Unity in the Church
Philippians 2:1-11
Here Paul is instructing the church how they are to act one to another. He’s leading them to unity. And it’s unity for a purpose. Vs. 2 says "working together with one heart and purpose." It’s when we follow these instructions of Paul and we, the Church, are united, that we will accomplish our purpose. There are three purposes for the church. To worship God, to build up the saints, and to spread the Good News. And unity is important for all three of these purposes. When we are united, it leads to God being glorified. vs. 11 speaks of Jesus’ exhibiting the same characteristics that Paul is admonishing us to exhibit, and he says it led to the exaltation of Jesus, "to the glory of God the Father." When we follow the command to be interested in others, that leads us to help build them up. Therefore, this unity leads to building up the body. And as Jesus said to his disciples, "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." (John 13:35) So unity is important for accomplishing all three purposes of the Church.
In order to see what is necessary for us to achieve unity, let’s look at the four things Paul admonished the church in Philippi to do. Together with that, we see that he gives the example of how Jesus demonstrated for us each of the qualities Paul was now admonishing the people to exhibit. In fact, verse 6 to 11 are an earlier hymn of the Church, which Paul is using as an illustration. The people to whom he wrote would recognize this hymn. They would already have known these qualities of Jesus from singing about them so often. And now Paul is using this as a basis to teach them how they can live in unity. We too can glean from Christ’s example here.
I. Don’t be selfish. (vs. 3) The society in which we live is a very self oriented society. The big question we ask when we have a decision whether to do something or not is, "What’s in it for me?" or "How will I benefit from this?"
However, the Church is not selfish. For the Christian, the question should not be, "How can this benefit me?" but "How can this benefit the Kingdom of God?" President JFK once said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but you can do for your country." And if that’s true of something like an earthly political establishment, how much more true it should be of Christians and the Kingdom of God. We need to spend less time thinking of what God and what the Church can offer us, and spend more time asking God what we can do for him and his Church.
Self is all about the individual. But the Kingdom is about the body. As Ephesians 4:4 says, "We are all one one body." The Church isn’t made up of a lot of disconnected people. The Church is not you over there doing your thing and me over here doing my thing. Imagine if your hand suddenly decided that it didn’t want to work with your arm. Your arm and your foot just couldn’t get along. They both wanted to help you, but they had different ideas about how to do it. So, the hand decided one day that it would just do it’s own thing completely separate from your arm, so it separated itself. It would soon find that it was pretty useless without the arm. In fact, if you had 100 hands, but none of them were connected to arms, they wouldn’t be as good as one hand connected to an arm. For your body to work, it has to work together. And the Church is exactly the same. I’m sure that we all want to fulfill God’s purposes. But if allow ourselves to become selfish, then we end up all doing our own thing. It’s not that we don’t want to do God’s work, but we just don’t want to do it with Brother so-and-so or Sister so-and-so. Well, when we do that, we’re really not accomplishing anything for the Kingdom, because we’re separated from the body. We, the Church, must be a team, working together to accomplishing God’s purposes, because that’s the only way they can be accomplished.
We see the example of Jesus in vs. 5, "He did not demand and cling to his rights as God." Jesus had certain rights as God. Remember when they came to arrest Jesus, he said to them, "Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?" (Matthew 26:53,54) This is just one small example of the great rights that Jesus had as the Creator of the world. Yet, he selflessly gave his own rights up, because if he selfishly hung onto his own rights and what was best for him, God’s plan would not have been fulfilled. Jesus spent his whole life denying himself for the sake of us. For the benefit of others, he gave up everything that was rightfully his.
As people, we don’t have quite the same rights as Jesus did. But we still may have things we think are our rights. And that may be true. Maybe you have the right to think of yourself. Maybe you have the right to provide for your family and accomplish certain things. And maybe you couldn’t do that, and do what God plans for you to. It’s then that you you have a responsibility to voluntarily give up your rights, as Jesus did, and instead embrace the plan of God. Christianity is not about self, but about others.
Paul speaks of a concept in 2 Timothy 4:6, "As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near." He’s referring to an Old Testament "drink-offering" here, which was an offering in which wine was poured out onto the ground as an offering to God. And it’s interesting that this poured out wine may seem like a waste, especially to people like us, who are so careful not to waste. But it’s not a waste at all, because it’s an offering to God. What better, more noble use could that wine have gone to than to be poured out as an offering to God. Even if it quenched a thirst, or was used to clean a wound, or to kill bacteria, or any of the other uses it could have gone to, none could have been as glorious as to be poured out to God. And so it is with our lives. There are so many things that we can accomplish with our lives. There are so many levels of "success" we can try to attain. It’s interesting me that the Greek word for "poured out" used here is "spendo" which is the root of our English word "spent." What if we became a doctor and found a cure for cancer. What if we became an engineer and solved some great problem. What if we had three houses and six cars. Could that life be as well spent as a life that was lived to glorify God. It may seem that the person poured out to God never accomplished anything. It may seem like a terrible waste. I remember when I was in high school, my guidance counselor spent two years trying to convince me not to go to Zion Bible Inst. He did this because he though I would be wasting my mind. He saw potential in me, and he thought that I would be wasting that potential if I didn’t use it. But what would be of more value, for me to get a great education and be really smart or to pour out my life as an offering to God. I’m not saying you can’t obtain any of those things. Sometimes that’s God’s plan. Sometimes he uses things like education and success. The point is not that those things are wrong, but that the measure of a life well spent is not what great things you’ve accomplished or how much "success" you’ve had. What’s important is was your life spent for yourself or for God and his purposes. Did you pour yourself into your ambitions, or did you use the things like your career and your success to pour yourself into God’s Kingdom?
II. Don’t live to make a good impression on others. (vs. 3)
In such a success-oriented society, it seems that everyone wants to impress others with their accomplishments. I’ve discovered that no matter how much money people make in America, it’s not enough, because they spend it all trying to live up to their status. But it’s not just in financial matters that we want to impress people. We want people to be impressed with our accomplishments and with our sacrifices. We want people to be impressed with everything we do. It’s a basic part of the sinful human nature--we call it pride. We’re so concerned about what others think of us. And guess what, pride tries to creep into the church too. People often want others to know of their accomplishments for God’s Kingdom. They want others to know what they’ve given, what they’ve sacrificed. They want others to look at them and see a holy person. Not that it’s wrong for others to see a holy person, unless its not real holiness, but only a show.
Jesus certainly didn’t live to impress others. vs. 7, says "He made himself nothing." The King James Version translates this, "But made himself of no reputation." As the Creator of the world, Jesus was deserving of much glory. In fact, John 1 speaks of Jesus being God, and that means that he had the full glory of God. Now, he didn’t empty himself of his Godness. We know that when Jesus was on the earth, he was 100% man and 100% God. So what did he empty himself of. He emptied himself of his reputation, or his mighty power and glory. We see an example of this in Luke 4:9, when the Devil is tempting Jesus, "Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, ’If you are the Son of God, jump off!" What would have been the point here? Well, the Temple was a place where the people gathered to worship, so there were huge crowds. And the pinnacle of the Temple was very high. If Jesus had jumped off and survived, it would have been a spectacular feat. It would have dazzled the crowds. Can I say it would have been impressive. But Jesus, though he had the opportunity to impress others, knew it was not the way of the Father. Now, we do not deserve the glory of men, when we try so hard to impress them, but Jesus was worthy of it all. And he voluntarily set it aside. How much more, we who do not deserve it, should set aside trying to impress others.
Jesus dealt with spiritual pride a lot--especially with the Pharisees. In Matthew 6:1-4, Jesus says, "Take care! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired, because then you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give a gift to someone in need, don’t shout about it as the hypocrites do--blowing trumpets in the synagogues and the streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I assure you, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone, don’t tell your left hand what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in secret, and your Father, who knows all secrets, will reward you." And Jesus isn’t just talking about giving money here, because the next thing he does is condemn the Pharisees for the same spiritual pride in their prayer. This is the first danger with being worried about making a good impression on others. You may do a good thing, but in reality it becomes worthless, because it was done with the wrong attitude. We’re so influenced by a results oriented society, that sometimes we forget that God isn’t as interested in our results as he is in our hearts. This sort of arrogant pride also breaks up the unity in the body, that we have already discovered is so vital to the Church fulfilling its purposes. When one person becomes prideful, then the others begin to look at that person in a different light. They may see them as a hypocrite and become disillusioned, whether they are fellow believers or non believers. Worse they may be fooled by the charade and think that person is a spiritual giant and try to emulate them. Then it becomes a matter of the blind leading the blind into the ditch.
Another danger that arises when we are motivated by others’ impressions is that we may not do the right thing for the wrong reason, but the wrong thing altogether. If God rejects a good act done out of pride, how much more will he reject a bad act done out of pride? There are things that must be accomplished for the Kingdom. There are things that must be done. But as 1 Corinthians 12:22 says, "In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary." There are functions within the body of Christ that must be done, but they are things that nobody sees. They are positions that don’t impress anybody. So, if everybody is so busy doing the things that will impress people, that doesn’t leave anybody to do those things that are truly important. And the body cannot be maintained unless all of its functions are carried out. Surely it may give the appearance of life for a while, but it is not truly healthy. You may succeed in fooling men that you are alright, but God is not fooled. It will be like the church in Sardis, which Christ condemns in Revelation 3:1, "I know all the things you do, an that you have a reputation for being alive--but you are dead." One commentator said like this, Sardis was like a well-adorned corpse at a funeral, but God was not fooled! It is possible to be so busy making yourself look good to other men that you never actually do anything worthwhile. The trouble is then that all of your actions were completely worthless. How much better it is to do something that nobody ever knows about, but that will make an eternal difference for the Kingdom of God. How much better it is to never obtain the recognition of men, but for it to be said of you like it was of Noah, "But Noah found favor with the Lord." (Genesis 6:8)
Paul recorded Jesus words to him, "’My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weaknesses.’" and Paul responded, "So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so tht the power of Christ may work through me." (2 Corinthians 12:9) Rather than try to impress people with our greatness, we must realize that the most is accomplished for God’s Kingdom when we recognize our weaknesses and allow God to work through them.
III. Be humble--think of others as better than yourself (vs. 3)
This point goes hand-in-hand with the last point. It once again brings up the subject of spiritual pride. This time it is a little different. The previous statement spoke of being proud of your deeds. This speaks of being proud of yourself, having a superiority complex. Jesus dealt with this a lot too, with the Pharisees.
Luke 18:9-14, "9Then Jesus told this story to some who had great self-confidence and scorned everyone else: 10"Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a dishonest tax collector. 11 The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ’I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that tax collector over there! For I never cheat, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery, 12I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ’O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ 14 I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For the proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored.""
God isn’t interested in people who think they’re great. In fact 1 Peter 5:5 says, "You younger men, accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for "God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble."
And this is talking about relationships again. Not only is God against the proud, but we see here that Peter is also specifically addressing pride within the church. When we think that we are better than others, we destroy the unity of the church, and remember how important that unity is to our fulfilling the purposes of the Church.
Jesus was humble. Vs. 7 "he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form" Just his becoming a human was humbling for him. But he didn’t even stop there. He continued to humble himself even as a human. He took the form of a servant. He demonstrated his servanthood to his disciples when he washed his disciples’ feet. This was a messy job fit only for a slave. But he willingly took on that task. Because he wanted to show his disciples that the Kingdom is not for "great" people. The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of humble servants, who follow their Servant-Master.
And indeed this humbling of Jesus, which went even to the point of dying on the cross, was what led to his glory. Vs. 9 says "BECAUSE OF THIS, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Indeed, this should come as no surprise, because this is a principle of Scripture. James 4:10 says, "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." (NIV) It is only through humility that you will find exaltation. It is humility that allows you to do the greatest things for the Kingdom. The greatest event that ever took place was the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary, and yet it was utter humiliation for him. This was a completely new concept with Christ. Before the time of Christ, humility was never considered a virtue. It was a sign of weakness. It was an undesirable trait. But Jesus taught us the power of humility. Humility is a powerful tool that helps to keep the unity of the Church.
IV. Be interested in others. (vs. 4).
Here we move back to the concept of selflessness and teamwork. The Church really is not a one-man show. The Kingdom of God isn’t about what you are doing, or about what I am doing. It is about what we are doing together. We may all have some part that is our own. We each have our own role and function in the body, but we cannot just do our job and forget about everyone else. It’s not that we just do our thing and if someone else does something that has nothing to with us. Instead Paul urges us to take an interest, and a genuine interest in other people. This not only creates effective results, but helps to promote unity in the Church.
Jesus considered others. He took an interest in others. vs. 8 "And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross." He didn’t die on the cross for himself. He did it for others. He never had a perspective where he only looked at what he was doing, but he saw everything in light of God’s greater plan. Further, he took a genuine interest in his disciples. After his resurrection, he took special interest in restoring Peter. (John 21) For him, every person was valuable. He took a genuine interest in people.
And we must mirror this concern for people. It’s great if we’re accomplishing things for God, however, we have to make sure that we’re not so focused on what we’re doing that we pay no attention to anyone else. Remember the Kingdom of God is about people. We can’t get so caught up in systems and programs that we forget about people. There are lots of things we can accomplish, but if we forget the people, we’ve accomplished them in vain. In order to preserve the unity of the church, we must take a genuine interest in other people.
CONCLUSION:
We’ve seen that the unity of the Church and the accomplishment of the purposes of the Church go hand-in-hand. Each of these four aspects that Paul brought out not only maintain the unity, but also help to fulfill the purposes of the Church. When we are unselfish we glorify God. We truly build up the body of believers. And we are able to reach out to unbelievers who are attracted to our selflessness. Our genuine work that is not done to impress others leads to a balanced body, where the necessary things, and not just the glorious things are done. This creates an atmosphere that also leads to the purposes being fulfilled. Humility also glorifies God. It not only gives us opportunity to build up others, but also others to help build us up too. And humility allows us to accept sinners and lead them to Christ. Finally, a concern for people mirrors God’s concerns and thus glorifies him. This concern leads us to help to build up the believers, not out of criticism, but a genuine desire to help them. And a genuine love and concern for people will attract unbelievers who are searching for acceptance. Therefore, unity in the Church is not just desirable, but absolutely essential if the Church is to fulfill its purposes. It’s not wonder it was the theme of Jesus prayer to the Father, John 17:21 "My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father--that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me."
