A CALL TO SPIRITUAL UNITY
Philippians 2:1-5
Have you ever had one of those moments when you realized you were on the wrong track, and you knew that it wasn’t going to be easy getting things straight?
Years ago, a vacuum salesman decided he would leave the big city to concentrate on gaining customers out in the country. He went as deep as he could into the backwoods, knocked on his first door. An elderly lady answered and the salesman quickly launched into his sales pitch, pointing out the different features of his vacuum cleaner. He talked so fast and showed her so many functions, she didn't have a chance to say a word.
Suddenly, right in the middle of his sales pitch, he saw an ash tray on a table. He picked it up and dumped the contents on the floor! The lady was stunned and speechless. "Ma'am," he said with great confidence, "what this vacuum won't pick up, I'll lick up!" Finally, with an opportunity to respond, the lady said, "Well, you'd better get started, 'cause we ain't got no electricity out here!”
Getting back on the right track for this salesman was going to be a distasteful activity! I think somewhere along the line, we’ve gotten on the wrong track. And I’m here to tell you that it’s not going to be easy setting things straight. But if we’re ever going to be able to stand together against the world, we have to first stand together as a church. In order to do that, we'll have to follow the example of Christ. So the message that God has given me this morning is A Call to Spiritual Unity.
Living together in spiritual unity is the best way to honor and promote the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is a message of reconciliation and peace with God. How can we expect to be reconciled to God if we’re not reconciled to each other? I believe that God is more concerned with the health of the church than He is the size of it. Here’s why, because a healthy church will automatically be a growing church. Healthy churches are identified by three important signs: faithfulness to correct doctrine, holiness of life and unity of fellowship…which is one of the biggest hinderances to many churches today.
When it comes to getting along with other Christians, the Bible doesn't waste words. We’re about to read a message from Paul that is very clear, and very important: If Satan can’t destroy the church from the outside, he’ll try to destroy it from the inside. In our passage this morning, Paul teaches us why spiritual unity is important, what it looks like in practical terms, and how we should think, live, and treat one another in order to build and maintain spiritual unity.
THE MOTIVATION FOR SPIRITUAL UNITY (v.1)
The motivation for spiritual motivation is found in the word “if”, which is used four times in this verse. In its original context, “if’ means the same thing as since. So Paul presents them with the idea that the things he’s talking about are true. Paul’s saying, “Since these things are true, you should to live in unity with one another”.
Also, notice the repeated use of the word “any” in this verse. Paul does this in an effort to make the point that this call to unity is not just addressed to the spiritual leaders or spiritually mature people in the church. No, this call to unity is for every member of the church who has experienced salvation in Jesus Christ.
Paul doesn’t use any commands, threats or gimmicks here. He’s simply encouraging the church to unity. That’s because spiritual unity, like all spiritual things, has to be desired internally and not externally. Church unity is ordained by God, established through Christ, and carried out through the Holy Spirit. So when we don’t make every effort to keep unity in the church, we’re not just rebelling against the local authority of the church, or the vision of the church to advance God’s kingdom. We’re sinning against God Himself. We often talk about how same-sex marriage is an abomination to God, and I believe that it is. But it’s not the only one:
These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren (Prov. 6:16-19).
2. THE MARKS OF SPIRITUAL UNITY (v. 2)
This verse begins with the primary command of this passage. Paul says, “fulfill my joy.” Now remember, Paul was in prison. At this point he didn’t know whether he would be released or executed. But he doesn’t ask the Philippians to send him material things, and he doesn’t ask them to bail him out. He tells them that even though he’s in jail, his joy would be fulfilled if they were living in spiritual unity.
Paul’s burden reveals the heart of a true spiritual leader. Verse 1 tells us that spiritual unity is the concern of God, but verse 2 tells us that spiritual unity is also the concern of the godly. If you’re not concerned with spiritual unity in the church, then you have absolutely no business being in any type of leadership position.
Paul’s burden for the health of the church also reveals the characteristics of spiritual unity:
A COMMON PERSPECTIVE
To be “like-minded” simply means to think the same way. That doesn’t mean that we all have to agree on everything all the time. It just means that we should think the same way when it comes to our purpose. As believers, we all serve the same God, have the same purpose, and are going to the same place. So we had better get used to one another because eternity is a long time!
A COMMON PRACTICE
The call to unity also involves “having the same love”, which means that we are to love everyone the same. Now I know that you’re probably sitting there thinking, “How in the world am I supposed to love everyone the same?” I know…you’ve got some in the church that you care about a lot, and some that you don’t like all that much. You may be doing everything you can on a weekly basis just to keep from going off on them. But if that’s your attitude then you have absolutely no concept of what Christian love is all about. Christian love is about how you treat each another, regardless of how you feel about the other person.
A COMMON PASSION
To be “of one accord” means to conduct yourself toward each other as if you were one person sharing the same heart, mind and soul. Whereas “having the same love” speaks of how we treat one another, “being of one accord” speaks of how we feel about one another:
I feel your worries.
I feel your loneliness.
I feel your frustration.
I feel your sorrow.
I feel your pain.
A COMMON PURPOSE
The final characteristic of unity that Paul mentions in verse 3 is being “of one mind”. Now I know you’re probably thinking, “Wait a minute, I thought he already said that”. But what we see here is a picture of unity coming full circle, meaning that the church should be an endless cycle of these characteristics of spiritual unity.
3. THE MEANS TO SPIRITUAL UNITY
These verses provide us with the answer to how spiritual unity is maintained:
A. HUMBLE YOURSELF (v. 3)
The reason that so many people find it difficult to build and maintain spiritual unity is because of “selfish ambition or conceit”. Selfish ambition is also listed in Gal. 5:20 as one of the works of the flesh…right alongside things like adultery, idolatry and murder. Conceit is a term used to describe a person who thinks they’re more than what they really are. Even a little of one or both of these things can ruin the unity of God’s people; there’s absolutely no room for it in the house of God.
Right after condemning pride, Paul commends its opposite…humility. Humility is a funny thing in that once you realize you have it, you’ve lost it. You can’t be proud that you’re humble because once you begin to recognize your humility it turns into pride. So the question remains, how do we demonstrate humility without becoming prideful?
Verse 3 says that unity happens when we treat everyone else as if they are more important that ourselves. Can you imagine what a church would look like if everyone considered others more than themselves, instead of acting like the world revolved around them.
So how do we do that? Just ask yourself this question: Who’s the biggest sinner you know? Some of you may be thinking of a friend, relative or co-worker. That’s understandable. But the problem with that assessment is that the only things you know about that person is from what you see or hear, but what about all those hidden sins you don’t know about. On the other hand, you have very intimate knowledge of every ungodly motive, thought, attitude and action you’ve ever committed. So based off that information, you’re the biggest sinner that you know! Therefore, we have absolutely no reason to be prideful. In humility, we should consider others better than ourselves.
B. MOVE BEYOND YOUR PERSONAL AGENDA (v. 4)
First Paul says to “look out not only for his own interests”. This doesn’t mean that we can’t have our own personal interests. In fact, it’s a sin if we don’t invest in the gifts and talents that God’s given us. But Paul goes on to say that we also need to consider other people and their interests as well.
This verse gives us some pretty good advice on relationships. Just imagine what it would look like if husbands/wives, parents/children, brothers/sisters, friends/neighbors, bosses/coworkers and students/teachers looked not only to their own interests, but also to the interests of others. Imagine the love, power, and witness for Christ the church would have in the world if we could get beyond our own personal agendas and show interest and concern for others. The unbeliever will naturally put themselves first, others second, and God last. But the Bible teaches that we should reverse that order: God first, others second, and ourselves last. But how do we do that? I said it in the beginning, we must…
C. FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF CHRIST (v. 5)
This is an important statement about the transforming power of Christ. This is what separates Christianity from all the other religions of the world. Whereas many religions of the world teach people to change their outward behavior, Christianity focuses on the heart which leads to a spiritual transformation…from the inside out.
My dad has some banana plants that he planted around our pool when I was around Logan’s age. No matter how many times we tried to mow over them, or cut them down they always came back. It wasn’t until my dad got down to the root of our plant problem that he was able to remove them for good. That’s what Jesus does for us. You see, we can cut and mow to try in our own efforts to remove our ungodly actions all we want, but eventually they’ll come back. But when we allow Jesus to transform us, He comes in and gets down to the root of our sin problem…which is our heart, removing our ungodly attitudes forever.
I’m gonna throw in verses 6-11 just free as I close this morning…
This is where we see the mind of Christ so that we might be like Him. Jesus was and is God Himself. But He didn’t selfishly hold on to the privileges of His deity for Himself. No, He humbled Himself and became obedient, even to the point of His own death. Then God exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, at which every knee in heaven and on earth, and in hell will bow. And every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to glory of God the Father. Here’s the point:
If you will be a servant, God will promote you.
If you will be humble, God will promote you.
If you will be obedient, God will promote you.
