OPENING: A city boy had never been on a farm before and he asked a farmer: “Mister, why doesn’t this cow have any horns?” The farmer cocked his head for a moment, then began in a patient tone, “Well, cattle can do a powerful lot of damage with their horns. Sometimes we keep ’em trimmed down with a hacksaw. Other times we can fix up the young’uns by puttin’ a couple drops of acid where their horns would grow in. Still, there are other breeds of cattle that never do grow horns. But the reason this cow don’t have no horns, is (pause) ’cause it’s a horse.”
You’d think even a city boy would know the difference between a horse & a cow… but then you’d also think that a Christian would know the difference between true Christianity and what a lot of folks THINK is Christianity.
In passage today, Paul’s telling the Philippian church what Christianity should look like, bit what he’s describing doesn’t come naturally to a lot of people. In fact, there are many, in churches across the land, who still don’t know what TRUE Christianity looks like. They may have great doctrine. They may have a beautiful building. They may have a dynamic preacher. But they couldn’t tell a horse from a cow when it came to Christianity.
So let’s look at this passage again. Paul writes: “complete my joy by being of the SAME mind, having the SAME love, being in FULL ACCORD and of ONE mind.” Philippians 2:2
Did you catch the emphasis here??? Same mind, same love, full accord (agreement). That’s what Christianity should look like. And when Christians live together like that there is a powerful atmosphere of joy, excitement and unity.
But too often – Christians DON’T look like that.
ILLUS: Scott tells me the story of a church that argued over what color of shingles to put on the roof of the church building. Some of them wanted red shingles and others wanted green. And they actually got into quite a heated argument over it. But eventually they compromised. They decided to shingle one half of the roof with red shingles… and the other half with green. And from that day on – the ½ that wanted red sat under the red shingles and those who wanted green sat under the green shingles.
ILLUS: On a more serious note, some years ago, there was a split in a Dallas church and lawsuits were filed to determine who should own the property. The judge referred the case back to their denomination to handle. During the hearing, the CHURCH courts discovered that the conflict had begun years before at a church dinner when a certain elder was served a smaller piece of ham than the child seated next to him.
“Christians” sometimes just don’t behave like Christians.
Now God knew that was going to happen. He knew people would have a hard time living up to that standard. He knew we’d have difficulty being of one mind and one love. And there’s a reason why that was going to be. As Romans 3:23 tells us “We’ve all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Every Christian in church has come out of a sinful mindset, and there are times they have a hard time leaving that sinful character behind.
That’s why Paul wrote this stuff in Philippians. If we understand what Paul’s telling us here, if we decide to take the prescription he sets forth in this passage, then we will be of one mind and have one love. And then we will look like Christians.
So, what’s the prescription?
“Do nothing from SELFISH AMBITION or CONCEIT, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look NOT ONLY TO HIS OWN INTERESTS, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:3-5
In other words – It’s selfishness. It’s ambition. It’s conceit. It’s looking out for my OWN interests FIRST that leads to problems in the church. That’s how a horse ends up looking like a cow in church.
But now, let’s read our passage again: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but IN HUMILITY count OTHERS MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN YOURSELVES. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also TO THE INTERESTS OF OTHERS. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:3-5
Notice the highlighted phrases… it’s THOSE things that can make us look like the Christians. Now, also notice what Paul’s saying here: it’s OK to look out for your OWN INTERESTS. I mean – you’ve got to supply for your own family, you’ve got to pay your bills, take care of your home, take care of your body … etc. etc..
But happens too often, is that Christians focus mostly on themselves, and other Christians come in a distant 2nd… if at all.
ILLUS: Just to help us understand this–let me tell you the story of two 4th grade classes:
In both classes, the teacher introduced a game called "balloon stomp." A balloon was tied to every child's leg, and the object of the game was to pop everyone else's balloon while protecting one's own. The last person whose balloon hadn’t been popped - WON.
In the first class - when the teacher said “GO” - these kids REALLY got into the game. A flurry of activity and shouting filled the room as kids stomped on each other’s balloons. A few of the children clung to sidelines like wallflowers at a middle school dance, but their balloons were doomed just the same. The entire battle was over in a matter of seconds, leaving only one balloon intact.
Its owner was, of course, the most disliked kid in the class. This kid had all that it took to be a winner–he was pushy, rude and offensive.
Now, there was a 2nd class that was introduced to this same game, but this class was made up of mentally handicapped children. Now, perhaps the instructions were given too quickly for them to grasp, but the one idea that got through to them was that the balloons HAD to be popped. But they approached the game different than the first class. Instead of fighting each other, they began to help each other pop balloons. One little girl knelt down and held her balloon carefully in place while a little boy stomped it flat. Then he knelt down and held his balloon for her. It went on like this for several minutes until all the balloons were destroyed. And everybody cheered. Because everybody won. (from a sermon by Davon Huss, sermoncentral.com).
Now aside from their mental abilities… what was the difference? Well, The first class saw the game as this is MY balloon. And so they sought to “look out for their own interests”
The 2nd class saw the game as “WE” have to win, and so they sought to “look out for everyone’s interests.”It wasn’t about ME… it was about WE. And that’s what Paul was talking about here.
But Paul didn’t stop there. Notice what he wrote next: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:5-8
Now I see two things here. 1st – Paul’s telling us we all need to copy Jesus. The more that we all become like Jesus, the more we’ll all be of the same mind and the same love. You see too often church people are like this (we showed a picture on the screen that showed two individuals with a broken line between them indicating conflict) They’re in conflict with each other because one person wants what they want and the other person wants what they want. But, once we put Jesus in the mix and we begin to copy Him (we showed another picture with those same two people at the base of a triangle with “Jesus” at the top) we begin to decide that WE WANT what HE wants. As we start getting closer to Him we get closer to each other (as we travel up the triangle toward Jesus). As we get closer to Him, we get closer to one another and we end up being of the same mind (His mind) and the same love (His love).
The 2nd thing I see here is this: “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:6-8
What's Paul trying to tell us here? He's trying to tell us that it’s all about WHO is in charge at church. You see, most church problems arise from a thinking that reminds me of an old Beatles song (I sang “Try To See It My Way”)
“Think of what you're saying. You can get it wrong and still you think that it's alright.
Think of what I'm saying. We can work it out and get it straight, or say good night.
We can work it out, we can work it out.
Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.
I have always thought that it's a crime, so I will ask you once again.
Try to see it my way, only time will tell if I am right or I am wrong.
While you see it your way there's a chance that we may fall apart before too long.
We can work it out, we can work it out.”
You know what that song is saying? It’s saying - we can work it out IF YOU SEE IT MY WAY. I’m RIGHT, you’re wrong. And if you insist on YOUR way and reject MY WAY “there’s a chance that we may fall apart before too long.”
You see … it’s a “power struggle” issue. A struggle over my right to have MY way.
(Pause) But then this “Jesus thing” gets in the way. “Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.”
Now Jesus was God! But He didn’t use His Godhood as an excuse to be superior (though He was). Instead – He emptied himself. He became a SERVANT. What rights does a servant have? None! Jesus surrendered His rights and now He expects us to learn how to do the same. So, if I follow Jesus’ example, I will empty my self of my rights and my major focus will be on helping you get YOUR way. I’ll focus on making you successful. I’ll try to help you meet your dreams and goals at church. Because… that’s what Jesus did.
Jesus took “the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
He died. Why? Why did He humble himself unto death? Well He died to remove our guilt and shame.
Jesus died for us. And now He expects us to die to ourselves.
ILLUS: Rob Frazier wrote a song with these words, “Dead people don't mind the pain, Don't get offended so they never complain. They're not concerned about personal gain, Does that sound like me or you? The truth is rising from the mist And the word is this; That when Jesus calls a man He calls him to come and die! He doesn't want you better, He wants you deader."
And that’s exactly what Jesus said earlier in His ministry: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:25-28
Jesus is our example of how to become servants. Jesus came not to be served to serve and to die for us to become our Ransom.
CLOSE: In so far as we imitate Jesus – in so far as we strive to be servants of others – that will be the foundation of the church being of one mind and one love, But they key thing to remember is that it all starts with ME, and it all starts with YOU. If YOU and I become an example of servanthood then we can help others become better servants for Jesus… and the world will take notice.
Now, this is Mother’s Day and you may have noticed that this sermon has not been about mothers (not that I have anything against Mother’s Day, but our job here is not to be a church holidays, but a church that focuses on Christ). But allow me close this sermon about a mother who illustrates what I’m talking about in this sermon:
“Len, who was 3 at the time, was on my heels no matter where I went. Whenever I stopped to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him. Several times I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. “Wouldn’t you like to play on the swing set?” I asked again. But he simply smiled an innocent smile and said, “Oh, that’s all right, Mommy. I’d rather be in here with you.” Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.
After stepping on his toes for the 5th time, I began to lose my patience and insisted that he go outside and play with the other children. When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said, “Well, Mommy, in Primary my teacher told me to walk in Jesus’ footsteps. But I can’t see him, so I’m walking in yours.” (Davida Dalton Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul)
That mother learned the value of being a “Jesus” role model for her son. In the same way, as we imitate Jesus, we become role models for others, and ultimately we can help build the church into a place of “one mind and one love.”
INVITATION
