Philippians 2:1-11
In 1991, I travelled to Ottawa for the first time in my life to join with 40 other students from across Canada to share a common life in Christ with the common purpose of evangelism and discipleship under the direction of a student Christian organization (then called Campus Crusade for Christ). Before coming to Ottawa, we were sent an introductory packet about the project and one of our assignments was to come having memorized Phil 2:1-4. Why this passage? Well, I think because unity was a BiG concern. Throw together a bunch of students to live, eat, grow in their faith, and do ministry together and the potential for conflict is huge. But I don't think it was just about AVOIDING something, it was also about GAINING something.
In Phillipians 2:1-11 , Paul proposes that the Philippians can make his joy complete by being united: "being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose" (vs 2). Paul was so grateful and joyful over the Philippians as they were (see Phil 1:3-5) but he longed for more for them. J. B. Phillips translates verse 2 "do make my best hopes for you come true!" This "more" was a common unity in Christ that translated into action. He assumed they were experiencing the wonderful benefits of a relationship with Christ individually (see verse 1), but knew the fullness of conformity to the image of Christ would occur deep in their hearts and would be expressed through the ways they treated each other every day.
His description of that life is summed up in verses 3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." It is reiterated in verse 4. And then reinforced by a beautiful and powerful descriptive poem about Christ Jesus (vs 5-11). He is their model: God became a humble servant.
Now in a time when we are so aware of the devestating impact of low self-esteem, the phrase, "consider others better than yourselves" can rub us the wrong way and bring up painful questions: am I really less than others? unworthy? unloveable? And this is where it is important to take every thought captive to Christ (see 2 Cor. 10:5) and stay with the text. Note who Paul raises up as the example of this attitude: Jesus who IS God. Jesus who choose to lay down His life in obedience. Counting others as more significant than ourselves is about making a choice regarding how we are going to treat others NOT a statement about worth. The context for this passage expects believers to have experienced God's encouragement, comfort, fellowship, and love. Paul is calling followers of Jesus to a like-mindedness that has the Lord as their unifying love and serving Him as their common purpose. When these foundational things are in place, we can joyfully and graciously humble ourselves with no insecurity about our own worth.
Comments? Challenges to my interpretation?
Have you experienced this in your life?
I'd love to hear from you...
In Phillipians 2:1-11 , Paul proposes that the Philippians can make his joy complete by being united: "being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose" (vs 2). Paul was so grateful and joyful over the Philippians as they were (see Phil 1:3-5) but he longed for more for them. J. B. Phillips translates verse 2 "do make my best hopes for you come true!" This "more" was a common unity in Christ that translated into action. He assumed they were experiencing the wonderful benefits of a relationship with Christ individually (see verse 1), but knew the fullness of conformity to the image of Christ would occur deep in their hearts and would be expressed through the ways they treated each other every day.
His description of that life is summed up in verses 3 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves." It is reiterated in verse 4. And then reinforced by a beautiful and powerful descriptive poem about Christ Jesus (vs 5-11). He is their model: God became a humble servant.
Now in a time when we are so aware of the devestating impact of low self-esteem, the phrase, "consider others better than yourselves" can rub us the wrong way and bring up painful questions: am I really less than others? unworthy? unloveable? And this is where it is important to take every thought captive to Christ (see 2 Cor. 10:5) and stay with the text. Note who Paul raises up as the example of this attitude: Jesus who IS God. Jesus who choose to lay down His life in obedience. Counting others as more significant than ourselves is about making a choice regarding how we are going to treat others NOT a statement about worth. The context for this passage expects believers to have experienced God's encouragement, comfort, fellowship, and love. Paul is calling followers of Jesus to a like-mindedness that has the Lord as their unifying love and serving Him as their common purpose. When these foundational things are in place, we can joyfully and graciously humble ourselves with no insecurity about our own worth.
Comments? Challenges to my interpretation?
Have you experienced this in your life?
I'd love to hear from you...
You know, I have read this passage so many times and never before has it registered that it is about how we live in community! For some reason, I always read the "being like-minded" as Paul talking about us being like him (! sounds silly now!). Reading it as a description of how we should be operating as community transforms this passage for me and makes it seem a lot more relevant. It reminds me that the Bible contains a lot of instructions for us to work out how to live together (spelling out - pretty specifically - what this should look like). Unfortunately, I think we often neglect these teachings or, at least, we do not give them the close consideration (followed by real-life application) they deserve.
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