Living With Opposition Series

Pilate asks him some questions that Jesus doesn’t answer, and then he says to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"

11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”

Jesus is able to stand before his oppressors because he knows who he is, and he knows who is really in charge. Paul invites the Philippians Christians to stand before their oppressors in the same way – not in physical or worldly political strength, but in the strength of an understanding of the big picture and your place in it.

Paul tells us not to be frightened in anyway by those that oppose us. The word that he uses is the word that describes spooked horses – “don’t let the people who oppose you spook you!”

I often watch the Christian community, as the latest anti-faith book, movie, article or tv show comes out, act like a bunch of spooked horses. We don’t need to be afraid – God is not scared of Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens, and neither should we be. There have been times that poorly made anti-Christian movies have become popular just because of the spooked reaction of the faithful. If we just ignored them they would have went away! Paul knew that God could draw people to Jesus even through bad press.

The context of Paul’s destroyed/saved statement

I recognize that this statement that Paul makes may have grated on some of you. “How could he say that? Isn’t as arrogant as could be?” I think that we need to remember the context of Paul’s statement – he is nor writing from a place where Christianity has been the dominant religion for centuries. He is not writing from a place where the church has been seen as an oppressive force. He is writing at a time when the Christians were a small group in a vast city, he is writing from prison to a people who were in danger of being thrown in prison, or worse. His statement is not meant to condemn the oppressors as much as it is to lift the spirits of the oppressed.

Brining light to dark situations

In one accord…

In any situation where a group is facing opposition from the outside, there is a temptation to start to fight on the inside of the group. Paul reminds us that a united front is a strong front.

Stay together…

Understand suffering

Paul’s last verse in this section tells us that he is not giving us a a recipe for rescue from opposition and suffering!

He is not saying that if we live as citizens of heaven, live in a manner worthy of the Gospel, standing firm in unity and not in fear, that we will have victory against our opposition and never suffer!

No, he says: “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”

He is not giving a recipe for rescue, but a recipe for endurance and faith in the midst of hardship. In fact e write as though their suffering for their faith was a gift!

I know, you’re not so sure this is Good News. But it is, because if we believe that God’s goal is always to rescue us from pain, we will often be let down.