Putting Others First
Philippians 2:1-11
August 13, 2006
Introduction
We live in a very “me-centered” culture, don’t we?
I think most cultures are me-centered to an extent, even those where respect for others is much higher than it is here in the United States.
There’s a word for being “me-centered,” and that word is “selfish.”
Selfishness is abundant in our country, and sadly, it’s abundant in the Body of Christ as well.
And it’s not a new problem. The Apostle Paul came across this problem in his dealings with the various churches he had planted.
The issue is that when we’re “me-centered,” then others can be ignored, or we become so focused on having our own needs met, we don’t think of the needs of others. And we certainly don’t have room for Christ.
And no one is immune to this.
In our passage today, we find what he has to say about this problem.
And we find that Paul doesn’t just give us some words of wisdom to live by, he does something that he does constantly throughout his letters: he points to Christ.
And my hope for us today is that as we look at these words of Scripture and see the example of Jesus, the Holy Spirit will work in all of us to be people of humility, who consider the needs of other people.
Our passage for today is found in Philippians 2:1-11. If you’re using the Bibles in the seats, this is on Page 831 –
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Lord Jesus, fill us with your attitude as we go through this wonderful passage of Scripture!
Well, let’s see what can we learn from these words of Paul, shall we, as we look at five instructions for putting others first.
Five instructions for putting others first.
You’ve probably noticed that while it says that there are five instructions, there are only four numbers with stuff beside them.
Don’t worry – the fifth is in the conclusion!
1. Use the tools of Jesus.
Now most of you know that I’m not the most useful person with tools. I can probably give you the tool you ask for, if you call it by a name I’ll recognize or you describe it well enough for me to figure it out.
“Yeah – it’s that thing that looks like you can hit things with it – you know, like nails or something. No – that’s crescent wrench. That other thing. Never mind, I’ll get it myself.”
Okay, so I’m not really that bad, but I do know this – that the right tools can make the job a whole lot easier.
Jesus has given us some tools to make putting others first a bit easier.
He’s given us everything we need, as we can see in verse 1 –
> Encouragement from being united in Him.
In other words, because we are bonded together by Christ, we can find encouragement for ourselves and to give to others.
> Comfort from His love.
Where do we run to find comfort when we’re hurting? Those we love and who we know love us. Christ loves us so we can find comfort in Him as well as extend that comfort to others.
> Fellowship with His Spirit.
Again, because of our common faith in Christ, we can grow in our relationships with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
This lends itself quite nicely to putting others before ourselves.
Folks, with this kind of tool chest at our disposal, how can we lose?
But the question is this: just what are we to use the tools for? Well, that’s what I want us to look at in the second way we can go about putting others first, and that is to…
2. Work for unity in Christ.
This unity is not based on our magnetic personalities, on our similar tastes in food, or on our mutual hobbies.
This unity is based on our love and service to Christ.
Notice these phrases in verse 2:
Like-minded…same love…one in spirit and purpose.
Listen to what the NIV Study Bible says about this verse. I’ve printed this in your note-taking guide because I wanted you to be able to look at this later.
“[These emphasize] the unity that should exist among Christians…Not uniformity in thought but the common disposition to work together and serve one another.” (NIV Study Bible)
This is not saying we need to agree with everyone about everything.
Unity is based on our common agreement that Jesus is the boss and we want this church to reflect His love and priorities.
Even in our church board we don’t agree about everything. Some of us bring ideas to the board, and some of them are good and others aren’t.
Sometimes we might agree on an idea, but we’ll disagree on the details. And so we talk about it and come to some form of agreement.
And let me say, your leadership is very good at looking at these things in a mature manner. We don’t have any whiners and power-brokers on the board.
Our board is not characterized by selfishness or temper tantrums by people who simply have to have their own way.
And that’s a blessing, believe me!
But even when we disagree about some things, we do agree on the main thing: that Jesus is boss and that we want this church to reflect His love and priorities. That’s unity.
There can be union without unity: tie two cats together by their tails and throw them over a clothesline. There you will have union, but certainly not unity! (SermonCentral.com. Contributed by
Pastor Tony DiCostanzo)
So just because we’re in the same building or same congregation, this doesn’t mean that we’re all on the same page as far as unity is concerned.
We need to strive for unity in Christ.
The third instruction for putting others first is to…
3. Get the right perspective on others.
This might be the toughest part of the whole deal.
Look back at verses 3-4 –
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Did you catch that, you are to consider other people as being “better” than you? That’s the right perspective.
In the original language of the New Testament, the phrase “better than” is the idea of submitting to someone else.
That’s pretty hard to do when you think you’re better or more important that person, isn’t it?
These two verses strike at the very heart of how most people, including Christians, operate.
The natural tendency of people, including many if not most Christians, is to put their own needs and wants first.
We’re all guilty of that from time to time. But the Bible says that this should not be what characterizes Christians.
Apparently the Philippians were having problems with this. A number of people were being selfish and self-important, and Paul says to cut it out.
Why? Because as we’ll see in a bit, it’s not a Christlike attitude.
The basic idea here is that we need to take our eyes off ourselves and put them on others.
When we’re filled with selfish ambition and vain conceit, we miss the needs of others that Paul tells us we’re supposed to be concerned with.
But when we consciously and intentionally look at others as being more important than we are, we start to shed that old skin of selfishness and self-importance.
You need to gain the right perspective on others – that they are more important than you.
And let me speak especially to those of you with families.
I tell this to couples during pre-marital counseling, and it’s a good reminder for all of us.
When you married, you gave up all rights to be selfish. From the moment you were joined in matrimony, you made a commitment to put the needs of your spouse ahead of your own preferences and conveniences.
From that point on, the question shouldn’t be, “what’s in it for me?” but rather, “what’s in it for her?” or “what’s in it for him?”
And kids into the mix, and all of a sudden, your agenda gets pushed down even further.
And you thought it was bad when all you had was a cat!
Your priority is to take care of your family before yourself.
That’s part of what considering others better than yourself is all about.
“But what about me?” Well, what about you?
You know who the most selfish people in the world are? Babies. Really. All they can think of is themselves? Right?
No baby I have ever seen has said, “I have some needs here – I’m hungry and my diapers full – but hey, Mom, I’ll just chill until after your nap, okay?”
No! They squawk and yell and scream.
Now that’s understandable for babies – they don’t know any better. But if you claim to be a grown-up, then you do know better, and the Bible says we need to put the needs of others before our own.
Here’s the fourth and most important instruction from this passage about putting others first:
4. Follow the example of Jesus.
Why do you think I would consider this to be the most important instruction?
Because in all things we are commanded to reflect the love and priorities of Jesus. In our work, in our play, in how we handle money, in our families, and everything else.
And just what is the example of Jesus? We find it back in verses 5-11. Please allow me to read this again –
5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We just talked a bit ago about the fact that selfishness and self-importance are not Christlike attitudes.
Jesus took His eyes of His own glory – glory He deserved and will deserve forever and ever.
He took His eyes off that and looked at what we needed.
That’s the example I want you to catch today. He took His eyes off his own glory and acted on the needs of other people.
Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to set aside your convenience, your preferences, your agenda for the sake of others?
Are you willing to be a living example of the love and priorities of Jesus? His example is worth imitating.
And not just the example of Jesus, but also His words. I think we’re all familiar with the Golden Rule from Matthew 7:12 –
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
I think it’s pretty clear – putting others first is what Jesus did, and we need to do the same thing.
Conclusion
For us to really put others first and bring unity for the Body of Christ, we need to be people who are surrendered completely to Christ.
I’d like to finish our time this morning with an illustration that I hope will help drive this home a little.
Have you ever seen a military officer decked out in their dress uniforms?
The uniform is very crisp, decorated with medals and ribbons.
But there is something else they have – a sword.
That sword isn’t just a decoration. Not by a long shot, nor more than the medals and ribbons are mere decorations.
The sword is a symbol of authority.
When an officer surrenders to an enemy, what do they do? They hand over their sword, in submission.
Here’s the fifth instruction: hand over our sword. We are servants, not officers. Servants don’t carry swords.
We need to hand over our sword. Not to an enemy, but to the King.
When we give up the sword, we give up the “right” to being selfish and self-serving. But when we give up that right, we become a person who becomes more concerned with the needs of others and the cause of Christ.
So as we close I want to take a couple of moments and invite you to do something with me.
I want us to close our eyes and ask the Holy Spirit to tell us if there is anything there is any sword you need to surrender.
A few months ago, I was in prayer, and the Spirit spoke to my heart about something that I had not been willing to give up. And what I needed to give up was my agenda for this church.
Not that I feel that I was wrong in the direction I believe God wants us to go, but I needed to hand over control of that direction. I needed to hand over my plans and ideas.
Let me tell you, that wasn’t easy. But I knew I needed to do it.
So I drew a sword on a piece of paper, wrote the word, “agenda” on the blade, and as I prayed, I just extended my hands with the piece of paper, symbolizing my surrender to God.
Now I’m not going to ask you to draw a sword or anything like that. But I do want to take a moment here and allow you to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you anything you need to surrender.
What is there in your life that’s in the way of putting others first and reflecting the attitude of Christ for others?
What is there that’s in the way of you living for Christ all the way, 24/7?
Hand over the sword. Until you do, you’ll never know the benefits and joys of possessing the attitude of Christ who considered the needs of others above His own.
As the Holy Spirit speaks to you, then in your mind and spirit, hand over that sword.
Let’s take a few moments, and then I’ll close in prayer before Lowell comes up to lead us in our closing chorus.
