Church Unity

OTHERS FIRST

PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11

I think it’s necessary to frequently remind ourselves of the vision that we as a Church believe that the Lord has given to us.  Around the first of the year I want to spend a couple of weeks working though the Biblical basis for our vision statement.  But this morning I want to deal with the attitude that all of us who desire to see the vision accomplished must adopt as our own.

Paul wrote the book of Philippians to a group of believers who were his fellow laborers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul writes to them from prison.  His theology was hammered out in real life, in a life of suffering and service.  It is obvious from Paul’s letter that he has great affection for them.  He tells them that he thanks God for them, he tells them that he prays for them, and when he prays for them he prays for them with great joy.

Even a casual reading of chapter one reveals that Paul is deeply concerned about their spiritual condition, he is concerned that they are living a life “worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

A part of their living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ would be that God would grant them to suffer for the sake of Christ.  Every true believer in Christ, every true Christian will suffer at various times in their lives because of their relationship to Christ.  The reality of our suffering for the sake of Christ is repeatedly  affirmed in the New Testament.  So much so that we should not be surprised when we suffer, rather we should be surprised when we don’t suffer

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

(Matt 5:10,12 ESV)

“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

(2Tim 3:12 ESV)

“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”

(1Pet 2:20-21 ESV)

The tendency when we suffer is to become withdrawn, to circle our wagons, to begin to worry about ourselves and to forget the needs of others.  The tendency that each of us have when we suffer is to revert to our old way of life, the way we lived before we followed Christ and were selfish and self-centered.

In light of the reality of our suffering and the resulting tendency to withdraw and become defensive the Apostle Paul writes to remind us that because we are in Christ, and Christ is living in us we must guard against acting in a un-Christ like manner.

One of the evident themes of the book of Philippians is the focus on others.  For instance Paul is writing from Prison, he is in a bad spot, to say that he is in a difficult position would be an understatement.  Yet even in the midst of his trial, in the midst of his suffering he is not focused on himself.  He is focused on the saints, on the believers at Philippi.  As I’ve already noted Paul is greatly concerned about their spiritual condition.  That is one of the responsibilities of the Pastor is to be concerned about the spiritual condition of those that he has be given to care for.  Not only is Paul concerned about the Christians at Philippi, he has a great concern for all those who have not heard the gospel of Jesus Christ.  How deep was his concern for those who had never heard of Christ?  Notice what he says in verse 17-18 of chapter one

“The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.  Yes, and I will rejoice,”

(Phil 1:17-18 ESV)

There were some “preachers’ preaching not necessarily to bring others to Christ, they were simply trouble makers and opportunists, looking to make trouble for Paul, or to take advantage of Paul’s circumstances.  But none of that matter to Paul, he was so focused on Christ and the tremendous need others had for Christ that regardless of why they were preaching didn’t matter to him, he could rejoice as long as Christ and Him crucified was being preached.

With that bit of background we come to chapter 2 and the first eleven verses.  In these verses Paul teaches us about Christ and one of his character traits, a trait that you and I as believers a rot possess as well.  First I want to examine this trait and then help us as a church to apply it to our situation as we seek to be of use to Christ as He builds His church.

We need to keep in mind that Paul is writing to a church, to a group of believers.  He is encouraging them to have unity, he is instructing them to display unity.  When times are good display unity, when times are bad display unity.

The unity that Paul wants them to have is not merely a unity that they generate on their own.  Unity is not primarily a decision that we make, rather it is supernaturally produced among us as we follow Christ.  Paul is not advocating a unity of mere pragmatism, to pull together because it works, he is advocating unity because of the influence it exerts on those who are outside of Christ.

Part of our perception as a church is to change our communities perception of who Jesus Christ is.  There are two way that we can begin to do that.  Both I believe are necessary, if we separate the two our work will be twice and hard and may end up being incomplete.

One way that we can change our communities perception of Christ is through education.  We can faithfully and clearly teach Christ in all the Scriptures.  We can fill out, we can flesh out if you will the incomplete or perhaps the erroneous understanding of Jesus Christ.

The second means available to us is by living Christ.  What is living Christ?  Living Christ is us living our lives in such a way that the meaning of Paul’s words in Galatians 2:20 become immediately obvious.  “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

We as a church, as a collection of individuals should live by the power of the Holy Spirit that reflects the reality the Christ indeed living in me.  The live that we live out in our communities may be the only chance we will ever get, it may be the only door opener we will ever have to teach them Christ from the Scriptures.

As I’ve said in the past we will never fill up in here, unless and until we are faithful out there in our neighborhoods and in our community.

Paul addresses an important aspect of our living Christ, of demonstrating that Christ lives in us.  We can sum up Paul’s instruction to us with just one word – unity.

In the opening paragraph of chapter 2 Paul teaches us three things about unity.  First of all he ENCOURAGES  us to live in unity,  Second he teaches us how to EXPEREINCE unity.  Finally he provides us with an EXAMPLE that allows us to EXPEREINCE the unity he has ENCOURAGED  us to live in.

1.  THE ENCOURAGMENT TO UNITY

Notice if you will verse 1 starts with the words “So if there is”.  Other translations begin the verse with “Therefore or If”.  The word in the Greek language that has been translated either way is a conjunction which simply means that it joins something together.  It can either join two sentences with the one following the other or it can be used to show cause and effect.

If verse 1 is referring back to what Paul has previously said when then is he referring to for unity?  If we back up a few verses to verse 27 Paul writes “Only let you manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…” then in verse 29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ…”

But what if Paul is referring to some kind of cause and effect?  Verse 1 begins with “So if there is any encouragement in Christ…”

What is the common element here?  It is Christ.  What or Who is Paul’s encouragement to unity?  It is Christ.  It is for the sake of Christ. The encouragement for all believers to possess unity to display unity if for the sake of Christ, for the glory and honor of Christ.  You cannot separated your concern from unity from your concern from Christ!

2.  THE EXPERIENCE OF UNITY

If unity is important for the sake of Christ, and the Bible repeatedly affirms that it is; then how can we experience this unity?

Paul instructs us in verse 3 -4

“Do nothing from rivalry 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.”  (Phil 2:3-4 ESV)

These verses really don’t need much interpretation, they are plain enough to understand.  They are pretty straightforward statements.  The problem is not one of interpretation, the problem is one of application.  These verse are much harder to do that they are to understand.

Let me remind you that Paul wrote these words to a local church, to a local congregation.  The key to our church experiencing unity that will change our communities perception of Jesus Christ is to apply Paul’s instructions found in verses 3 – 4.

As one man has said “You can’t do unity alone.”  Think about that.  You can’t practice humility alone either you have to be with others before we can put them first.

I like to use the term radical when I talk about Christianity.  What Paul tells us to do here is so radical.  His instructions are distinctly counter cultural.  They go against the grain of everything that our society continually drills into our brains.

So how can we apply Paul’s instructions?

1.  Our outlook must change from looking out only for ourselves to the needs of the church family and the needs of our community.

As Christians we must frequently remind ourselves that we are not our own, that we have been bought with a price.  If I don’t own myself, then why should I be looking out for myself?  Obviously the Bible teaches us that we should work hard, we should provide for our families, but for the Christian is must not stop there.  Our concern is to extend to the needs, the concerns and the cares of others.

As Christians we must remember that the world does not revolve around us.  You are not the center of the universe!  God is!  This is God’s world, and we are living out God’s plan.  We are experiencing God’s blessings.

We are as Christians to be focused on the needs, the welfare of others.  We must always be thinking in terms of what is best for others, even if it means sacrifice on our part.

As I was preparing this message I kept thinking to myself of Mr. Spock in I believe it was the first Star Trek movie when he sacrificed his life to save the Starship Enterprise.  He said “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.”

In order to do this there must be a seismic shift in your thinking.  How would you answer this question.  “How do you understand your relationship to this church?”

Do you see yourself as simply an individual who comes to church or do you see yourself as a part of a community, as part of a family.  Your answer will determine how you understand your responsibility to the church.

Think about this.  The Bible has a corporate outlook not an individual outlook.  The Bible is the narrative of God putting together a people, a nation, a community of the redeemed, not individuals!

Therefore should we be thinking in individual terms, or in terms of the community?

To think in terms of the congregation, in terms of community will require a major shift in your thinking.  Why should just the pastor or just a few in the church be concerned about the welfare of the church?

Think about a good mother.  A good mother is always thinking about what?  Is she thinking about herself or is she constantly thinking about her children?  She is always thinking about the needs of her children, she is always thinking about the welfare of her children.

What if you as a part of this church had the same attitude of that of a mother for her children?  What if you had the same concern for the church as a mother had for her children.  If you as a part of Grace Community Church thought about the welfare of the church to the same degree of concern of a mother for her children?

What if each one of us in all of our waking moments we were oriented towards helping, encouraging and serving others?  How strong, how different would our church be?  How different would GCC be if we simply obeyed the Scriptures?  Something to think about isn’t is?

Closely related to changing our thinking about the church and our relationship to it, is our attitude of why we serve others.  Many people see their service to others, to the church as completely voluntary.   Serving the church, serving others is for many like being a member of the Rotary Club, or the Lions Club. A good thing to do, but if you don’t know big deal.  You feel good when you do it, but your okay if you don’t.

But what if you came to understand that you as a Christian are also a servant.  I know what you’re thinking “I don’t want to be a servant”.  To which I would reply “Then you apparently don’t want to be like Jesus!”

Remember Jesus said that He didn’t come to be served, but to serve.  So if I am a servant and my master is Jesus Christ.  Therefore I should serve in the same way Jesus served?  Jesus served sacrificially.  Therefore when I come to grips with the reality that I am a servant, I’m not a volunteer who gives my leftovers.  As a servant I don’t have any resources – my time, my money, my life all belong to Christ.  And Jesus tells you to use your time, your money, your life for the benefit, for the good of others.  If you are just giving or your leftovers you aren’t sacrificing.

This command to put others first is not an isolated thought in Paul’s thinking.  He also wrote in 1 Cor. 10:24

“Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”  (1Cor 10:24 ESV)

He also wrote in I Cor. 13 when he defined love for us in verses 4 – 5

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way;”  (1Cor 13:4-5 ESV)

In other words love is not me first.  Love is not me first and then maybe I will get around to you.  Love is always looking out for the interest of others first.

Let me summarize it this way.  “What you want for yourself, you should want for others.”