His throne, He has forgiven my sins, He promises me eternal life, He promises to protect and provide for me, and He hears my prayers. What more do I need to know to live in peace in this world?

However, we will also find truth among unbelievers. We don’t need to be afraid to say that. They can be very shrewd observers of human nature, beginning with a high view of the sanctity of human life and an awareness of what is fitting given human nature. Neil Postman’s work on the impact of visual media on human discourse (e.g. Amusing Ourselves to Death); Howard Kunstler’s work on the impact of suburban sprawl on human community and the public aesthetics (e.g. The Geography of Nowhere); Thomas Sowell on the importance of culture over race or other considerations in determining progress in the world (e.g. Black Rednecks & White Liberals; Conquest and Culture); Victor Davis Hanson on the importance of culture in determining military outcomes (Carnage & Culture). The editors of National Review and The Wall Street Journal often make extremely insightful comments on political philosophy, utopianism, and what is achievable in this world. Appreciate truth wherever you find it.

Second, we are to let our minds dwell on “whatever is honorable.” The translators struggle to find an adequate translation for this word (semnos). It indicates that which is honorable, noble (NIV), and grave. The commentators understand it as “inspiring reverence,”7 or that which is “majestic and awe-inspiring.”8 It is the opposite of what is ignoble, vulgar, or crude.9 Hawthorne further identifies it with “things that lift the mind from the cheap and tawdry to that which is noble and good and of moral worth.”10

The pervasive cynicism of our times makes the contemplation of the honorable difficult. The internet and cable TV are cesspools of vulgarity and degradation. I sometimes hear people say of a film or show that it’s okay “except for the language,” as though obscenities and blasphemy were irrelevant. Our civilization is almost unbelievably vulgar, largely devoid of that which uplifts and inspires. The soldier who sacrifices his life to protect others, the missionary who ministers in primitive conditions across the world, the school teacher who sacrifices a large paycheck to prepare students for life, the mother and father who sacrifice careers for the welfare of their children; these all inspire our admiration and respect, or at least ought to. Contemplate their selflessness. “It is upon the things which are grave and serious and dignified that the Christian will set his mind,” says Barclay.11 Much of the world takes them for fools for not pursuing the bottom line, their own financial well being, and material comfort. Yet there are many, Christian and non-Christian, who live for others and not just for themselves. Study their example and gain inspiration from it. Let their pattern propel you into the ministry, mission field, the schoolhouse, the helping professions, or the military.

Third, we are to let our minds dwell on “whatever is right” (dikaios). This is translated “just” in the ESV. “It involves duty and responsibility. It entails satisfying all obligations,” says Hawthorne.12 Whether in relation to God or man, it is “duty found and duty done,” says Barclay.13 It is the opposite of that which is self-serving. It is the opposite of the easy road, the path of least resistance. Contemplate the lives of those in history, those in literature, those now living who have done their duty, done the right, just, and fair thing, whatever the cost. Our cynical age can hardly contemplate any choice other than the path of least resistance. Why would anyone do anything other than take the easy road, or choose the comfortable path?

Yet we have a generation still living, though quickly passing from the scene, that modeled the opposite. The “greatest generation,” as it has been called, endured the Great Depression, fought the Second World War, raised their families, and built the post war world. They did their duty, typically without complaint, even without comment. They wanted no recognition and were embarrassed by any attention they drew. Captain Winters, of Band of Brothers fame, was just one of thousands who quietly, humbly, and heroically served. My father in many ways was typical of his generation. He served in combat. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge, along with 10,000 other American soldiers who were ordered by their superiors to surrender. He endured 6 months of imprisonment by the Nazis. Yet for 30 years he never talked about it. He wanted no accolades for merely doing his duty. As a husband and father he was utterly self-sacrificing, attending graduate school while working three jobs in order to support his family. As a churchman, citizen, husband, father, and employee, he did his duty. He fulfilled his God-given obligation. He paid his bills. He supported his family. He tithed his church. He paid his taxes. He voted in every election.

George Washington and the founding generation provide exemplary models of honorable men, who indeed by their own testimony pledged “their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor” for a greater cause. The Civil War, a tragedy on a monumental scale, nevertheless supplies countless examples of “duty found, and duty done,” none greater than Robert E. Lee on one side, and Abraham Lincoln on the other. Still today the military, the mission field, the schoolhouse, the hospital, provide innumerable examples of honorable men and women, who through great personal sacrifice, are doing the right thing. Let your mind dwell upon them and not the slackers and cynics and skeptics and dopers who cannot rise above their own self-interest. For most of us doing what is right is measured in small things. It means small things like returning borrowed books and writing thank you notes. That is where most of us are tested. We don’t face Watergate-type tests. Our commitment to doing what is right and just and fair is tested in the little things of life, like obeying traffic laws, returning change when the lady at the register gives us too much, and honesty in paying our income taxes. We are to rejoice in justice and truth and honesty, in being fair and treating others fairly. Let’s not join our age in laughing at and participating in cheating and lying (even if only “white lies”) and stealing, but dwell on – rejoice in – that which is honest, just, fair, and right.

Fourth, we are to let our minds dwell on “whatever is pure.” This term (hagios) indicates what is morally pure and undefiled (cf. 2 Cor 7:11; 11:2; Titus 2:5). Its meaning here is “comprehensive,” says O’Brien, “having in view purity of thought and purpose as well as words and action.”14 Scan Scripture, scan history, scan literature, scan the arts to find examples of moral purity. Think of Joseph fleeing Potiphar’s wife (Gen 39:12), of Jesus and the Apostles, of Joseph and Mary, of the great saints across the centuries who lived chaste lives. Contemplate the beauty of chastity: couples on their wedding day who have saved themselves for each other and who are unscarred by promiscuity; marriages of unquestioned security because husbands and wives are faithful to each other; families that are intact because they are undisrupted by affairs and divorce, and so children spend their childhood and youth in loving, warm, and unbroken homes. Purity is a beautiful thing. Contemplate it.

On the other hand, beware of glamorized depictions of impurity. The world is quite skilled at crafting beautiful pictures of immoral behavior: airbrushed, romantic, exciting, and without consequences. Be very careful about the kinds of entertainment you choose. Don’t watch the filth on TV. Don’t subsidize the film industry by paying to see their trash films. Filter the content of the internet and establish accountability. Don’t envy the wicked, but instead rejoice in the wonder of strong, healthy Christian families – where parents obey God and so children are happy and loved and disciplined – where there is peace and quiet and contentment in the house – where husband and wife love each other and are true to each other, and so there is no adultery and no divorce and no drunkenness and no wife beating or child abuse. Rejoice in the beauty of Christian communities, where store owners are honest, where workers do an honest day’s labor, where streets are safe to walk on, where doors can be left unlocked. Purity is scorned these days. But think how truly wonderful moral purity is, especially in comparison with evil! Impurity takes a terrible toll in nations, communities, families, and individual lives. Our so-called freedom is killing us. Dwell on that which is pure, so we won’t be tempted to buy the lie which says that immorality is exciting and glamorous and thrilling. Contemplate it. Appreciate and rejoice in how wonderful, how healthy life is when ordered by God’s purity.

Fifth, we are to let our minds dwell on “whatever is lovely.” Lovely (prosphilēs) can be translated “loveable” or “admirable.”15 It is that which calls for love, admiration, and affection. It is that which is attractive and winsome. This overlaps considerably with what we have seen already, except it may begin to have an aesthetic quality. It lies on the intersection of the moral and the beautiful, where kind and good behavior, where depth of character bathed in love and empathy attracts in turn the admiration and affection of those with whom it comes into contact. We will speak of a person as a “lovely human being” or as a “beautiful person,” meaning by that nothing about their physical appearance but everything about their decency, their admirable qualities of character, their love. Literature can be of great use to us in this regard. Think of Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables. How we grieved the time of his death, the loss of this quiet, simple, humble but lovely man. Think of the integrity and decency of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird. Is there any more moving moment in all of cinema than when the old black gentleman tells Scout to rise along with all the rest of the folks in the balcony because her father is passing by? Think of the old African pastor in Cry the Beloved Country, Stephen Kumalo. How I loved that admirable, devout man throughout that brilliant book. Or even think of Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, or even, in many ways, poor old Mr. Bennett. Think of Melanie in Gone With the Wind and Corrie Ten Boom’s sister Bessie in The Hiding Place.

Sixth, we are to let our minds dwell on “whatever is of good repute.” O’Brien argues that this term (euphēma) has an active sense of “fair-sounding,” or “well-pleasing,” and that it “implies essential worthiness.”16 He cites Plummer, who says it is used to express “what is kind and likely to win people, and avoid what is likely to give offense.”17 Zerwick renders it “praiseworthy” or “noble.”18 L. H. Marshall argues that it’s being “used in the classical sense of universal approval . . . whatever is generally deemed worthy of praise.”19 It indicates that which is winsome and attractive, which is universally appreciated and esteemed. Again, we can see that these virtues overlap. Cantankerousness and combativeness are not Christian virtues. We are not to draw our officers from among those who are “pugnacious” (1 Tim 3:3; Titus 1:7). The church and world afford many examples of people who are able to finesse tense situations, able to smooth troubled waters. Consider those who are able to choose words carefully and make their point without compromise and yet also without pouring gasoline on flames. This virtue is worthy of our contemplations along with the rest.

With great rhetorical skill he now changes his phrasing from “whatever is” to “if there is any.” The effect is to sum up and reinforce what O’Brien calls “the all-encompassing nature of what has preceded.”20

Seventh, “If there is any excellence,” aretē, meaning, as we’ve seen, moral virtue, moral excellence, or even “‘excellence’ of any kind.”21 It was especially important among the Stoics for whom it “denoted the highest good of man.”22 Here it probably should be understood as “moral excellence” or even “goodness” (as in the Phillips version).

Further, eighth, “if there is anything worthy of praise” (epainos), which “probably denotes the kind of conduct that was the praise of fellow humans,” says O’Brien.23 Our thoughts are continually to dwell on all the preceding positive and wholesome and virtuous qualities.

For us to deliberately fix our minds on these virtues and avoid their opposites, we must be discriminating consumers of, patrons of, culture. We cannot possibly just float with the cultural streams and fulfill the Apostle’s commands. Christians must be ready to reject and avoid almost all of contemporary pop culture. Yet not all of it is bad. Ironically it’s been animated films, most recently, that portray admirable virtues, which, while not overtly Christian, deserve our attention. What better portrayal of parental devotion can be found than in the father/fish in Finding Nemo? What more tender picture of lifelong marital love has our culture produced in recent years than in the first ten minutes of Up!. Valkerie portrays courage, the determination of German Col. Stauffenburg to do what is right, whatever the cost, to bring down Hitler and end the war. The German film, Sophie Schoal, the story of the White Rose resistance movement at Munich University in 1943 does the same. The Italian film, Life is Beautiful, is another example of devoted fatherly love that ennobles and uplifts and inspires. Chariots of Fire combined in the Scotsman Eric Liddell the virtues of Christian piety, athletic prowess, and uncompromising convictions. Even Charlotte’s Web: our son Samuel was but 3 or 4 when he saw the animated version of it, and he cried and cried when she died, so beautiful was E.B. White’s portrayal of Charlotte. Literature, art, history, and cinema afford any number of opportunities to celebrate virtue, of which I can list but a few.

However, it also means that we must become much more aggressively, even ruthlessly, discriminating. We cannot allow our minds to be filled with glorified violence, or glorified impurity, or glorified sloth, or glorified vulgarity. I suspect that many of our entertainment choices should not survive the claims of these principles. Scan your music choices. Upon what would your music have your mind dwell? Scan your visual media choices. Upon what would your shows, movies, and videos have your mind dwell? What web sites do you visit? What commercials are you seeing? What magazines and books are you reading? Many of the popular publications are calculated to stir up discontent, to inflame lust, covetousness, and greed.

The “God of peace” will not accompany you into society’s moral cesspools. Your sense of His presence, protection, and provision will vanish. He will not bless you there. You can’t leave the world. But you can navigate the culture with integrity, sorting out what is unworthy of Christian consideration and focusing the mind on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, reputable, excellent, and praiseworthy.