By: Lorraine Eastman, Legacy Pastor
With everything going on in the world recently I have sensed God calling us as a church to become more and more unified. Unity isn’t easy; it takes focus and work. I caught myself this week letting the tension in the room get the best of me. After my prayer time, the next day, God and I came to an agreement that the best course of action was to circle back to those in the room and apologize for getting a little “overzealous.” Unity is difficult to achieve. We have to be on our guard, as Satan would love nothing better than to stir things up and cause disunity within our families, our places of work, and most of all the church.
While Paul was imprisoned in Rome he reached out to the church he had planted in Philippi with a beautiful letter we now call Philippians. One of Paul’s concerns centered around the unity of the church in Philippi which we read about in the first part of chapter two. Through these verses Paul shares how to find joy in unity.
SHARE THE SAME PURPOSE
Paul begins by directing the church to focus on the same purpose in Philippians 2:1-2 (NIV), “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.”
The “if” questions here make it feel like you may not receive encouragement from Christ or you may not receive comfort from his love, but rest assured that these are rhetorical questions. The Greek word here for “if” is interchangeable with “since.” It should read more like, “Since you have encouragement, love, the Spirit, tenderness, and compassion,” then vs. 2, “make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”
When we learn to love each other despite our differences and work together as one body sharing the same purpose, centered around loving Christ, and praying together to one end, that is when we will find joy in unity.
LEARN TO PUT OTHERS FIRST
Paul continues by pushing us to put others first in Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV), “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.”
Paul starts with the negative and how not to put others first and that is by thinking only of ourselves through selfishness and conceit. The problem in Philippi is that cliques had formed amongst the people. They were no longer working together, and each group envisioned themselves better than the other.
Before the New Testament, if you were referred to as “humble,” you were considered less than, unfit, and it often was used to refer to slaves. The dictionary today defines humility or humble as “freedom from pride or arrogance.” Humility doesn’t mean we put ourselves down; it means we lift others up.
“God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8, NLT), and because of that incredible gift, “don’t think you are better than you really are” (Romans 12:3, NLT). That is how you allow our humility to be shaped by the Gospel! We didn’t get what we deserved, which was death. Instead, we get an opportunity to put others first, remembering it’s okay to not be okay. Because God’s grace was first shared with us, we can now share that same grace along with our redemption story. Humility at its core puts others first and flows out of unity, ultimately leading to joy.
LEARN FROM JESUS’ EXAMPLE
Paul, at the heart of it all, wants us to learn from Jesus’ example of a pure, humble heart in Philippians 2:5-8 (NIV), “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
This is the ultimate example of humility. Jesus stepped out of heaven, giving up everything, stepping away from the right hand of God, humbling himself to be born as a child and live among us. Then, when there was no other way, he chose to go to the cross. He chose to die the most horrific death possible for you and for me so that we might have hope — hope for today and hope for a future.
We tend to obey when it feels good or the cost isn’t too great. Christ chose to obey when the cost was everything. That’s our example. It’s a tough example to follow, but it’s one that teaches us about true humility and leads to unity and an overpouring of joy.
WE WERE MADE TO GLORIFY GOD
It’s in this final section where Paul shows how we were made to glorify God in Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV), “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Christ chose the hardest road, that of the cross. But because of that hard road, three days later there was an empty tomb! Now Christ has ascended to his rightful place at the right hand of God, and we have the promise of eternity with Him. We now have hope and a future. We need to hold onto Jesus’ own words in Matthew 5:16 (NIV), “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” We were made to glorify God.
Christ referred to the church as his bride, and he was preparing her for his return. In the same way, we need to be preparing his bride — Central, our church — for his return as well. Paul gave us a perfect set of instructions written to the church at Philippi. These verses point us to a humble God who gave up everything for us, they give us clear directions to develop unity and finally help us find the joy that comes from hearts sold out for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
No matter what is happening in the world, when we read these words that Paul wrote, let’s find comfort. Let’s join together in unity, preparing Christ’s bride, the church, and look forward to the day when the entire world will join together in unity and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! Amen!