The Joy-Filled Book of Philippians {Part 3}
{For Part two, check out https://medium.com/@nutrition.ellen/the-joy-filled-book-of-philippians-part-2-8-a1c6c051d242 — link to part one is at the top of part 2!}
Part three… this has to be one of my favorite weeks of this Philippians study! Goodness this passage is packed. So packed it’s taken me a bit to get it all written out! And with two kids under four I have alot of disruptions to my thought train these days! I have broken what I taught in one week to two different parts written out since it was becoming super long so in this part we will finish studying Philippians chapter one. I saw some amazing truths so clearly in these scriptures, and I taught this passage while witnessing so much disunity and disarray in this world.
As you read today’s passage, think through it as though a pastor you loved was sending this in a letter to you. Remember that Paul was a missionary who had been with the Philippian people and ministered to them and was now in prison in another city so he had quite an intimate and loving connection with the Philippian people, similar to how you may have or have had with a pastor or former pastor who truly cares about you.
Philippians 1:27–30
“(27) Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; (28) in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. (29) For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (30) experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”
Make sure you were focused when reading and read it again if you would like to. Pray God shows us something new today from this scripture.
“(27) Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; (28) in no way alarmed by your opponents — which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.”
When I first read these verses, I feel this memory wash over me of the time I flew out to Colorado at the beginning of my dietetic internship and my dad basically told me on the phone that he was proud of me while then subtly reminding me of his expectations as a dad for his child traveling across the country. He wanted to hear that his child had stayed firm in Christ and the gospel even in his absence. I think this is how Paul felt. He had poured his life into the Philippian people and he wanted to hear that they were being faithful to the gospel.
I do find it interesting, however, that what Paul uses as the number one way they would show themselves worthy of the gospel is their unity. There are so many ways that we as Christians try to “prove” our faith — giving, dressing a certain way, taking on certain jobs, raising our children in specific ways, doing specific Bible studies or methods, etc, etc, etc — but Paul does not even focus on these things. He focuses on unity. I have seen each of the above items used for disunity more than once in my life. Sadly, I have spent years of my life trying to prove my spirituality by comparison which can only lead to disunity. I’ve held strongly to negotiable items instead of focusing solely on the gospel, loving my brother, and putting unity first. In my striving for ‘maturity,’ I have immaturely caused disunity.
One mind — we see this phrase over and over throughout the book of Philippians as Paul exhorts the church to be of a unified attitude, mind, gospel, and love. If you mark in your Bible (or recently started doing inductive Bible studies like I have!), mark the word attitude/mind/unity throughout this book to see it again and again.
The Philippian church was a diverse group of believers. Jewish believers had moved in and Gentile (non-Jewish) believers were joining them for services and fellowship. This resulted in a clash of cultures and beliefs and the new church was trying to figure out what was negotiable and what was non-negotiable for believers. From context, we can assume many of the Gentiles were new Christians and new to the God of the Bible. The Jewish believers may have often been new Christians but had also often grown up practicing the tenants of the Old Testament law/rituals while following many religious traditions passed down through the generations. We see a similar diversity of backgrounds and cultures in the church today and I’ve drawn out some points that I believe are important to our understanding of this passage:
- Deciphering negotiables vs non-negotiables is essential — Our understanding of the gospel amongst believers is 100% unwavering and non-negotiable. Saved by grace through faith alone in Christ alone. We must never sacrifice the truth of the gospel in the name of unity because a sacrifice of gospel truth will NEVER provide true unity. There are, however, a fair number of things we may call “negotiable” or “secondary” issues — things that either scripture is not necessarily clear on or that different people in different life situations or with different past/present struggles may interpret or work out in different ways. We are going to come back to this truth a few more times in this section and the next.
- Paul encourages diversity — nowhere does Paul encourage the new church believers (in any of his books) to split up the church based on traditions or non-negotiables. Instead, we see Paul over and over encouraging the believers to unite and not focus on these non-negotiables but to keep focus on the gospel. We are going to see this truth repeated at the beginning of chapter two.
- Not much says hypocrite to a non-believer louder than seeing disunity in the church — part of our gospel call for outreach is our unity and a proof of our faith spelled out in 1 John is our unity. If you know there is disunity in your life or in your church, do everything in your power to find unity and peace in those relationships.
- Unity involves sacrifice — I may be called to lay down my ‘rights’ as a Christian (or as an American!) for the greater purpose of unity. We see this in 1 Corinthians 8 when Paul says he will never eat meat again if that is what causes his brother to stumble. Would I be willing to become a vegetarian if I knew that would help my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord to keep from sinning?
- Unity can only come through Jesus and our trust in Him
- Unity requires love and is wrapped up in our attitudes towards each other
“(29) For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (30) experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”
Suffering for Christ is a gift.
I do not do a very good job of looking at it this way but scripture outlines that we are given (“granted”) the opportunity to suffer for Christ. In fact, the word used for “granted” is taken from the word “grace.” Sometimes, like Paul, this suffering is actually of our physical flesh but more often for myself it has been suffering in the daily ways of taking up my cross, pursuing unity, being obedient, sacrificing for others, and being mocked for my beliefs. Paul compares their suffering to his own, and he is currently in prison and being physically beaten for his faith.
One of the pitfalls we so often take in modern Christianity is to assume, wish, or believe that, when we live for Christ, He will “reward” us in some way (with wealth, family, a fulfilling job, even a fruitful ministry in a way we believe it should be fruitful). It is so tempting to move from a space of service to God out of love and devotion to a space of doing “good deeds” to earn not only His favor but also His physical blessings. On the contrary, scripture teaches that, in this life, we will have trouble. But, take heart, He has overcome the world (John 16:33).
Final thoughts…
- Where do I need to pursue unity in my life?
- Have I welcomed the sacrifices and tribulations that are mine in Christ or am I trying to skirt around this work in my life?
Resources:
- The Bible, New American Standard Version (KJV, NKJV, Amplified, NIV, ESV also used as reference)
- The Book of Philippians by Jo Saxton
- Count it All Joy by Kay Arthur
- Various Bible commentaries as desired
