Unity Of Attitudes - Philippians 4:1-2 Series

Philippians 4:1 Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends! 2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Introduction

Imagine for a moment that you are living in Philippi in the first century and your name is Syntyche. One day there’s a big commotion outside and you go out and see - he’s back! Epaphroditus is back! When he left to go bring the gift to Paul in Rome, you thought you would never see him again - especially later when you heard he was on his deathbed. But, obviously, he recovered and now here he is! And he’s going through town holding up his backpack, “Hey everybody – I’ve got a letter from Paul!” Wow. The apostle wrote us a letter! This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened in this town. So everybody gathers in the church. People have come from miles around, there is standing room only, everybody’s crammed in there on the edge of their seat waiting to hear the inspired, sacred words of the apostle. Honestly, you are actually a little uneasy about going because you knew Euodia would be there, and you and she … Let’s just say things aren’t great between you. But you’ve got to hear this letter, so you go. And they start reading it and it’s amazing. It’s unlike any letter you’ve ever heard in your life. It’s great to hear about Paul and how he’s doing, and all these glorious truths about Christ and about the gospel - it’s just amazing. So you’re sitting there, enraptured with the whole thing, and then all of a sudden you hear your name … from the platform! It’s in the letter!

2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.

Whoa – direct hit. Can you imagine – all the people turning around and looking at you?

The Command: Unity

Urgency

Does this seem a little strange to you, that Paul would do that? After the incredibly lofty heights of doctrine and glorious eternal revelations about the gospel and the glories of the Second Coming that Paul just laid out in chapter 3, why would Paul take up space in the Word of God to hand out a spiritual traffic ticket to a couple women who aren’t getting along? Doesn’t he have bigger fish to fry than that? There are heretics out there. There are false teachers. This church was being persecuted by the government and others. And Paul wants to talk about a couple of church ladies who are having an argument?

Why does this deserve space on the pages of the Word of God? Paul gives it space because a conflict between just two people in a church will affect the whole church. What starts out as a small personal conflict can end up being a divisive crisis in the church. There’s a disagreement, it doesn’t get resolved, and the next thing you know people are drawing up sides – usually not so much on the facts, but based on who they like.

“Oh, my friend is on her side? Well then, I’m on her side too.”

And the congregation starts to part like the Red Sea. Two people fighting can ruin a church, and a ruined church will impact the kingdom of God. When a conflict isn’t dealt with biblically, feelings get hurt, edifying communication stops, other people get drawn in, sides start to form, and gossip takes off, and then both sides start attaching their opinions to Bible verses so they can say it’s a matter of principle, and now nobody can compromise and it’s a full-blown holy war. And it destroys peace and unity in the church. So Paul addresses it here because that’s his focus in chapter 4 – peace.

Peace

If the key words in chapter 1 were suffering and joy, and the key words in chapter 2 were humility and selflessness, and the key words in chapter 3 were loss, gain, running, and imitating, the key word in chapter 4 is peace. Paul wants to close out the epistle with a whole chapter about the peace of God that transcends human understanding. Most of the chapter is about inner peace – the peace of God that quiets your anxiety, fills you with joy, guards your heart and mind, and makes you content in any and every circumstance. But before getting to that inner peace, Paul wants to talk about peace in the church. That’s where he wants to start, because peace in the church is of surpassing importance to God.