How To Live In A Crooked World – Philippians 2:14-18 Series

Well last Sunday remember the sermon was about… Does anybody remember the sermon from last week? Yeah, it was about complaining. Okay. Complaining and disputing. We did the theology of complaining last week starting in Philippians 2:14. But there was some pushback at the small group. I really appreciate this when the group says, “I have a question about what you said.” In this case, they were suggesting that I was suggesting, if you remember last week, that as Christians we don't focus on things that are negative. Okay. We don’t complain and we don’t whine. And so there was some pushback. “When you talk about something negative, is that always complaining? Are you saying Christians should never talk about negative things?” So we started a dialogue about that. And the answer is no. Christians do sometimes talk about negative things. For example, if there's a problem that has to be solved, first step in solving the problem in the process is to explore the problem. What’s the problem? Some of that is negative as we’re looking at it. That’s okay. Even more importantly, in a friendship or even in a marriage relationship, we don’t just put on a smiley face all the time. Sometimes we share the real things that are going on in our lives and they're difficult, they’re negative. But there's an opportunity then for vulnerability in the relationship and for that relationship to grow stronger.

So as I look back at the passage now, and in this verse…and you can look at it in your Bible, if you want to open your Bible to Philippians 2:14-18. In verse 14 the first words that we looked at last week are – Do all things without grumbling or disputing. So likely what we're talking about here is a focus on life or an attitude about life that draws you to negativity. Not that we can't talk about negative things, but there's some people who are just…that's who they are. It's just all of the patterns of complaining and disputing, and that itself is convicting for us.

But I want to look at the next phrase that it says in verse 15. Because as I look at these words it kind of challenges my own theology. I have questions about this verse as I come to the Lord. Because it says – Don't be a person who’s grumbling or disputing so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish.

Now can a Christian be blameless? It doesn’t say sinless. What do you mean by blameless then? Can we be blameless? Remember this is coming right after that passage in verses 12 and 13, which says – Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you. So the fact is God is at work in our lives and we’re working out our salvation. That’s what the passage says. And now he comes to this idea about being blameless? I think it's kind of a new way… It must not be sinless because I do know that all of us as Christians, non-Christians, we sin. But there's something that's happening here, where a person who lives in the culture is actually moving outside of the culture in the way that they operate, and they are taking on this characteristic of being blameless. I would suggest what that means is that they have convictions about what the right thing is to do. And if they do something wrong, then they respond to it in a wise way. In a wise and healthy way. They’re not defensive, blame other people for their problems, rationalize, justify. “Okay, I made a mistake,” and they start going forward. And someone says, “Wow. Look at that person. They are different.” They are blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish.

Well let's look at a couple of verses that also use this idea because I think God is saying there's a way we can come to that in our own lives. That we want to be different. We want to be considered this person who doesn't represent everything else going on, but they’re a different kind of a person.

Notice this is in the Christmas story, Luke 1:5-6. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron (so she was a preacher’s daughter), and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both (here’s these people; look at this) righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

Very interesting idea. Can you be considered blameless? Well the idea is you’re separate. It’s like asking the question, are you a saint? Some people say, “Oh no, I’m not a saint” because their picture of a saint is someone who they make a statue out of because they’re so holy or something like that. No, no. God has called all of us who are following Him saint. We are set apart. We’re holy ones. And that describes who we are. That’s what these first verses talk about. Who we are.