Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] What would you say is the greatest threat to the church? You know, being next to a college campus? We often think of competing worldviews, worldviews like secular humanism, where we get to define for ourselves truth and morality and a world without God.
[00:00:18] Or maybe you think of naturalism, materialism, right? This world is all there is. There is no supernatural.
[00:00:26] Maybe you think of expressive individualism, which defines so many today that my identity and my purpose comes from discovering and expressing my authentic self.
[00:00:39] We think of moral relativism, maybe consumerism. The good life consists in all the good gifts and the things that I can acquire.
[00:00:48] We think of nationalism, even where a nation becomes our own highest good, that nation becomes the source of our identity, the source of our loyalty, the source of our own hope, Maybe even neo Marxism, right, Where everything is just reduced finally to structures of power and oppression. We see that in a lot of the critical theory. In that mood of today, you know, maybe you think less of those things. You're like, that's a little esoteric, Brad, you know, but we are next to university.
[00:01:19] Maybe you think of things like competing religions.
[00:01:22] We hear a lot about that. The rise of Islam. Maybe you think of oppressive governments, be it in Iran or China or North Korea, even places like Finland or England where holding to the Bible, sexuality can get you imprisoned or fined.
[00:01:36] Or maybe you just think about a more activist judicial system in America that is beginning to remove children from parents who aren't able to affirm that their children's various new pronouns.
[00:01:48] Friends. I think when it comes to threats to the church, we instinctively tend to think out there, what's happening out in the world.
[00:01:58] Nations, religions, judicial systems. Right? All the isms of the academy. And I get it, because objectively speaking, those things are much easier to spot often and to identify.
[00:02:11] But, friends, is the greatest threat to the church out there?
[00:02:15] Or could it actually be in here?
[00:02:20] Could it actually be among us?
[00:02:24] Maybe even closer to home?
[00:02:27] Could it be in our very own hearts?
[00:02:31] Well, this is what we're going to be thinking about from God's Word this morning. So let me invite you to turn there. Philippians, chapter two. Philippians, chapter two. We're going to be in verses one to four, verses one to four. So if you're using one of the Pew Bibles we provide for you, those red Bibles, you should be able to find our passage on page 980. Page 980. Now, if you're just joining us, Paul is nearing the end of his ministry, and he's. He's in fact rotting away in a Roman prison. And so the Philippian Church inquires after their beloved apostle, the one who had in fact planted that church.
[00:03:03] And they get this letter back from Paul. And that letter is what you hold in your hands. The letter to the Philippians and chapter one is largely a personal update from Paul. And we see that Paul's aim in his life was, whether in life or in death, that aim was to live worthy of the Gospel.
[00:03:22] And we saw last week how chapter one, verse 27, the whole book sort of takes a turn. It turns a corner.
[00:03:30] And the chapter visions this morning is a little unfortunate, like the chapter two that begins this morning. Think of that starting really back in 1:27, back in 1:27, because we shifted from sort of the update on Paul, which ended in 126, and we shifted to actually what's happening in the life of the Philippians.
[00:03:49] So just as Paul had pictured in chapter one what it looked like for him to live worthy of the gospel, in 127, he's going to turn and now say, okay, Philippians, what does it look like for you now to live worthy of the gospel? What will it look like for them? And that's really 1:27 all the way through 2:18.
[00:04:06] And the key heading, really the topic sentence of 127 to 218 is right there at the start of 127, where Paul calls them to live lives worthy of their heavenly citizenship. Now, we talked last week about where we're getting those notions of heavenly citizenship. So refer back to that if you want, but that's what he's calling them to do. Live today in light of that citizenship that you possess now in heaven.
[00:04:32] And so in 127 to 30 he called them to do that when facing opposition from without, right from the outside.
[00:04:41] Well, now, this morning in 21 4, how do they live worthily when facing divisions from within?
[00:04:51] So we're moving from opposition from without 127 to 30 now to divisions from within into 1 to 4.
[00:04:58] And so with that, let's read God's word, Philippians 2, verses 1 to 4. Paul writes, so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
[00:05:36] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of of others.
[00:05:44] Well, now just like last week, this is actually one long sentence in Greek, much to the chagrin of your elementary school teachers, right? This would horrify them. But this is great writing from Paul. And the whole sentence is actually built around that imperative right there in verse two, where Paul says, complete my joy by being of the same mind.
[00:06:05] Or I think an even better way to translate that is complete my joy and be of the same mind. He's really calling them to a one mindedness. Paul's principal concern is not finally, himself. He's writing this because he's concerned about them.
[00:06:21] He wants them to be unified. That's the emphasis. And in their unity, Paul says he'll know Felicity and he'll know joy.
[00:06:30] And everything in verse one really builds toward that command in verse two and, and then everything after verse two and verses three and four describe how it comes.
[00:06:40] And I think the argument Paul is making for us in Philippians 2:1,4 is simply this. The path to congregational unity is paved with personal humility.
[00:06:53] The path to congregational unity is paved with personal humility.
[00:07:02] And so we want to think first verse one about the encouragement to unity, and then verse two, the exhortation to unity. And then verses three and four, the expression of unity. This is your perfect Baptist sermon, Alliterated three points. All right, here we go. The encouragement to unity, verse one, the encouragement to unity. You know, one of the things that happens is I get a lot of flack for not having an iPhone and I have this Google Pixel and it has some cool features. It's just no one likes to text me because you know what happens with the bubbles, right? You know the story. Well, I can look at my calendar and one of the things my phone does is my phone will look at my calendar for me. It will see if I have any upcoming trips. And then I don't know if it's just to distract me from the work that I have. It will actually go to my photo album and pull all these pictures in light of this future event on my calendar and to get me ready for that trip. So, for example, when we go to one of our favorite destinations as a family over the summer, if we go to Estes Park, Colorado, about a week before that, my phone will start grabbing past pictures of Estes Park. It will start sending them to me in these reels.
[00:08:12] And I basically just have a whole display of photos about Estes park, right? My phone's basically saying, hey, remember that last trip?
[00:08:21] Remember that glorious hike?
[00:08:23] Remember those cascading waterfalls and that majestic moose wading in the Water and the sunset motorcycle ride along Trail Ridge Road. Do you remember all those things? Be encouraged because you've enjoyed it before and that's what you're about to enjoy again, Right? It's a motivational kind of thing. And in many ways that's what Paul's doing. In fact, in verse one, there are two ways to write. What you would say is a conditional sentence in Greek, right? One way to write it is to assume the if is true.
[00:08:54] The second way to write it is to assume the if is not true.
[00:08:58] Well, this is the first kind of sentence. In other words, Paul's saying, if there is any encouragement in Christ, but it is written in such a way that he is not leaving it open, like to doubt or question. He is writing in such a way if there is any encouragement in Christ.
[00:09:12] And you know there is.
[00:09:14] And if there is any comfort from the love of Christ.
[00:09:18] Ah, and you know, of course there is, right. Paul here in verse one is calling them back to their experience of being in Christ, of being united to Christ, as the NIV reads. It's really an emotional kind of motivational appeal to them. Because to be united to Christ and be in Christ is to know and experience every spiritual blessing that a Christian can have.
[00:09:47] So there are those credit cards, maybe some of you have them that get you into those fancy airport lounges.
[00:09:53] You know, the nice lounges with the gourmet food, with the premium bar and drinks and even lounges with massage tables, places to go sleep.
[00:10:02] Well. The card is the access to all of those blessings, right? So those folks get to enjoy the nice lounge while where everyone else, all the other blokes are shelling out $10 for water and they're standing in line for a $20 hockey puck in a bun that they're gonna gnaw on while they stand at the gate. Cause it's too crowded, right? That's how the rest of us do travel these days. Well, friends, when it comes to union with Christ, being in Christ is that access.
[00:10:34] It's the way in which we possess every spiritual blessing.
[00:10:39] It's the encouragement of knowing that in Christ, friends, regardless of what yesterday looked like, your best days are yet ahead of you.
[00:10:49] It's the comforter of knowing that the love of Christ has no limits.
[00:10:55] A love that cannot be lost, cannot be stolen, cannot be forfeited once it is displayed and given to its recipient, its participation with Christ's spirit, that's changing us. As we read Paul writes elsewhere, from one degree of glory to another. That spirit that serves as the down payment of our own eternal inheritance.
[00:11:16] And it's the affection of Christ. The sympathy of Christ. An affection that is more faithful than any parent and a sympathy that is more faithful than the most faithful friend.
[00:11:31] Like that is what Paul is saying. Hey, remember that.
[00:11:34] Those moments when you first came to Christ, those experiences you've had being in Christ, nothing can rival it, nothing can surpass it. And we have and possess all that together.
[00:11:48] Paul says you all have that together in Christ.
[00:11:52] Which means it finally doesn't matter if my team won or lost yesterday, right? Just so you all know, Princeton Water Polo one. Okay, I know you're all concerned, but we're ranked eighth, right? Big deal right now, at any rate. But it doesn't matter. That's the point. It doesn't matter if my team won or lost.
[00:12:09] It doesn't matter if I get the promotion. It doesn't matter if he asks me out or she wants to go out on another date.
[00:12:17] I have something better in Christ than all this world could offer me.
[00:12:22] And that's the encouragement. And that's the kind of photo slideshow that Paul's bringing. And he doesn't get too specific because he knows for every Philippian it'll look different.
[00:12:31] But he's triggering them with these pictures in their minds, so to speak.
[00:12:36] Every blessing we could ever want, not because we've earned it, but because Christ did and freely shares it with his people and friends. This is just how the Christian life works.
[00:12:51] It's how the Christian life works, right? There's always grace before duty, always the indicative, all the blessings we know, all the stuff God has done for us in Christ, all those indicatives before we get any imperatives right. We begin there and rest there in what Christ has done before we are ever called to do anything for someone else.
[00:13:15] And that's the encouragement to unity, the reminder in what they share together and what we share together, what we possess together in Christ, Paul, seeking to remind them and us, what we possess together is infinitely more valuable than in any places where we differ.
[00:13:33] Now, some of you may have come in this morning, and you don't really have that photo slideshow. You read verse one, and you're like, yeah, that may be someone else's experience. That's not my experience. I don't know this Christ. I don't know union and consolation and comfort like that.
[00:13:49] Well, there may be no pictures in your mind, but the wonderful news is there can be. And Christ offers it all freely to you.
[00:14:00] And all it requires of you is that you recognize your need of him, your need of Christ, and to come to Jesus really, with the empty arms of faith, faith that rests not in your ability to earn God's favor, but faith that rests in Christ's ability to earn that for you by living the perfect life that none of us have lived, then by dying a sacrificial death on the cross, that you and I deserve to die. That Christ died in our place, as our substitute, in our stead, and then rising three days later, victorious from the grave, is proof that God accepted that sacrifice. So that all of us, recognizing our need and our want, can come to him and can turn to him and place our faith and trust in him and he can receive us. And every blessing your soul desires that this world cannot offer you, Christ does. And he offers it freely.
[00:14:59] Will you receive Him?
[00:15:02] What would keep you from receiving Christ even today?
[00:15:07] Well, that's the encouragement to unity. Let's now look second at the exhortation to unity. The exhortation to unity. Right? This is verse two. Because if all that's true, if we possess every spiritual blessing in Christ together, therefore Paul says, if all that's true, then complete verse 2. Complete my joy by being of the same mind. Or again, complete my joy and be of the same mind, right? In other words, Paul's sitting there in prison and he's saying, nothing would make me happier than to see you Philippians, unified as a congregation.
[00:15:48] Same mind, Verse two, same love, full accord. Or you could translate that. United in spirit.
[00:15:56] Right, end of verse two. One mind.
[00:15:59] You hear that? Same, same, united, one.
[00:16:03] Unity is what Paul is calling them to. Together.
[00:16:08] And to be clear, this kind of one mind that Paul's referencing, it doesn't mean they're simply to agree cognitively on everything together, right? I don't know about you, but I've not met a church that can agree on everything cognitively together.
[00:16:25] So he's not calling them to agree in every fine point of theology.
[00:16:31] He's not calling them to a kind of uniformity where they all share the same favorite theologian or their same favorite preacher, their same favorite author or their same favorite hymn or. Not a hymn, it's a praise chorus, like, whatever it is. He's not calling them to that kind of uniformity, not calling them to be clones. This isn't so much about the intellect as it's about a mindset.
[00:16:54] It's about a mindset, a posture of heart and will and mind altogether. He's going to turn them in 25 through 11, to the mindset of Christ. That's where he's going. But he's not there just yet.
[00:17:08] And so, again, rotting away there in this prison.
[00:17:11] The joy Paul desires. This is what's remarkable about Paul so convicting the joy he desires is not a nice, warm meal. That's not what he's calling for. It's not the removal of those iron shackles. Which have chafed his wrists into these just angry bands of broken skin. It's not his freedom that he's asking for. That's not the joy he wants. The joy Paul is after is their unity as a congregation.
[00:17:38] And that's tough to hear, I think. That's tough to hear.
[00:17:44] You know, I read this passage this week. And I confess I pretty much winced every time I read the passage.
[00:17:51] Because, as you've heard this morning, if you're visiting. You're picking up like we're not unified as a congregation as we need to be. And as we ought to be. Across town, some sizable number of UBC members. I don't know how many, but some sizable number. They're gathering apart from us.
[00:18:07] They're not with us. They're not among us here.
[00:18:11] That guts us, that confuses us, discourages us, saddens us. And, friends, it should.
[00:18:18] It should do all those things.
[00:18:20] A verse like this and a time like this feels a bit like salt in a wound.
[00:18:26] And to that, I just want to say three things.
[00:18:29] First thing I know, it feels like salt in the wound. And it should feel like salt in the wound.
[00:18:36] Divisions like this, they grieve God. They grieve his spirit. And, in fact, grieves God more than it grieves any of us. And it is therefore right for us to be grieved.
[00:18:48] If there is no grief. Friends, we have to check our own hearts.
[00:18:53] Do we not love for those who are not with us? Do we not care about those who are not with us? Do we not desire them to be with us?
[00:19:02] Have we in our own hearts. Turned the entire congregation simply into friends and enemies, Allies and opponents and friend? How does that honor the Gospel?
[00:19:12] How does that honor those who we know? Our fellow image bearers? Those who are unified with us in Christ?
[00:19:20] What does it say about those for whom Christ died?
[00:19:23] If there is no grief in our hearts this morning, friends. What has happened to our hearts?
[00:19:30] How did they become cold and calloused?
[00:19:35] And yet, if there is so much grief that we can't function. So much grief that we are utterly destroyed and defeated. Then perhaps we need to ask ourselves a different question.
[00:19:50] It's not, where is our heart? But perhaps, where's our hope? Where's our hope?
[00:19:56] What's our faith finally built upon?
[00:19:59] Is it built upon Christ or is it built upon this church?
[00:20:06] I don't mean that hypothetically. I mean genuinely ask yourself that question. Has your hope been built around Christ or built around this church?
[00:20:17] Is it built around the promise that Christ will build his church or the assumption that he has promised to build and bless this church?
[00:20:27] Recognize, those are not the same things.
[00:20:29] Christ can build his church and not this one.
[00:20:33] That happens.
[00:20:36] Is our hope resting on the chief shepherd, or is it rather resting on his under shepherds? Is it based on. On the fellowship and the participation we have in the one spirit together? Or is it based not just vertically and that participation with Christ in the Spirit, it's just based horizontally in relationships with one another?
[00:20:56] Every one of us should be asking questions like that as well, right? This is hard. It should be hard. But second thing, I want us to say, this doesn't just feel like salt in the wound for us. Recognize this would have felt like salt in the wound for the Philippians, too, for them as well. Because one of the things we're going to see as we move on to chapter four is that there are two women in the church, Euodia and Syntyche, and they are at odds. Apparently there is some big divide around those two women, and everyone knows it. It's the elephant in the room. When they gather there in Philippi, everyone feels it, right? Will Euoda be Euodia, right? Will she be here on Sunday?
[00:21:36] Where will she be sitting? How many people will now be gathering around her? How many will be talking to her after the service?
[00:21:43] Is the fellowship and the gathering that's begun at her house, right? Is that getting bigger? Are more going there?
[00:21:49] People are taking sides, factions are forming. Whatever the cause of this division between those two women, Paul is so grieved by it, it's so detrimental to him that he actually goes on in chapter four and. And he calls both of those women out by name.
[00:22:06] So just consider for a moment you're in a church service and someone stands up and says, hey, we got a letter back from Paul. We've been waiting months to hear from Paul. And you open the letter and you're encouraged to hear he's doing well. And you get into the letter, and the next thing you know, he is calling you out by name, the Apostle Paul, in front of the entire church. Friends, you could have heard a pin drop in that moment.
[00:22:29] At that point, babies are even closing their mouths, right? They're even like, aw, well, recognize these instructions are no harder for us than these instructions were for them.
[00:22:44] And we need this word just as much as the Philippian Church needed this word.
[00:22:48] And friends, I would suggest thirdly, I think the Holy Spirit thinks we need this word. I have had quite a few of you indirectly, and some of you not so indirectly, encourage or implore me not to preach this text today.
[00:23:03] Pick anything else you want, just not Philippians 2, 1, 4 today.
[00:23:08] And I get it. And I honestly, seriously thought about it.
[00:23:12] But, you know, I planned, as I told you last week, I planned this preaching series well in the background. And I didn't know we were going to be here as a congregation on October 11th. But you know, who did know we were going to be here on October 11th? The Holy Spirit knew that. And he has ordained this text for this day. And I'm going to trust the wisdom of the Spirit and the providence of God more than my own. And so we're going to stick with Philippians 2:1,4.
[00:23:36] So how do we get there?
[00:23:39] How do we get there?
[00:23:41] Point three, the expression of unity.
[00:23:44] The expression of unity, verses three and four. How does a divided congregation become united once again?
[00:23:51] What is that path back to unity?
[00:23:55] Does it come packaged in the form of a 14 point plan from an outside consultant?
[00:24:04] Is that how it comes?
[00:24:06] Is that where we magically just discover unity?
[00:24:11] Does it come through congregational petitions to get rid of these five named pastors?
[00:24:19] Will unity come if we just shuffle some chairs at the top, get these guys out, get some new guys in?
[00:24:25] Or will unity come if we just clean up our constitution, shore up some of the different lines of authority? Yeah, I mean, we did that a few years ago and it's better, but evidently we didn't get it quite right.
[00:24:38] So we gotta pursue it again. Is that where we're gonna find unity?
[00:24:43] Well, friends, let's just be honest with ourselves for a moment. How are any of those plans working?
[00:24:49] How are any of those plans working in the life of our church?
[00:24:52] Are congregational petitions helping us?
[00:24:57] Is that 14 point plan helping us at the moment?
[00:25:01] Is our Constitution going to save us? And if Jacob Moore is here, just to be clear, I don't think Jacob Moore actually thinks that. That's not why he gave us that motion, so to speak. Right, but, like, is that where we look? Do we look at things that we can devise and design and by our own machinations and preserve our unity? Is that our instinct? Is that where we go?
[00:25:21] Right? How does a divided congregation become united once again?
[00:25:24] This is the conversation and the question your elders have been asking for months.
[00:25:30] And we feel it. And as you've heard from us, we feel at the end of our rope. Not that we're hopeless, we're. Not that we do feel, though, at the end of our own wisdom, it seems like everything we have tried to do has failed. Or worse, it has backfired in our own faces.
[00:25:46] So once again, Wednesday night, you had nine quite tired and exhausted men gathering Wednesday night for four hours. And what did they do? They talked. And we prayed and we strategized and we did that. And we didn't feel a whole lot better, honestly, on Thursday morning. And we got back together on Thursday night for a few more hours and we talked and prayed and prayed perhaps a bit more and talked a bit more and strategized a bit less. And then you know what? On Friday night, elders got together again and we talked and we prayed even more on Friday night. You may not always be happy with the decisions of your elders, but I assure you, they are exhausting themselves for you.
[00:26:26] And in the end, that's pretty much what we did. We prayed. We prayed for you, we prayed for us. We prayed that God would do what we cannot do ourselves.
[00:26:35] And so what's that path back to unity? Paul tells us the path to unity is paved with personal humility.
[00:26:45] That path back to unity, it's paved with personal humility. It does not begin with petitions or even consultants recommendations.
[00:26:56] It begins with a mindset. Paul says verses 3 and 4. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
[00:27:11] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
[00:27:17] So notice it begins not first by looking outside to strategies and solutions.
[00:27:25] But Paul begins and says, we first have to look inside at our own hearts, and we've got to ask some honest questions.
[00:27:36] Questions like what's governing my motives?
[00:27:40] What's ruling my heart? What's governing my motives is my own ambition. Governing my motives is concern for my own reputation. Governing my motives is my confidence and my ability to make the right and wise decision.
[00:27:55] Is that what's governing my motives?
[00:27:59] Am I assuming what's best for me is necessarily what's best for ubc?
[00:28:05] I mean, what if it's not? Have I actually ever considered. Have you considered the question of whether or not what's best for you is not what's best for ubc?
[00:28:13] You know, I confess how easy it can be for me. I don't know. This is One of just the pitfalls of being a lead pastor. But how easy it can be for me to assume that what's best for me is best for ubc. And don't misunderstand what I say when I say that.
[00:28:25] I'm not saying that's because I'm trying to protect myself. It's not because I'm seeking to guard self interest at all costs. Not that at all.
[00:28:34] Sadly, at the end of the day, too often I have an inflated view of my own opinion.
[00:28:40] That's what it is. And that's exactly what Paul's addressing.
[00:28:44] That's the kind of conceit that he's concerned about.
[00:28:47] I've got an inflated view of my own opinion.
[00:28:51] I assume I know what's best. And even if I don't know what's best, I'm like, I think I know better than that guy. It's so easy to go there.
[00:28:58] And don't we all do that in our lives? Every one of us I trust does that.
[00:29:03] How often does conflict in a marriage or conflict in a relationship? How often does that stem. And can you trace it back to the stubborn assumption that I know better than. Fill in the blank. I know better than my spouse in this. I know better than my friend in this. I know better than my sibling in this.
[00:29:24] And so what happens? Well, when they open their mouths, we're not really listening.
[00:29:29] We just wait for them, very anxiously waiting for them to finish their thought, because we have already crafted a very confident rebuttal in our minds. And as soon as that last syllable falls, we're ready to dive in and offer our wisdom.
[00:29:48] And Paul says, yeah, that's where you got to start. You got to start right there.
[00:29:55] Now, Paul grabbed that word selfish ambition. He actually grabbed it right from Aristotle, who would use it of those aspiring to public office, and often aspiring in very unsavory ways.
[00:30:06] In other words, they're in it and pursuing it for what they can get out of.
[00:30:10] Might be a lust for power, lust for influence, lust for followers, whatever. You know, sadly, friends, politics hasn't changed much in a couple millennia, has it?
[00:30:20] Well, that's because hearts haven't changed much either.
[00:30:24] But this word is also a word Paul used back in chapter one, verse 17, this selfish ambition to refer to those preachers in Rome, those preachers, if you remember, driven by envy and rivalry of Paul, who sought to afflict Paul in their ministry.
[00:30:42] So when you think about that, when Paul uses this word of them, imagine how this word must have stung when they heard it.
[00:30:52] A kind of gut punch from Paul.
[00:30:55] Because Paul is saying that that same spirit of ambition and envy and rivalry that's oppressing him in Rome, that same spirit is among them, and it's creating divisions among them.
[00:31:13] They have inflated opinions of themselves.
[00:31:18] And that's what that word conceit is getting after. That word conceit literally means just empty glory. They're glorifying in something that doesn't exist.
[00:31:27] It's empty, it's vain.
[00:31:29] You know, Salvador Dali once quipped, he said, every morning upon awakening, I experience a supreme pleasure, that of being Salvador Dali.
[00:31:43] Yeah, that's what you call conceit, right there. There it is. Or maybe my favorite. So the author and the playwright, the poet, Oscar Wilde, 19th century Oscar Wilde. He was once passing through customs, and the custom agent asked, oscar Wilde, do you have anything to declare?
[00:32:02] To which Wilde responded, only my genius.
[00:32:09] Again, that's very clever, right? Part of me is like, I like that guy a little bit. This has a different problem in my own heart, right? It's clever. It's conceited. It's conceited.
[00:32:20] Now, most of us are not as outspoken as Dolly or Wild, but it doesn't mean we are not in our own hearts, driven by envy and rivalry and selfish ambition and vain conceit and friends, that happens in churches because the stem of it all is hearts, and we take those with us wherever we go.
[00:32:38] So when you see someone else in the church, get a position, some role that you wanted.
[00:32:44] Or when you see another person publicly recognized for their distinct contributions, or they're celebrated for their unique gifts, gifts you would love but you don't have.
[00:32:55] Or when a friend or someone else is welcomed into that friend group that you've always wanted to be a part of but never been let in, right? And you see them let in when he gets all the attention or she gets all the dates, that envy and that rivalry and that ambition and conceit that starts to churn up in our own hearts.
[00:33:17] And in the end, selfish ambition and conceit come from an idolatrous belief that we are due more than we have received and that we're worthy of more honor than we're getting.
[00:33:36] And, friends, nothing will throw a wrench into the gears of Christian unity faster than that right there.
[00:33:45] So what's the antidote? Paul says verse three, it's humility.
[00:33:48] He says, in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.
[00:33:55] Now, that word humility also would have stung the Philippian Church.
[00:33:59] Now, the challenge for us is we think of humility and we're like, oh, yeah, humility is a virtue. It's a virtue. You know, even if we're not really ready to be a humble person, I mean, we know we should be or at least try to be or pretend to be humble people.
[00:34:13] Humility is kind of socially respectable. So you guys know I like architecture. Frank Lloyd Wright once famously said, early in life, I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility.
[00:34:29] He said my choice was obvious, right? He did not choose humility. That's the point. And I'm guessing most parents are not like, hey, kids, that's the model right there.
[00:34:40] No, we know humility is a virtue we ought to aspire to. But in the Greco Roman world that these Philippians are living in, humility was not a virtue. It was very much a vice. It was, in fact a vice. Humility to these congregants, the way they understood it in their cultural milieu, it was again, not a virtue. It was humility equaled servility. It's kind of associated with this obsequious groveling of spirit. There was entire disdain for this notion of humility.
[00:35:11] Humility, right to bring oneself down and make oneself low.
[00:35:16] That was the very opposite of what every Philippian in that culture aspired to.
[00:35:23] In a city where everything ran on what status, on patronage, the desire to climb up above your brethren, that was the whole point, not to be lowered beneath them. They had no category for this kind of life.
[00:35:37] So the idea that a Roman citizen with all the blessings of Roman citizenship would consider themselves and manage their life in such a way that they would be beneath a slave.
[00:35:51] Again, no category for that kind of living.
[00:35:55] But that's exactly what Paul's calling them to.
[00:35:58] And it's why this word used here for humility that Paul uses, you don't find it in Greek literature before Paul. Many think Paul actually made this word up because he's like, you know what? There is no word in the Greek language to describe the kind of mindset and attitude in life that I need to call these people to. So I'm just gonna make up my own word. You know, Bush did this in his nevermind, we're not gonna get down that road. He just made up his own word.
[00:36:21] Humility isn't though, friends. It's not. Just so we're clear what it's not though, it's not false modesty.
[00:36:27] You know those people who wave off a compliment with like, aha, you're really too nice. And then they pause because they're really just calling for another, I'm sure you've never done that.
[00:36:38] It's not found in debasing yourself or degrading yourself. You know, C.S. lewis once described a humble person this way.
[00:36:46] He said, do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man, he will be what most people call humble nowadays.
[00:36:52] He will not be a sort of greasy, swarmy person who's always telling you that of course, he's a nobody.
[00:36:59] Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed cheerful, an intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him.
[00:37:07] If you dislike him, it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily.
[00:37:17] He will not be thinking about humility.
[00:37:21] He will not be thinking about himself much at all.
[00:37:26] So you may have heard, humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.
[00:37:35] Right. I think that's a great summary. It actually comes right from that quote from C.S. lewis.
[00:37:41] Because there's actually nothing natural about humility to the human heart, nothing natural to it. Humility is one of those elusive things that once you think you have it, I assure you, you certainly don't.
[00:37:55] That's the challenge.
[00:37:56] And yet it becomes the foundation of all Christian virtues.
[00:38:01] So how does one count another and value another more than ourselves? Well, Paul says, Verse 4. He says, by looking not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
[00:38:13] So a heart of humility doesn't first ask, you know, how does this decision, how does this moment, how does this really benefit me?
[00:38:20] How does this serve me?
[00:38:23] Instead it asks, you know, how does this benefit? How does this serve the people around me?
[00:38:27] A heart of humility is expressed practically in things like a willingness to park off campus. So those who are sort of less ambulatory, right, they can. They can get here and they can park on campus and easily get into the building.
[00:38:40] It's a willingness to sit, not sort of right on the aisle or in the back row when you get here 20 minutes early, because you know that's probably where a visitor is going to need to come. And then they're going to have to walk awkwardly all the way up to the front, and they're going to have to sit next to me, right? So, like, you provide that for them.
[00:38:55] It's maybe by giving up a Sunday evening when you'd much rather be watching football or maybe reading a book because you recognize for the good of your brothers and sisters, it would be great to gather with the people and to pray.
[00:39:10] It's by not saying that thing you want to say.
[00:39:14] It's by not saying that thing that you're thinking, that thing you're just dying to get off your chest because while you may feel better, it will not build them up in love.
[00:39:27] It's by not sharing gossip that makes you appear in the know.
[00:39:31] It's by not believing everything you hear about someone from second and third hand sources because you know how often people are mischaracterized or misrepresented.
[00:39:40] It's by not referring to your fellow members as enemies or opponents, especially when you actually feel like they are. That's exactly when you don't say it.
[00:39:52] It's by finding time to disciple another Christian in the midst of what feels like a busy schedule.
[00:39:59] It's by stopping to pray with a friend when you're really late for your lunch and you're just hungry and want to eat.
[00:40:05] It's by lending something to a brother or sister in need, recognizing you may not get it back or you may not get it back in one piece.
[00:40:14] Friends, in seasons like this, I think a heart of humility amongst us is evidenced by not first assuming that our way is best.
[00:40:26] It's my not jumping to the conclusion that our friends will of course be right because they're our friends.
[00:40:33] Humility, friends, should not change our convictions.
[00:40:38] It shouldn't change our convictions, but it may change how we talk about them.
[00:40:44] In seasons like this, humility may mean we need to pray more and maybe plan a bit less.
[00:40:52] It may mean we need to wait as opposed to feel a constant compulsion to act.
[00:40:58] And friends, here's the trap I know, here's the trap for me, right? The trap I can fall into.
[00:41:05] We often assume the real obstacle to humility is differing opinions.
[00:41:11] We assume that's the obstacle. We just remove the differing opinions in the room and then we'll be unified.
[00:41:18] Just get everyone believing the same thing. Then we can move forward. And again, maybe we've convinced ourselves that's what one mind means. That's actually not though, what one mind means.
[00:41:26] And Paul is saying here, hey listen, if that's your trap, not so fast.
[00:41:32] Yes, unity is grounded in truth. There can be no real unity without truth.
[00:41:37] But friends, people can share a whole lot of truth about a whole lot of things and still find themselves deeply disunified.
[00:41:49] The greatest obstacle to unity is not finally the presence of differing opinions amongst us. It is the pride and the self centeredness of our own hearts.
[00:42:02] Paul says that right there is the starting point because we can share all the same convictions about truth. But if our hearts are cold and proud. We will never be unified.
[00:42:17] So what's the greatest threat to the church?
[00:42:21] Maybe it's just me, but I tend to go out there. That's what I assume. Competing religions, all the different isms, all the rest. Right.
[00:42:29] But just notice that's not what Paul says when he turns to talk to the Philippian Church about divisions among them. He's not like you all know. All the problems are out there. It's not what Paul says. It's not out there.
[00:42:43] Paul says you gotta start with what's right in here. And not just in your midst, but like in your own heart.
[00:42:50] That's where he presses in. The heart.
[00:42:54] Because nothing scuttles a church faster than selfish ambition and the conceit of those within it.
[00:43:02] People who have forgotten what it means to be united to Christ and. And united to one another.
[00:43:07] Which means if we want to work toward restoring unity in a fractured body, it's not going to begin with a plan.
[00:43:15] Yeah, we need to have those. It just doesn't begin there. Paul's saying, start in your heart. Begin with the posture of your heart. That's where it starts.
[00:43:23] A consultant's report, member petitions, constitutional revisions.
[00:43:29] Those things alone will never restore and rebuild what we lose in our unity and what's been lost. Paul saying, the path to congregational unity, it's paved with personal humility.
[00:43:46] That's where Paul begins with the Philippian Church.
[00:43:50] That's where we have to begin as a church.
[00:43:54] Will we walk that path together?
[00:43:59] Let's pray.
