Jesus was concerned about people. He was drawn to the crowds. But He did not see the crowds as a sea of faces. Rather, He saw each individual. He looked beyond the surface what other saw to see people for what the really were. He was touched by what He saw. He understood the depth of their needs and hurts. He wept for them, reached out to them, and touched them when others would not. He was filled with compassion, which is much more than having pity or sympathy. His compassion moved Him to intervene in their lives, to act on their behalf. And finally, with immeasurable and incomparable love, He went to the cross to die that they might be saved from sin.
The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is people. We heard it for years: the church is not a building or an institution. The church is the redeemed of the Lord. And through His church, saved people, the Lord has chosen to do His work. He had all the resources of heaven available, but He called out His people and equipped them with power to declare the good new of Christ to other people.
Yes, it’s all about people. A people who are lost in sin and without hope, and a people who have the good news that has the power to change lives.
The church by its nature exists for those who are not members of it. There is no exclusiveness in God’s kingdom, and therefore, there is to be no exclusiveness in His church. Thus, finding and reaching people are part of the foundation of a truly Christ-centered church.
It is the mission of the church to evangelize and bring people to Christ and to His church. The mission of the church is the same; “Go make disciples of all nations.” However, the methods of keeping those who come in differ. The challenge is with this question; “What do we do with people when they come in?
The Philippian church was a strong church, a very strong church. When a church is strong, it is always full of vision and planning, and it is always working out a strategy to carry forth the gospel. A strong church launches ministry after ministry and program after program. It is never still and complacent neither the minds of the people not the hands of the people. Because of this, there is always the danger of differences of opinion: differences in vision, desires, concern, emphasis, and interest. There are always different ideas as to which ministry or project should be undertaken and supported and a host of other differences.
The point is this: the more strength and activity a church has, the more attention it must give to unity. Why? Because a strong church has more minds and bodies working, and where more people are working more differences are bound to arise. Consequently, the members must give more attention to unity.
Paul is always concerned about the church. He has concentrated on his own situation in chapter 1 because he knows what is uppermost in the minds of his friends at Philippi; he needs to assure them that he is confident in the faith and high in spirit.
He is first and foremost a pastor, so in 1:27 he begins to express his concern for them and the witness they must make. Whether he ever returns to them or not, they are to live as citizens worthy of the kingdom of Christ. They are to stand fast in the gospel and not be intimidated by the adversaries. They are to count it a privilege to suffer because they believe; they have entrusted their lives to Christ.
In the first four verses of chapter 2, Paul gives a succinct, radiantly clear description of our common life in Christ. Thus he underscores the challenging fact that the Christ life is always a shared life. So Paul says:
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. [4] Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. - Philip. 2:3-4 (NKJV)
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So here’s a working definition for ministry: Ministry is a shared life by forgetting about ourselves and lending a helping hand for the benefit of someone else.
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This text helps us understand a shared life ministry. Three (3) important facts about a shared life ministry needing our attention:
I The MOTIVE of Ministry – v. 3a
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit
Translation:
Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. (Message)
Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others. (NLT)
Illustration: Gallup Q12 - Engaged
A strong and active church will always have two problems to stick their ugly heads up: strife and empty glory.
a. Some people are disengaged in the church. They are not mature in the Lord, not yet; therefore, they give in to...
• talking about differences
• jealousy
• envy
• loving flattery
• desire for position
• desire for recognition
• opposition
• forming cliques
If they do not get their way or what they want, they strive against the church or other members. The result is disunity and divisiveness, one of the most terrible crimes within the church to God.
b. Some people are going to seek glory within the church. But note what Scripture calls it: vainglory, which means empty glory. Some people just want the attention, the recognition, the position, the flattery, the praise, the honor. They want people seeking their advice and counsel and opinion. They want to be on the major committees and acknowledged as a leader of the church.
You may have heard the story of two friends who met for dinner in a restaurant. Each requested filet of sole, and after a few minutes the waiter came back with their order. Two pieces of fish, a large and a small, were on the same platter. One of the men proceeded to serve his friend. Placing the small piece on a plate, he handed it across the table. "Well, you certainly do have nerve!" exclaimed his friend.
"What’s troubling you?" asked the other. "Look what you’ve done," he answered. "You’ve given me the little piece and kept the big one for yourself." "How would you have done it?" the man asked. His friend replied, "If I were serving, I would have given you the big piece." "Well," replied the man, "I’ve got it, haven’t I?" At this, they both laughed. Daily Bread, August 11, 1992.
We’re living in a time now when people join churches not for what they can give to the church but what they can get from the church. Ministry is not about what we get but about what we give.
- Acts 2:45 (NKJV)
and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
- Mark 9:41 (NKJV)
For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.
- Luke 3:11 (NKJV)
He answered and said to them, "He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise."
- Acts 11:29 (Msg)
So the disciples decided that each of them would send whatever they could to their fellow Christians in Judea to help out.
Point: A shared life is an unselfish life. And that’s what ministry is all about, the sharing of yourself for good another (without qualifications).
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II. The MANNER of Ministry – 3b
“…but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”
The two negatives in the “A” clause of our text (self ambition and vainglory) is followed by a positive exhortation: “in humility consider others better than yourselves”. Humility before God and man is a virtue every child of God needs to strive for. A spirit of pride in human relations indicates a lack of humility before God. The exhortation presented to us in this text says; “consider others before ourselves”. In other words, say no to you in order to say yes to someone else.
If ministry in the church is going to be effective, we must have the right disposition.
Humility is to offer oneself as lowly and submissive; to walk in a spirit of lowliness; to present oneself as lowly and low-lying in mind (tapeinos); to be of low degree and low rank; not to be highminded, proud, haughty, arrogant, or assertive.
Here are a few principles about humility we need to understand:
• People are not born humble - God makes people strong, the strongest they can possibly be. By humility God does not mean what men mean. God infuses a new and strong spirit within a person and causes that person to conquer all throughout life. He just does not want the person walking around in pride. He wants the person to do what the definition says: to offer himself in a spirit of submissiveness and lowliness; not to act highminded, proud, haughty, arrogant, or assertive. For this happen means humility must be developed. “Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have quarrel against any; even as Christ forgave you, so also do you (Col. 3:12-13).”
• Humble people are not weak people – Just because is humble does not mean you can push them over.
• Humility requires an honest evaluation of oneself. Barclay points this out (The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, p.39). Humility comes from knowing ourselves, just who we really are. It comes from an honest appraisal of ourselves. It takes courage to look at ourselves and it takes honesty to see ourselves as we really are: basically self-centered, a bundle of self-admiration and self-love. We tend to dramatize ourselves. We tend to see ourselves through rose-colored glasses.
We are always at the center of the picture. Humility begins to come when we honestly face ourselves and admit our self-centeredness. Self-centeredness weakens and limits relationships and achievements. Humility reaches its height when we lose our lives in the cause of Christ and welfare of others.
• Humility requires courage. It takes courage to be honest about our self-centeredness, and courage to convert or to change by coming to Christ as a small child (Matthew 18:3-4). It takes courage to become Christ-centered and people-centered and to give ourselves to the cause of Christ and others.
A truly humble man is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people. Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, was an outstanding example of this truth. Shortly after he took over the presidency of Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town when he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her. Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested. When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady.
The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely. "It’s perfectly all right, Madam," he replied. "Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it’s always a delight to do something for a friend." She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart. Not long afterward she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join her in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute (Our Daily Bread).
Point; A shared life is a humble life.
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III. The MISSION of Ministry - 4
“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others”.
A lady answered the knock on her door to find a man with a sad expression. "I’m sorry to disturb you," he said, "but I’m collecting money for an unfortunate family in the neighborhood. The husband is out of work, the kids are hungry, the utilities will soon be cut off, and worse, they’re going to be kicked out of their apartment if they don’t pay the rent by this afternoon." "I’ll be happy to help," said the woman with great concern. "But who are you?" "I’m the landlord," he replied. Jon H. Allen.
Many of us are not interested in the interest of other people.
There is the trait of controlling self-interest or what Barclay calls concentration on self (The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians, p.40). Very simply, a Christian believer must forget himself. He or she must quit looking upon his/her own things, his...
• ambition
• desires
• position
• not being recognized
• not being honored
• wants
• being neglected
• being overlooked
• being by-passed
• being ignored
• not being given the position
Believers are to concentrate upon Christ and His ministry to people and reaching the world with the glorious gospel of salvation. They are not be focused upon self. The world is too needful and too desperate for any believer to be focused upon himself. Every believer is needed to reach the lost and lonely, the shut-ins and helpless, the hungry and cold, the sinful and doomed of his community and city, country and world. Every believer does not need to be thinking on his own things, but on the things of others. He needs to be out...
• visiting
• ministering
• helping
• transporting
• listening
• advising
• sharing
• feeding
• clothing
• counseling
• planning
• teaching
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).
Point: A shared life is a self-sacrificing life.
Conclusion:
Effective ministry (individually and corporately) is an individual effort of sharing our lives with others.
