“Living A Joy-full Life: Strengthening Your Union:
Phil. 2:1-4
There’s a classic For Better or For Worse cartoon. Frame 1 – Husband says, “Should I put on some tea, honey?” “Sure.” Frame 2 – “But not in that pot!!” Frame 3 – she’s leaning over the dishwasher – “John, when you’re putting the plates into the dishwasher…they should be turned this way around!” Frame 4 – She says, “When you’re done with the dishes, you could at least wipe off the counter.” Frame 5 – He’s wiping the counter. She says, “But not with that cloth!” Frame 6 – “You wrapped the leftovers in saran wrap. I always put them in these plastic containers.” Frame 7 – He says, “Uh…I think I’d better let you do all this.” Frame 8 – She’s having coffee with a friend, sighs, and states, “You know, Anne, John is the sweetest man on earth…But for some reason, he just hates to help with anything around the house.” Sound at all familiar? It seems to be a human tendency to believe that conflict is always the fault of someone else; certainly we are not to blame.
Paul knew better. The Christians in Philippi were apparently much like Christians today. Where-ever two were gathered together, there were three opinions. Paul refers to threats to unity coming from outside the church through false teachers (3:1-3), and from inside the church through preachers with wrong motives (1:15-18) and from some powerful disagreement between Euodia and Syntyche (4:1-3). And the Philippians, much like us, tended to focus on what divided rather than on what united. The truth of the matter is few church splits happen over key, essential doctrinal issues. Rather, they occur over worship styles, music styles, leadership styles, moral issues, or political debates – in other words, over personal preferences and passions.
So Paul starts by stating we need to RECOGNIZE OUR UNITY. (2:1) “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…” “If you have…” Paul is not asking them ‘if’ they had experienced encouragement, comfort, sharing, or compassion; he is saying ‘If you have – and you know you have – experienced these things…; if your union with Christ has given you any benefit – and you know it has…” The Message sates it: “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care…”
If we RECOGNIZE THE BLESSINGS WE SHARE through our mutual fellowship in Christ, if our union with Christ has given us any of these benefits Paul exhorts (3), “… then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” Get on the same page, WORK TOGETHER AND SERVE ONE ANOTHER. Paul is not saying we must have agreement and union in all our thoughts and ways of doing things; there’s a difference between union and unity. We can take a dog and a cat, tie their tails together, and hang them over a clothes line. They’ll have union but not unity. As Roger Williams stated, “We find not in the Gospel, that Christ hath anywhere provided for the uniformity of churches, but only for their unity.” (i) So Paul states we must be focused on someone or something other than ourselves and our preferences. “… (be) like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.” Think and act with the same mind, with the same motives, following the same example. FOCUS ON JESUS. Concentrate on being Jesus to one another, on sharing Jesus’s love and concern with one another. (1Jn. 4:7-8 NLT) “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Once we recognize our unity, we can work at REALIZING OUR UNITY. Paul begins by exhorting us to (3a) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition…” We are to RELINQUISH COMPETITION. Paul sees one cause of conflict as competing desires, which cause a divisive spirit. Competition is a root cause of church strife - and, by the way, of marital discord. So J. B. Phillips translates these words, “Never act from motives of rivalry.” The Jerusalem Bible says, “There must be no competition among you.”
A good picture of the nature of competition comes from Sharon Osberg who is a two-time world bridge champion. Her partners include high-powered executives Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. She describes the playing styles of the two men as aggressive. Gates approaches bridge scientifically, reasoning through problems. Buffett is more intuitive and computes probabilities on the fly. Osberg says, "Neither of these guys likes to lose. Warren and I were playing against his sister and brother-in-law and we were losing. Warren's sister wanted to frame the score sheet. So Warren ate it." (ii) We chuckle at the picture. Yet when that same spirit of ‘win at all costs’ enters the church arena, it’s divisive and devastating.
The apostle Paul even lists competition/selfish ambition among the works of the flesh in Gal. 5:19-20: “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions…” A spirit of competition splits people into groups, each of which is out to win. The only competition we need to worry about is Satan - and He’s been defeated! WHEN WE LET GO OF OUR OWN WILL, WE DO NOT CARE WHO WINS. WHEN WE LET GO OF OUR OWN WILL, JESUS WINS. It’s never a “Me First” mentality. The cause of the Kingdom always comes first. As James points out (4:1-2): “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.” Competition is an enemy of unity.
Paul’s second exhortation is get RID of CONCEIT. (3b) “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.” Another cause of conflict in the church is personal pride. In fact, the Good News Bible translates the words as ‘…a cheap desire to boast…” C. S. Lewis pointed to a connection between pride and competition: “Pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature—while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.” (iii) So pride is an enemy of unity. As Bud Robinson put it, “Pride is the only disease known to man that makes everyone sick except the one who has it.” (iv)
The truth is, far too often WE PICK OURSELVES UP BY PUTTING OTHERS DOWN. Far too often we refuse to listen to others because we’re too proud to admit we might not be right or have the best idea. Consider this story from NASA. On January 28, 1986, NASA was planning to launch the space shuttle Challenger from Kennedy Space Center—a mission that included a schoolteacher named Christa McAuliffe. The launch had already been delayed a few times. On the night before the new launch date, NASA held a long conference call with engineers from Morton-Thiokol, the contractor that built the Challenger's solid-rocket motors. Allan McDonald was one of the Thiokol engineers. On the day of the launch it was predicted to be unusually cold in Florida, which concerned McDonald because he feared that his company's o-ring seals in the Challenger's big joints wouldn't operate properly at that temperature. Since the boosters had never been tested below 53 degrees McDonald recommended the launch be postponed again. But NASA officials overruled McDonald and requested that the "responsible Morton-Thiokol official" sign off on the decision to launch. McDonald refused to sign the request, but his boss did. The next morning McDonald—and millions of people around the globe—watched as a mere 73 seconds into the flight, the shuttle burst into flames. After the accident, a review showed the cause of the explosion to be what McDonald had feared: the o-rings failed to hold their seal in the cold temperature. In other words, some people in the know had foreseen the exact cause of failure. So why, even with that warning, did NASA push on? Allen McDonald claims that NASA fell prey to the oldest and most basic sin—pride. McDonald said: “NASA [had become] too successful. They had gotten by for a quarter of a century and had never lost a single person going into space … And they had rescued the Apollo 13 halfway to the moon when part of the vehicle blew up. Seemed like it was an impossible task, but they did it. So how could this cold o-ring cause a problem when they had done so much over the past years to be successful? [All of this success] gives you a little bit of arrogance you shouldn't have … But they hadn't stumbled yet and they just pressed on.” (v) Whether in NASA or the church, pride destroys everyone in its wake. So Paul says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.”
Paul saw another cause of disunity to be the spirit of criticism. So his third admonition for unity is to REDUCE CRITICISM. Our human tendency is to criticize others to make ourselves feel better and even superior. We do so because WE FAIL TO VALUE OTHERS. (3c) “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” Kevin Emmert paints a great picture. “Imagine this scenario: A man invites a friend into his home for dinner. They enjoy a delicious meal that the man's wife has graciously offered to make. The man and his friend casually catch up on life, but then halfway through the meal, the invited guest starts do to something unbelievable. He starts listing things that his friend's wife could have done better. "The chicken was way too tough," he says. "You should have marinated it longer. And the broccoli is overcooked, mushy and bland. My 12-year-old daughter could cook a better meal. And you should really do something else with your hair." Then he starts to criticize her character, even ridicule her. I'm guessing his visit would be cut short. And the guest would probably get sent away with a few choice words. Even if he was right about certain things, the typical husband simply wouldn't tolerate someone openly and caustically criticizing his wife. He loves her, and for a husband that leads to accepting and honoring his wife despite her quirks and shortcomings. Unfortunately we tolerate this mean-spirited criticism all the time when it's directed at the church. If we're not careful, it's easy for us to look at the church and her leaders, and say, "The church should have done ____." Or, "I wish they hadn't ____." You fill in the blanks.”(vi) “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.”
The Bible is very clear on this issue. James 4:11-12: “Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him, speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?” Then there are Jesus’ pointed words in Matthew 7:1-5 - “Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” To the crowd that wanted to stone the woman caught in adultery Jesus said (Jn. 8:7 NLT), “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” There will be harmony in the church when there is humility in the members of the church.
Understanding that humility is not thinking less of ourselves but rather thinking more of others, Paul shares his fourth exhortation (4): “Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” Conflict often results from being insensitive to the needs of others, so Paul says we are to RELISH CONSIDERATION of others. We need to scope out and hone in on the needs of others. Our aim is always to zero in on ministering and serving. Let me ask you something: Could you name the five greatest needs of your spouse? Your children? Your parents? Your coworkers? Your school mate? How considerate are you? Paul’s words in The Message are “Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.”
OUR PATTERN IS JESUS CHRIST. The great preacher Harry Ironside put it poignantly. “THE last word of this section is the keynote—“others.” This was the overpowering, dominating note in the life of our Lord on earth, and because of this He died. “He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for”—others! He lived for others; He died for others. Selfishness He knew not. Unselfish devotion for the good of others summed up His whole life, and all in subjection to the Father’s will. For God, the Father Himself, lives, reverently be it said, for others. He finds His delight, His joy, in lavishing blessing on others. He pours His rain, and sends His sunshine upon the just and the unjust alike. He gave His Son for others; and having not withheld His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not with Him also freely give us all things?—we, who are included in the others for whom the Lord Jesus Christ endured so much. What wonder then that, if we would follow His steps, we find ourselves called upon to live for others, and even to lay down our lives for the brethren.”(vii)
What would happen if we really valued others, did unto others as we would have them do unto us? What would our church (and community) be like if we did to others what Jesus did to us? Just how are we to treat one another? The Bible is very clear as it lists a multitude of “One Another’s.” LOVE one another. ACCEPT one another. SERVE one another in love. PRAY FOR one another. ENCOURAGE one another. FORGIVE one another. HONOR one another above yourself. AGREE WITH one another. BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE TO one another.
BE DEVOTED TO one another in brotherly love. LIVE IN HARMONY WITH one another. BEAR WITH one another in love. CONFESS YOUR SINS TO one another. CARRY one another’s burdens. SUBMIT TO one another out of reverence for Christ. SPUR one another on towards love and good deeds. OFFER HOSPITALITY TO one another without grumbling. CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH HUMILITY TOWARD one another. BE COMPETENT TO INSTRUCT one another. USE YOUR SPIRITUAL GIFTS TO SERVE one another. SPEAK TO one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. GREET one another with a holy kiss.
What would our church (and community) be like? As Jesus said (Jn. 13:35), “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
(i) Source unknown
(ii) Sharon Osberg, "Trump Bill Gates and Warren Buffett," Business 2.0 (December 2003), p.89, From www.preachingtoday.com
(iii) Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed., p. 633). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
(iv) Ibid
(v) Adapted from Freaknomics blog, "Failure Is Your Friend: Full Transcript" (6-4-14)-From www.preachingtoday.com
(vi) Kevin P. Emmert, "The Church is a Harlot, but I Love Her,"Leadership Journal (8-5-13), From www.preachingtoday.com
(vii) Ironside, H. A. (1922). Notes on the Epistle to the Philippians (pp. 37–38). Loizeaux Brothers: Neptune, NJ.
