What do we do with all this fighting? The assumption is we can educate people better so that we don’t get into these fights. Or maybe we just move from north central Austin out in the middle of nowhere, so we don’t have to be around those fights? How does God’s Word respond to all this fighting? This morning we will see three sub-points to help us navigate these fights; 1. The Context. 2. The Command. 3. The Comfort.
1. The Context.
Philippians 2:1-2, “1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”
The word “therefore” is written as a connecting word to bridge between last Sundays message and this Sundays message. Last Sunday we saw the tone of the letter change. In verses 1-26 the letter is about the Apostle Paul and his encouragement for the Philippian church but last Sunday we saw a shift in the letter.
Last Sunday we looked at verses 27-30 where the Apostle Paul challenges the Philippian church to stand firm in the opposition of their day and in chapter 2 we see one of the primary oppositions the Philippian church is experiencing opposition with one another. Oh no! Not fighting in the church family! Look at verses 3 and 4:
Philippians 2:3-4, “3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
What’s happening with the people in the Philippian church? They are fighting with one another. In fact, they are fighting with one another about how to respond to the opposition of their, which is something we can identify with these days with the church in Austin. Right?
We face opposition through pandemic, through politics, through the economy, through horrible events in the news, and then we have division about how to respond to the opposition, because surprise, surprise, not everyone has the same conclusion, which leads to fight, arguments, and disagreements. Does that make sense?
In verses 3 and 4 the Philippian church is in the midst of one of those arguments and they are displaying characteristics of “selfishness and empty conceit.” Do you see that in verse 3? The Greek for “conceit” in verse 3 is combining two words kino doxia / “keno” meaning empty and “doxia” meaning glory, which means they are seeking an “empty glory.” Does that make sense?
As human beings we love chasing our own glory, but it never satisfies. We love spouting off our opinions about an event in the news. We love when everyone turns in the circle to hear what we have to say. We love how it feels to blast people on social media. I know nobody in here actually feels that way, but people out there do and it never satisfies. In fact, our passage this morning is teaching us that not only does it not satisfy but it actually fractures relationships. The pursuit of our own glory actually creates division, leads to fighting, causes pain and this shows up in our marriage, at work, children, friends, and even in our church family. Let’s look at our second sub-point;
2. The Command.
Philippians 2:1-2, “1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”
In verse 1 we see the Apostle Paul give us a list of characteristics we are given as a people who are followers of Jesus. In this series we have been talking about our heavenly citizenship in Christ. We have been talking about the characteristics we have as heavenly citizens in Christ and in verse 1 we see a list of characteristics like encouragement, consolation, fellowship of the Spirit, affection, and compassion. Let’s take those one at a time:
Encouragement in Christ is to have intimate encouragement from Jesus at the personal level. It means Jesus isn’t some distant figure in history, but at some point, in our life Jesus has become personal. Has that happened in your life? Has Jesus become personal?
This happened in my life when I was 18 years old. I had grown up wanting nothing to do with Jesus until someone talked to be about how Jesus could become personal. I laughed at them. I thought it was foolish. What does that even mean? And then one day I believed in Jesus. I believed Jesus was God who died on the cross for my sin and conquered my sin in the resurrection and He changed my life. In an instant Jesus went from this impersonal, historical figure to someone I could talk to about anything going on in my life.
Consolation of love means to comfort. The word “consolation” sounds like a backup prize, but it’s just the opposite. Consolation of love is the best prize. Consolation of love is to bring comfort and strength into our life through faith in Jesus.
Fellowship of the Spirit means we are friends with God. This is why Jesus is so important. By grace through faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside us. In that moment we gain fellowship of the Spirit. We gain friendship with the Holy Spirit. The same power that resurrected Jesus from the dead now dwells in you as a follower of Jesus. That’s good news!
Affection and compassion means tenderness from and for one another in the church family. This isn’t just our relationship with God, but this is our relationship with one another. Affection and compassion means we go out of our way for one another in Christ. Affection and compassion means we are committed to one another in Christ, sacrifice for one another in Christ, and not out of obligation but because we want to help other brothers and sisters who are in Christ in Austin and around the world.
Therefore, the Apostle Paul is writing so as to say, “These lists of characteristics are everything we have in Christ, therefore, why are so quick to abandon our relationships with one another because of some conflicts and arguments? Does that make sense? If you have all these characteristics in Christ, then why are we letting our personal agendas fracture our relationships with one another as the church in Austin? Why are we letting our
preferences push one another away? Let’s look at our last sub-point;
3. The Comfort.
Philippians 2:2, “2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same
love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”
In verse 2 the Apostle Paul acknowledges there are fights and quarrels in the midst of the Philippian church and at the same time God’s Word gives a command to seek unity. Do you see that in verse 2?
Unity in the body of Christ is not uniformity where we are all look alike, talk alike, dress alike, and live alike. That’s not healthy. That’s called a cult and that’s not good. But unity is where we are all unique people who are committed toward one goal; therefore, I want to invite you to allow God’s Word to press in on us this morning and ask ourselves, “Are we pursuing unity in our relationships with one another?” Remember verses 3-4:
Philippians 2:3-4, “3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
Are we pushing our personal preferences on one another? Are we looking out for not only our interests but also the interests of others? Keep in mind what we have gone through in the last two years and what we are still going through in the volatility of our day.
Where have we taken one comment by one another and then convinced ourselves what that person must be like and interpret everything they do through that one event? Where are we stirring up division and whispering little morsels of tension? Where are we closing our heart toward one another? This is so important for our church family in Austin.
God’s Word is crying out to our souls right now, “No!” If you are in Christ, if you have fellowship of the Spirit, if you have affection for one another, then this type of response toward conflict cannot become normal. It’s not okay. The gospel alone says it’s not normal.
Gospel: In Jesus we have the One who actually did nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. Jesus actually considered others more important than Himself. We spend our lives chasing empty glory and Jesus was full of glory, but He gave it all up so that He might give us His glory.
We are chasing glory, never get close. Jesus has the glory and gives us His glory. Which means Jesus looked upon humanity and saw all the hypocrisy, all the bigotry, all the slander and gossip and actually thought, “I want to get near those people.”
The things in life that we hate. The things in life we try to avoid. The things in life we fear are the things in life that Jesus walked right into, so that He might give us the very thing we long for in glory. Isn’t that amazing? That’s the gospel.