“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any
tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded,
having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you
to the interests of the others.”
HAVE THE CHARACTER OF JESUS IN YOURSELF
In today’s lesson Paul
is writing to the church at Philippi with reminders of the model they should
follow in their daily lives. A modern
day parallel would be the WWJD idea. What
Would Jesus Do? I’ve always thought that
it would be better to ask yourself, WDWD?
What Did Jesus Do? You see, since
we have the Word of God at our disposal we can hold it in our own hands and we
don’t need to wonder what Jesus would have done for we can search the
scriptures and see what he did! We have many
accounts of how Jesus dealt with all kinds of situations so we can read how he did handle the ups and downs of daily
life and draw all sorts of wisdom, help and encouragement from the Word. The Bible has so many pages of Jesus’ own
teachings recorded for us to read, re-read, memorize and “hide in our
hearts”. He’s given us the Holy Spirit
to help us understand the meaning of the words we read and then to help us
recall them when we need to.
I have read that the
church at Philippi was a very active, growing church with all sorts of
ministries and mission efforts, including sending help to Paul several
times. If you think about this you will
start to understand why Paul’s letter to the Philippians contains so much great
teaching about relationships with other people.
This growing Philippian church was a mixture of believers from many
different backgrounds, walks of life, social groups and even
nationalities. It’s easy to imagine that
friction developed among them just as it does in our modern churches. People often find themselves in conflict with
other people for a wide variety of reasons.
This is true today and I’m sure things were no different in Paul’s day when
he wrote this letter. People are
people. That’s not an excuse but an
explanation. We all have human nature as
an influence in our daily lives and it has an impact on our relationships. In this portion of Paul’s letter to the
Philippians we are going to see that he lists qualities that Christians should
demonstrate in their daily lives and relationships. Specifically in these verses and those which
follow he is going to tell the readers to follow the example set by none other
than Jesus, himself. Let’s begin to
work through these first four verses of Chapter 2 and see what truths they hold
for you and I.
“Therefore if you have any encouragement
from being united with Christ,”
The word translated encouragement here comes from the Greek word ‘parakleses’ which means consolation, comfort, solace, exhortation
or strengthening. Paul is saying that if
you have experienced such things from Christ you should make them a part of
what others see and experience in you.
He’ll give this idea much emphasis in the verses ahead.
“if any comfort from his love”
The word translated love here comes from the Greek word ‘’agape” and speaks of a love that is
selfless and sacrificial. It is the love
one can have for another whom others might consider unlovable. It is the word used to describe the love
Jesus showed for you and I when he willingly went to the cross to pay for our
sins. It is a love which heals wounds and
breaks down walls between people. It’s
the love that we so often sing about on Sunday morning but put back in the box
when we leave the church building and step back out into the world. You already know what comfort this kind of
unconditional love can bring to your soul.
It is a healing, comforting, refreshing and encouraging love that can change
a person’s heart. Jesus often spoke of
this kind of love. Here are a few
scriptures for you to read on that very topic.
“A new
command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one
another. By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
“My
command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s
friends.” John 15:12-13
“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and
for everyone else, just as ours does for you.” I Thessalonians 3:12
“if any common sharing in the
Spirit”
Instead of using the
words ‘common sharing’ try reading the above with the word ‘fellowship’. I think that translation carries the idea of
our relationship with God’s Holy Spirit even better. When we become children of God we invite the
Holy Spirit into our hearts to dwell there and teach us, guide us, even to
intercede for us with the Father when we can’t even think of the words to
speak. It is the sense we have of God’s
presence within us every moment of every day.
“And he who searches
our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the
Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Romans 8:27
It’s important to
remember that the same Spirit who lives in us lives in the heart of every true
believer. That is a great thing to focus
on as we interact with other believers.
We need to let the Spirit lead us more as we push our own selfishness
aside. Paul will address this very idea
a bit later in this post but for now let’s just remember that it is the Spirit
of God, living within each of us, which makes it possible for us to find the
unity of spirit that Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:3. Without him it’s just too hard to overcome
our human side.
“Make every effort to
keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of
peace.”
“if any tenderness and compassion”
Before I speak about this particular
phrase I wonder if any of you are reading your scripture from the KJV? If you are, don’t scratch your head about the
word which shows up in place of “tenderness”.
It may carry a meaning a little different than you might think. I believe the point it is making is that
version is speaking of the “great depth” of God’s tenderness and
compassion. Just a fun little detour for
a moment. Getting back on track, it is
God’s great compassion that keeps Him reaching out to us over and over
again. We fall into sin…we become
convicted of our sin…in desperation we cry out to God…He hears, draws near,
forgives and restores. That very familiar
verse we all learned as children speaks of that love/compassion right off the
bat. “For
God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
It all starts with God’s amazing love.
That is the kind of love we are to show to others. Jesus reminds us of how important this
is. Check out his words below.
“A
new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35
“then make my joy complete by
being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind"
Paul is saying, “Do
you want to fill my heart with real joy?
Then do what I’m telling you!”
He’s letting them know that they have a direct effect on his own
joy. The point sure seems clear here
that we have an impact or influence on the joy found in others. I read this statement and it hit home… “The
one thing that brings joy to a church quicker than anything else in
unity.” Once again, did you notice that
he didn’t tell them to be the same, uniform, but to be “like-minded”,
unified. Then he expanded on that idea
by saying we need to be “one in spirit and of one mind.” I think I’ve already told you that I like the
phrase, “God wants us to live in unity, not uniformity”. Remember, he made us all different for a
reason.
There are so many
things which can make this unity a thing which is difficult to achieve. So far in this passage Paul has spelled out
some things that will help make unity possible.
His list has included: being like-minded, having the same love, being in
one accord and being in one mind. Next
he’s going to suggest the key to making such things possible. Here it comes!
“Do nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own
interests, but to the interests of others.”
As I read this verse I
was struck by the fact that it flies in the face of so much of today’s
culture. I’m not so sure that it’s
really unique to our generation or just a common situation throughout many
societies and is based on human nature, looking out for number one. I’m sure you’ve seen it, haven’t you? You know, “I’ve got mine!” We even see it in very young children as they
play together. If one child has a neat
toy or treat there’s a real good possibility that another little tot will
decide they want and they will move to take it!
Or maybe I’m just traveling in different circles than the rest of
you. Human nature, when left to its own
devices, turns toward selfishness doesn’t it?
As human children we usually need to be taught to ‘share’ or ‘play nice’. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard
phrases like “Johnny, don’t hit your sister!” or “Suzy, that’s not your
toy. Give it back.” Or “Hey, you kids
stop fighting!” Human nature often moves
in the exact opposite direction from a godly nature. Hey, maybe that’s why we need Jesus? Who knew?
Verses 3 & 4 hit on
the key to this whole discussion…that word is humility or lowness of mind. Here’s one dictionary’s definition of
humility.
“The quality or condition
of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank” Paul offers a pretty accurate definition of
humility when he writes in the second half of verse 3: “value others above yourselves”.
That is the essence of a truly humble person, to put the needs of others
above our own, or as Paul says in the next sentence: “Each of
you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
(older NIV version) There are some
variations in individual words in this scripture depending on the translation
you are reading but the concept is the same.
I like the fact that it says “not
only to your own interests”. We are
to take care of ourselves but our attitude is to be one where we are even more
concerned about those around us. In the
next blog we will move into the next section of Chapter 2 which really falls
under the heading we could create by simply using verse 5: Your Attitue Should Be The Same As That of Christ Jesus!
How’s that for a teaser?
In our daily lives and
in our worship services we should not be promoting ourselves, our pastor, our
great musicians, etc.. All too often our
focus is wrong and we venerate, imitate, praise
and envy those among us who excel at what they are doing. So many times I’ve heard things like “Oh, if
I could only sing like her” or “I wish I could preach like him” or “It would be
so good to be able to talk with people like they can”. What we are doing is envying the gifts
someone else has. What we should be
doing is discovering, developing and utilizing the gifts God has given us,
personally. It’s not about any of us but
it’s all about God. We need to make sure
our focus is where it should be. All too
often it is misdirected and that’s wrong in God’s eyes. We should always try to focus our attention
on Christ and live in imitation of his example.
After all, it is all about him isn’t it?
Here are a few scriptures related to this final concept in today’s blog.
“ For
those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves
will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12
“Take
my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and
you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 11:29
“And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore,
whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven.” Matthew 18:3, 4
“Be completely humble and gentle; be
patient, bearing with one
another in love.” Ephesians 4:2
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you
up.” James 4:10
Let’s not toot our own
horns. We should let God worry about
that stuff. For us it should be enough
to realize that no matter what we are doing we are doing it all for the creator
of the universe. We are in God’s
family. We are God’s kids and He loves
us, wants to have a personal relationship with us and wants to use us to spread
the word about Him and His kingdom. What
more could be ask for? I think the
absolute best way to end today’s blog is simply to ask you to re-read the
scripture for today. Hopefully, you have
your Bible open and can read it from there but if not I’ll say goodbye for now
and end with the scriptures right here.
God bless!
“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any
tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded,
having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do
nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value
others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but
each of you to the interests of the others.”
Philippians 2:1-4
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