The Attitude Adjuster
Text: Phil. 2:1-11
Introduction
1. Illustration: When Melissa was about 5 years old and Daniel was 3 we went on a vacation to South Dakota. While we were there we stopped at a gift shop and one of the things we purchased was a paddle made of cedar. Written on this paddle was the phrase "Attitude Adjuster!" Needless to say, we put it to good use!
2. As Christians, we all sometimes need an attitude adjustment.
a. We need to change our attitudes towards God, other Christians, non-Christians, and even ourselves.
b. God adjust our attitudes not with a paddle, although sometimes it might feel that way, but he does it through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
c. Often times he uses times of prayer and Bible study to speak to us about the need to adjust our attitudes.
3. In our text today Paul talks about attitude...
a. An Attitude Of Selflessness
b. An Attitude Of Imitation
c. An Attitude Of Result
4. Let's stand together as we read Phil. 2:1-11
Proposition: True followers of Jesus strive to live out the attitude of Jesus.
Transition: Paul begins by talking about...
I. An Attitude Of Selflessness (1-4).
A. Interest In Others
1. What kind of attitude should a Christian display?
a. What does a Christian look like?
b. How can you tell a Christian just by looking at them?
2. Paul begins to answer these questions by saying, "Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?"
a. Paul begins this chapter by asking four rhetorical questions, and all of which are related to their common experience of know Christ.
b. The first question asks if there is any encouragement from belonging to Christ, and of course the answer is yes!
c. We are encouraged by our the simple fact that the Holy Spirit living inside of us, and in fact, the word translated encouragement is the same one used to describe the Holy Spirit as the comforter in John's gospel.
d. Second, he asks if there is any comfort in his love? The answer is again clear because our coming to Christ is an evidence of God's love for it he who reached out to us!
e. Third, he asks if there is any fellowship together with the Spirit?
f. Well of course there is because he draws us close together with him and with each other.
g. Finally, he asks if our hearts are tender and compassionate?
h. Again the answer is yes because God has changed us and made us to be more like him, who is, of course, tender and compassionate.
i. So why does Paul asks these questions? Well very simply Paul is saying, "has Christ made your life better?" (Fee, 177-182).
j. If Jesus has truly made a difference in our lives then it should show by how we live.
3. So if Jesus has made a difference in our lives, "Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose."
a. This whole section speaks volumes about Paul's pastor's heart.
b. He wants to know that his congregation is doing well both physically and spiritually.
c. He says you will make me very happy if I know that you are getting along.
d. First of all he wants to know that they are agreeing wholeheartedly with each other.
e. Literally this phrase means "setting your minds on the same thing."
f. He wanted not only to know that they were not arguing with one another, but also that they had the same mindset and purpose.
g. Furthermore, he wanted to know that they were loving one another.
h. He wanted them to be displaying the same kind of love that both he and Christ had shown them to each other.
i. In addition, he wanted to know that they were working together with one mind and purpose.
j. He not only wanted them to have a common goal, but also to be working together towards that goal (Fee, 183-186).
4. Paul adds to the ideal Christian attitude by saying, "Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too."
a. Paul now moves from what he wanted them to do to how they can accomplish that desire.
b. He says only way to achieve this attitude is to not be selfish.
c. Selfishness stands at the heart of all that is wrong with the human race.
d. Whenever we put our interest in front of others bad things are going to happen.
e. Whenever problems arise, especially in the church, it is because someone, somewhere was being selfish.
f. Closely linked to selfishness is pride; wanting people to take notice of you.
g. The Bible tells us to let God be the one to exalt us and not ourselves.
h. This all revolves around being humble. Humility is a uniquely Christian virtue and was totally contrary to the values of the Greco-Roman world, who saw it not only as something to aspire to but as a weakness.
i. Humility has to do with a proper estimation of ourselves. It involves not thinking too low or too high of ourselves. In essence it means to see ourselves as God sees us.
j. As a result, we should consider others as better than ourselves.
k. This does not mean that we should think less of ourselves, but that we should put the needs of others ahead of our own needs (Fee, 186-189).
B. Other Minded
1. Illustration: A fascinating study on the principle of the Golden Rule was conducted by Bernard Rimland, director of the Institute for Child Behavior Research. Rimland found that "The happiest people are those who help others." Each person involved in the study was asked to list ten people he knew best and to label them as happy or not happy. Then they were to go through the list again and label each one as selfish or unselfish, using the following definition of selfishness: a stable tendency to devote one’s time and resources to one’s own interests and welfare--an unwillingness to inconvenience one’s self for others." In categorizing the results, Rimland found that all of the people labeled happy were also labeled unselfish. He wrote that those "whose activities are devoted to bringing themselves happiness...are far less likely to be happy than those whose efforts are devoted to making others happy" Rimland concluded: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." (Martin & Diedre Bobgan, How To Counsel From Scripture, 123).
2. The Christian attitude is an other first mentality.
a. James 3:14-16 (NLT)
But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.
b. As Christians we are to put other people feelings first.
c. We are to love them as Christ loved us.
d. We are to care for them as Christ cares for us.
e. We are to put their needs ahead of our own.
Transition: Paul illustrates this by showing...
II. An Attitude Of Imitation (5-8).
A. Same Attitude That Christ Jesus Had
1. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. That is what Paul is showing in the next section.
2. He says, "You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."
a. In this verse Paul is connecting what he has just said with what follows.
b. Notice that Paul doesn't say you must have an attitude "something like" the one Jesus had, but rather it must be the "same" as the one Jesus had.
c. He is saying this mindset that he has just described, that of being unselfish and other centered, is the same attitude that we should have because it is the attitude that Jesus displayed while he was on earth (Fee, 199-200).
d. One of the great myths of popular psychology that has drifted into the church today deals with impulsive behavior based on emotions.
e. Those who accept Jesus Christ as Savior enter a community of believers, the church.
f. Believers are to obey their Savior because of who he is and what he has done on their behalf. Paul eloquently describes this in the following verse (Barton, 850).
3. He says, "Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to."
a. Paul is showing here that the selfish attitude that he was speaking against in v. 3 is the exact opposite of the one Jesus had in coming to earth.
b. The phrase Though he was God comes from the Greek word morphe.
c. The definition of morphē is “form, manner, appearance.”
d. This may be the unique quality or aspect characterizing an individual or object.
e. The term is used in classical Greek to describe the external appearance and form, nature, or condition in which a person appears. (The Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary – Lambda-Omicron, 3307).
f. The reason Paul uses this word here is to show that Jesus was God in every way, but that he was absolutely willing to give that up.
g. He had always shared equality with the Father since before time began, but he was willing to sacrifice that equality in order to stand in our place on the cross (Fee, 204-208).
4. Paul continues with, "Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being."
a. Rather than clinging to his divine privileges he gave them up. He literally emptied himself out for us.
b. Just as he was the form of God in v. 6, now in v. 7 he takes the form of a slave and a human being.
c. However, we must understand that although he emptied himself of his divine privileges he was still God.
d. In a way that we cannot fully understand he was both 100% God and 100% human at the same time.
e. He did this to identify himself with us, and therefore, was able to stand in our place on the cross (Fee, 213).
5. Then Paul takes it a step further by saying, "When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross."
a. Paul now shows Jesus displaying another attitude or characteristic that Paul described earlier, that of humbling himself.
b. Not only did Jesus humble himself in becoming human, but he also humbled himself in submitting to one of the most brutal and criminal forms of capital punishment.
c. Crucifixion was the most degrading form of execution, reserved for non-Roman criminals who were slaves or free persons of the lowest status (Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament).
d. In fact, the Roman Philosopher Cicero said, "To bind a Roman citizen is a crime; to flog him is an abomination; to slay him is almost an act of murder; to crucify him is - what? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed."
e. Therefore, Jesus showed the ultimate sign of humility, and gave the highest form of selflessness that we have ever known (Fee, 216-217).
B. Christ-like Attitude
1. Illustration: Someone once called a preacher to say he wanted to become a church member. But, he went on to explain that he did not want to: worship every week, study the Bible, visit the sick, or serve as a leader or teacher. The minister commended him for his desire to be a church member, but told him the church he was looking for was located in another part of town. The man wrote down the address and hung up. When he arrived at that address, the man came face to face with the result of his own attitude of not wanting to be involved.... There stood an abandoned church building boarded up and ready for demolition.
2. If we want to be like Jesus we will put others before self.
a. 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT)
You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
b. Jesus gave up everything for us.
c. He gave up heaven.
d. He gave up his divine privileges.
e. He gave up his own life on the cross.
f. His love was self-sacrificing not selfish.
g. He expects us to do the same.
Transition: Because of Jesus attitude Paul talks about...
III. An Attitude Of Result (9-11).
A. Therefore God Elevated Him
1. Again using Jesus himself as an illustration Paul shows the results of having the right attitude.
2. He says, "Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names,
a. What Paul describes here is not to be seen as a reward, but rather simply as the result of obedient humility and selflessness.
b. Paul in expressing the idea of God elevating Christ to the place of highest honor uses a compound form of the normal verb for honor that means "above honor."
c. He exalted Christ to the highest possible degree. In addition, he also exalted the name of Jesus (Fee, 222).
d. That Jesus’ name is above every other name refers not to Jesus’ title, but instead to his name that signifies his person.
e. In the Bible, names often reveal a person’s character. Jesus’ dignity and honor are above all others.
f. Because Jesus did not cling to his equality with God but willingly obeyed God in order to carry out the plan of salvation, God honored that obedience by giving Jesus this name above all names (Barton 851).
3. Paul continues to talk about the exaltation of Jesus name. He says, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth"
a. In this verse Paul is making reference to Isaiah 45:23.
b. Isaiah 45:23 (NLT)
I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me.”
c. He declares that at a specific time, most likely at the Second Coming, that everyone will bow to Jesus and pay him homage.
d. To "bow the knee" is a common idiom for paying homage to someone, sometimes in prayer, but always in recognition of the authority of that person.
e. However, there is even greater significance to Paul making reference to the verse in Isaiah, and that is the substituting of "to me" with the name of Jesus.
f. God has transferred the right of worship to the Son; he is the Lord to whom every knee shall bow (Fee, 224).
4. Paul then concludes his discussion of Jesus exaltation by saying, "and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
a. In addition to bowing and worshipping Jesus, every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord.
b. For Paul this is the line of demarcation between the believer and the non-believer.
c. But this confession will not be one that leads to salvation but the final acknowledgment that Jesus is the Savior and the only way to heaven.
d. By this time it will either be exalting Jesus because you want to or exalting him because you have to (Fee, 225).
B. God Will Lift You Up
1. Illustration: A man was walking through an art gallery when he came upon a picture of the Lord Jesus dying upon the cross. He stopped and looked at the beautiful portrait of Calvary's love. As he stared into the face of Christ, so full of agony the gallery guard tapped him on the shoulder. "Lower," the guard said. "The artist painted this picture to be appreciated from a lower position." So the man bent down. And from this lower position he observed new beauties in the picture not previously shown. "Lower," said the guard. "Lower still." The man knelt down on one knee and looked up into the face of Christ. The new vantage point yielded new beauties to behold and appreciate. But motioning with his torch toward the ground, the guard said, "Lower. You've got to go lower." The man now dropped down to two knees and looked up. Only then as he looked up at the painting from such a low posture could he realize the artist's intended perspective. Only then could he see the full beauty of the cross. Is the same not true in worship? Only as we position ourselves lower and lower in humble submission can we behold more fully the glories of our wonderful Lord.
2. Only when we humble ourselves do we put ourselves in a position to be lifted up.
a. James 4:10 (NLT)
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
b. Jesus was exalted to the highest place because of his selfless attitude.
c. His name is now the highest name.
d. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess.
e. He didn't consider what was best for him; he considered what was best for us.
f. He didn't want to go to the cross, but it wasn't about him.
g. He wanted to do the Father's will, and it was the only way he could save us.
h. If we want to follow Jesus it starts with humility and a selfless attitude.
Conclusion
1. As Christians, we all sometimes need an attitude adjustment.
a. We need to change our attitudes towards God, other Christians, non-Christians, and even ourselves.
b. God adjust our attitudes not with a paddle, although sometimes it might feel that way, but he does it through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
c. Often times he uses times of prayer and Bible study to speak to us about the need to adjust our attitudes.
2. Paul talked about...
a. An Attitude Of Selflessness
b. An Attitude Of Imitation
c. An Attitude Of Result
3. Where does your attitude need adjusting?
