Getting Dressed from Christ's Wardrobe--1 Peter 5:1-5 (1 Peter Series)

            Every so often, I find myself thinking about the first person to try out some dangerous thing—like the first person to jump out of an airplane with a parachute. I wonder—was it hard to find someone who was willing to be the first person to do it? Or how about the first person to go under the ocean in a submarine? What did they have to do to convince that guy to get behind the controls of that thing?

            Sometimes when situations are particularly challenging or dangerous, it can be hard to find people who are willing to go first—people who will be out front and in the lead. The Church has found this to be true on occasion during times of persecution. Leaders can become a special target for persecution, so people might shy away from a leadership role or from leading with any real effectiveness.

            These believers that Peter was writing to in Asia Minor may have been facing that dilemma, which is perhaps why Peter’s thoughts turned toward the elders among the people in the passage we’re going to look at today.

Central Idea: To be a strong church in all seasons, each of us must be like Christ—some of us by leading, all of us by embracing humility.

1. Some of us by leading…

            This little word “so” in v. 1 has been fascinating me as I’ve been thinking about this passage. It tells us that what Peter is about to say to the elders is not a diversion from this whole discussion about persecution, but a logical extension of it. What is needed when a congregation finds itself facing persecution? Godly, Christ-like leadership.

            [READ vv. 1-2a] “Exercising oversight” is a summary of what elders are supposed to do, and “shepherding” is a picture of how elders are supposed to do it. The elders of a church are supposed to oversee every aspect of the life of that church. They can certainly delegate some responsibility to others, like deacons or other leaders, but to borrow that famous phrase from Harry Truman, the buck stops here! The elders are finally and ultimately responsible for the life of the church.

            Exercising oversight is what the elders are supposed to do, and they are supposed to do it the way that a shepherd would care for his flock. Shepherding back then was a job that has almost no exact parallel today. The shepherd would literally live with his sheep and look after their every need. Sheep were on the level of livestock, but maybe the best comparison to what that relationship was like is the way that we care for house pets today. We let them live with us and we look after their every need. We develop a personal bond with them and genuinely care for them.

            So elders are not supposed to lead in some kind of cold, detached, disinterested sort of way—our leadership is supposed to flow out of personal concern for the members of our church, built upon bonds of love. Peter then goes on to give three clarifications for how elders are supposed to go about their work.

            First, he writes, “not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you.” It might sound odd to think of an elder serving out of compulsion, but it does happen! For example, men become pastors for a variety of reasons, one of which might be pressure from others. Perhaps grandma has always dreamed of having a pastor in the family, and maybe no one really wants to do that, but one grandson jumps into it out of a feeling of obligation.

            Or perhaps a church’s constitution calls for a 5-man elder board, but only 4 willing elders can be found. What are you going to do then? The constitution says there has to be 5, so somebody might have to be pressured into it against their will. So a man could end up serving out of compulsion, but of course in that scenario his heart won’t be in it, so his effectiveness will be greatly limited.

            Peter’s second clarification is, “not for shameful gain, but eagerly.” A man should serve as an elder not because of what he might get out of it, but because of what he can give to others. An elder might receive financial support if he is also in the position of pastor, but this should not be his greatest motivation. He might also receive honor and praise from others, but he shouldn’t make those things the fuel of his service, either. He should be eager to serve, even if he gets no tangible benefits out of it.

            Third, Peter writes, “not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” An elder should draw people toward Christ by his example, not drag them toward his own agenda through manipulation or pressure. Too many men have looked at the church as a place where they can feed their own appetite for power and control over others, but a godly elder must not be that way. He must remember that he is shepherding the flock of God, not his own flock. The church is not his own little kingdom where he can rule like a dictator—it is the flock of God that is to be cared for lovingly and with tenderness.

            If an elder will serve in these ways, he stands to receive honor from none other than Christ himself [READ v. 4]. The chief Shepherd, of course, is Jesus Christ. He is the true shepherd of God’s flock – the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep, as he said himself in John 10. This fact is an encouraging reminder for elders, because we are not perfect in our role. But despite our imperfections, the chief Shepherd is always on the job overseeing his flock. And if we seek to serve him well in this position, we will receive unique praise and reward from him when he returns.

            So a congregation needs godly leadership to oversee its spiritual life, and this is perhaps doubly important when a congregation faces persecution. Those times can be very uncertain times, and the flock of God needs clear, compassionate, and Christ-like leaders to lead the way. The elders of the church can acknowledge this by leading in the proper way, and the congregation can acknowledge the importance of leadership by following the lead of their leaders!

            [READ v. 5a] Here, Peter is acknowledging the reality that typically speaking, elders are going to be among the older generations of the congregation. So he refers to the others as “you who are younger,” and he calls them to be subject to the elders.

            This does not mean that there should be an unquestioning obedience of the elders or some kind of cult-like following, but it does mean that the congregation should submit to the guidance and oversight of the elders. That decision is a very Christ-like attitude as well, because you may remember that Jesus has submitted himself to the leadership of God the Father. That is perhaps the primary reason that we refer to them as God the Father and God the Son, because of that relationship of leadership and submission.

            For the congregation to follow the lead of the elders is also a very humble response, which leads us right into Peter’s statement about humility at the end of verse five.

So to be a strong church in all seasons, each of us must be like Christ – some of us by leading, all of us by embracing humility.

2. …all of us by embracing humility.

            [READ v. 5b] This word picture of clothing ourselves with humility is so telling. When you see another person, perhaps the very first thing you notice about them is their clothing. Or if you’re trying to describe a person to someone else, one of the first things you might mention is that person’s clothing – “he’s the guy in the red shirt over there.”

            Your clothing is the most dominant feature of your appearance, and likewise, humility should be clear and obvious in the way that we relate to each other. The life of our church should not be characterized by power plays or ego trips but by serving one another and a refusal to think of ourselves as being more important and valuable than others.

            Humility is one of the most obvious ways in which we can imitate our Lord Jesus Christ. Every movement of his life was marked by humility. The decision to be born into this world in the first place was clothed in humility. Philippians 2:6-8 says that Jesus, “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

            Our Lord chose to be born into a family of simple peasants, common folk. Yes, they were in the royal bloodline of King David, but all the trappings of royalty had long since disappeared from their family. Our Lord then spent the vast majority of his life – 30 of his 33 years – living in humble obedience to his parents. And even after he had conducted his public ministry and become such a well-known figure, he could be found on the night before he died with a towel around his waist, washing the feet of his disciples – a task that was typically performed by the lowliest servant in a household. If there ever was a man who was clothed in humility, certainly was our Lord Jesus Christ. Reflecting on his life and actions will help us to know what such a life of humility looks like.

            And according to Peter in our passage for today, why must we clothe ourselves with humility toward one another? Because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. How sobering to think that God himself might oppose the life of our congregation rather than support it, but if we are a proud and arrogant people, that’s exactly what we might find! Like the prophet Balaam who set out to curse the children of Israel, we might find God blocking our way to hinder us from moving forward if we are acting in pride.

            At all times in the life of our church, Christ-like behavior must be on full display. That is especially important when pressure from outside the church might be making life hard for us. For some of us, acting like Christ will mean taking the lead by setting the example for others to follow and being the chief servants who are overseeing the life of the flock. For all of us, acting like Christ will mean embracing humility – wearing it like a beautiful garment that adorns everything we do. With spiritual health like that in our church, we can be certain that God will not be opposing us but sustaining us with his grace to do his will.

Extreme Makeover: Earth Edition--Isaiah Series

            Call me biased, but I don’t understand why some people can’t appreciate the beauty of Kansas. People who say, “there’s nothing to look at,” just don’t get it! When you can see for miles around you in every direction, there’s too much to look at, and that’s part of the beauty—being able to take in so much at once.

            Honestly, we can see beauty all over our planet—awe-inspiring, breath-taking beauty! But let’s pause and remember that our planet is under a curse from God. The same sky that gives us sunsets gives us tornadoes. How amazing is it that we still see such beauty in our planet even after it has been blemished because of mankind’s sin!

            As we have worked through the book of Isaiah, we have read numerous prophecies about a future kingdom in this world in which the effects of The Curse will be almost completely scaled back. Mankind will once again live at peace with God, each other, and the even the animal world, and we will behold this planet in all of the glory which God created for it. How amazing to think that the beauty of this world could get even better!

            As we close our study of Isaiah today, we will read one more prophecy about this extreme makeover along with one final warning about embracing God by faith before it is too late.

1. What’s the purpose of a kingdom of peace in this world?

            Before we jump into the text this morning, I’d like to briefly follow a rabbit trail and answer a question that may have come to your mind as we’ve been studying Isaiah. Over and over again, we have read prophecies about a time of blessing which I have interpreted to refer to a future kingdom that will be established in this world. We often refer to this kingdom as the “Millennium,” or the “1,000-year kingdom of Christ.” But not all Christians have interpreted these prophecies in the same way. Some groups and denominations have interpreted these prophecies as metaphors which refer to the spiritual blessings that we enjoy through Jesus Christ. So for example, they might interpret prophecies about peace among the nations to refer to peace among Christians today, or a prophecy about Israel being re-gathered to the Promised Land might be interpreted as a prophecy of God’s people being taken to their home in heaven. And so, some people have questioned what the purpose of a Millennium in this world would be. I would like to briefly give two answers to that question.

            A. To prevent Satan from having the final victory over Planet Earth

            As history stands today, Satan has delivered quite a blow to God’s creation by introducing sin into this world through mankind, which caused God to place a curse upon humanity and the planet in which we live. Now, if the history of our planet were to end this way, then Satan would have scored a final victory over Planet Earth by permanently disrupting God’s original plan for it.

            I don’t think the Lord has any intention of giving Satan the last laugh over this planet. That is part of the reason that I think these prophecies that we have read should be interpreted literally and not as metaphors. By establishing a kingdom of peace and righteousness in this world, God will fulfill His original plan for it and prevent Satan from having the final victory.

            B. To demonstrate God’s faithfulness to keep His word

            There can be little doubt that believers in the Old Testament expected God’s promises of blessing to be fulfilled literally. Thus, they were looking forward to a kingdom of peace and righteousness in this world. This was their hope for the future, but if the Old Testament prophecies were actually metaphors, then we must conclude that God allowed Old Testament believers to persist in believing something that was actually a false hope.

            In my opinion, this idea casts doubt upon God’s New Testament promises as well. If the Old Testament prophecies were metaphors, what guarantee do we have that New Testament prophecies are not actually metaphors as well? How would we know that statements about heaven aren’t really metaphors for simply ceasing to exist after we die?

            For the sake of God’s faithfulness to keep His word, I believe that the hope of Old Testament believers will be fulfilled literally; thus, there will be a kingdom of peace and righteousness in this world. Moreover, when we look at the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming into this world, we find that they were fulfilled literally. I believe this observation gives us every reason to think that prophecies about Jesus’ second coming will be fulfilled literally as well.

So with those thoughts in mind, I believe the description that we read in the latter half of chapter 65 is a description of a time that will literally come to pass in this world.  Let’s take a look at this description.

2. God will roll back the effects of The Curse in almost every way (65:17-25)

            The Lord begins v. 17 by saying, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.” That phrase might sound familiar, especially if you have read the book of Revelation. The apostle John uses the same phrase in Revelation 21:1 as he starts to describe our eternal home with God. However, John and Isaiah must be describing two different points in the future because in Isaiah’s description, as we’ll see, there is still the life cycle of people being born and people dying. Birth and death will not occur in our eternal home with God, so Isaiah is apparently describing “phase one” of a two-part reconstruction of our world. This first phase will occur during Christ’s kingdom on earth as virtually all of the effects of The Curse will be removed. Let’s highlight a few parts of this description.

            A. Humanity will enjoy peace and gladness (65:18-19, 21-23)

            Human beings were not created to be at odds with each other, and we see here that peace will prevail during this time [READ 65:18-19, 21-23].

            B. Long life spans will be the norm (65:20)

            This future kingdom will present an interesting situation. We will live in this kingdom, but we will already have our heavenly bodies—the same kind of body that Jesus had after He rose from the grave. If you remember our study from a few weeks ago, we noted that we will be taken out of the world at the Rapture and given our heavenly bodies at that time. Later, we will come back to the world with Jesus to live here with Him during this kingdom.

            So we will no longer face death, but there will be some people who have lived on earth right up to the start of Jesus’ kingdom. These people will still have their earthly bodies, so they will continue to have children and they will continue to die. But apparently, long life spans will once again be the norm, as they were in the early chapters of Genesis [READ 65:20].

            C. People will enjoy close communication and fellowship with God (65:24)

            In Genesis 1-2, we read about Adam and Eve enjoying unhindered fellowship with God. This kind of intimacy will exist between God and man once again [READ 65:24].

            D. Peace will reign among animals and between animals and men (65:25)

            We read a virtually identical prophecy back in chapter 11, and now the Lord restates it through Isaiah here at the end of the book [READ 65:25].

Once again, we find so much to look forward to as we contemplate this future kingdom which Christ will establish in this world.  We will bask in all that is good about this world with virtually none of these things which are bad! This time will be a thorough foretaste of our eternal home with God, but as the Lord has repeatedly warned us, we must embrace Him from the heart by faith if we want to enjoy these blessings. The fate of those who reject Him will be far different, so in chapter 66…

3. God issues a final warning and promise of blessing (66:1-24)

            In the first part of this chapter, the Lord issues a final warning against the idolatry and hypocritical worship of some of the people. He warns them that they better not think of Him the way they think about their idols [READ 66:1-2a]. These verses are a subtle jab against the mindset of idolatry. Idol worshipers approached worship with the idea that they were doing favors for their god. It was an “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch my back” kind of mindset. But God goes on to stress that such a mindset doesn’t fly in true worship of Him [READ 66:2b].

            The Hebrew term for “humble” in this verse conveys the idea of spiritual poverty. This is the humility that acknowledges that I have absolutely nothing I could use to gain God’s favor. This attitude says, “I am spiritually bankrupt;” I have no spiritual “currency,” so to speak, that would allow me to get anything from God. This is the attitude of the person who truly embraces God by faith. As the hymnwriter put it, “nothing in my hands I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.”

            God makes it clear that anyone who would worship Him with the attitude that he is doing God a favor which God must then repay is actually offering God something that is offensive to Him [READ 66:3-4].

            My friends, we must understand that God is not fooled by hypocritical worship. If we think that we are doing God a favor by showing up at church or putting Him under obligation to us by putting some money in the offering plate, we better think again! True worship of God flows from the understanding that I am in complete spiritual poverty, yet through Christ, God has lavished upon me the riches of His grace.

            So much more could be said about this marvelous book of Scripture. Even in this long series of sermons, we have barely scratched the surface of the depths of insight in this book. Perhaps the central lesson that we should take with us from this study is that a vastly different fate awaits those who embrace God through Jesus by faith and those who do not. Some of the people in Israel thought they were okay with God because they were born in the right family or because they did the right religious activities. We must not fall into the same error! Being born into a Christian family does not make you right with God; attending church every Sunday does not make you right with God. We can only become right with God by confessing that we are sinners who deserve His wrath, and expressing our faith in Him by believing that Jesus paid the full price for our sins through His death on the cross and proved it by rising from the grave. We must each personally embrace that gift of salvation in order to be right with God. I urge you to do so today!

What Did Jesus Do?--Philippians 2:5-11

In most areas of life, we learn best when we can learn from the example of someone else. As infants, this is how we learn all of the basic skills of life. At that age, we obviously couldn’t pick up a book and read about how to do something—we had to watch other people in action and then imitate them. So one day as we were crawling around on all fours, we noticed the people around us walking, so we decided to give it a try. We heard the people around us talking, so we started to imitate their noises.

Later, when we’re a bit older and we’re ready to start playing sports, our parents and our coaches take us out on the field and show us how to play the game. They don’t sit us down with a book and say, “Here—read this. You’ll figure things out!” No! They model the motions for us and patiently work with us when we kick the ball a dozen different directions before we finally get it right!

Even after we’ve grown up, following someone else’s example is still the most effective way to learn many things. That’s why when a person wants to learn a trade, he has to serve as an apprentice for a while. The apprentice watches the master tradesman and learns how to hold the tools and how to handle the materials. Even in the professional world, a person is often asked to serve an internship before he or she is hired on as a full employee.

So it should be no surprise that the Bible calls us to learn in our spiritual lives by imitating others. And more than anyone else, the Bible calls us to imitate Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, we have a most profound example. Before Jesus, God could only ask us to “Do as I say.” God had not stepped into humanity with its frailties and temptations. But after Jesus, God can now ask us to “Do as I say AND as I have done.” Jesus has shown us a perfect human life, and has left us an example to follow as seek to live for God’s glory.

In our study of the book of Philippians today, Paul is going to call us to look to the example of Jesus to see what it means to have humility of mind. As we look at what Paul has to say, I want to focus your thoughts on this question:

What does Jesus’ example teach us about having humility of mind?

Would you turn with me please to Philippians 2:5–11? In verses 1–4, Paul called the Philippians to live with the same mindset toward one another. He pointed out the basis for their unity in their common experience with Christ, and he noted that the path to this kind of unity comes through cultivating humility of mind. Now he is going to point us to Jesus to see what it looks like to have humility of mind [READ 2:5–11].

Now over the years, theologians have probably used up an entire rainforest’s worth of paper in writing about just these verses. And there is a lot for theologians to write about when you look at what these verses say about Jesus, His relationship to God, and what took place when He stepped into humanity. Paul does use some very precise and careful language that offers a lot of food for thought, but its clear that his intent in these verses is not to give a theological lecture, but to use the example of Jesus to show us what it looks like to have humility of mind. So that will be our focus today as we answer the question—what does Jesus’ example teach us about having humility of mind?

I. We are not to cling to our own rights and privileges at the expense of the interests of others (2:5–8)

First, let’s break down what Paul says in verses 5–7 [READ vv. 5–7]. This is where theologians have spilled most of their ink over the years, in analyzing the language of these verses. And it is important for us as well to wade a little ways out into these deep waters, so let’s give these verses a little attention.

Now at the most basic level, Paul is making a simple contrast here, and his contrast is this—even though Jesus is equal to God, that fact didn’t keep Him from being willing to become a human and to serve humanity. Now Paul’s language is a bit more technical than that, so let’s take a closer look at it. If we can set aside the last part of v. 6 for just a moment, then Paul’s language reads like this: “although Jesus existed in the form of God, He emptied himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men.” Those last two phrases explain how Jesus “emptied” himself, so we can read it as “he emptied himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being made in the likeness of men.”

Now the technical term that sets up the contrast in these verses is the word “form.” What does it mean that Jesus existed in the form of God but then took on the form of a bond-servant? The Greek word that lies behind the word “form” refers to the external appearance of something which reveals its inner nature. So the contrast deals with how Jesus chose to externally express his inner nature. Apparently, before the Son of God came into this world his external appearance was that of a bright and dazzling light. We actually see a glimpse of that appearance in the event known as the Transfiguration in the Gospels, where Jesus allowed his disciples to see a bit of his glory. But when the Son of God came to earth, he externally expressed his inner nature by being human and becoming the servant of humanity. Thus, when people looked at Jesus during his earthly life, they saw simply an ordinary man. They didn’t see a man with a halo around his head or anything like that—they just saw an ordinary man. In fact, the prediction about Jesus in Isaiah 53:2 says, “he had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.”

What an indescribable step down that Jesus was willing to take! Paul describes this here as “emptying himself.” I think the King James Version says it best when it says, “he made himself of no reputation”—that’s exactly what he did! It is staggering to think about how God himself chose to enter this world. Theoretically, he could have been born as a prince and lived in a palace. But he chose to be born to peasants who lived in a backwater town, in a country that wasn’t even free. His parents were too poor to offer the normal sacrifice that Jewish parents offered for their newborn children, so they had to offer the sacrifice prescribed for the poor. He wasn’t from a well-known family; he wasn’t from the priestly tribe. For the vast majority of his life he worked hard with his hands in a blue-collar job. He never owned a home and probably never had more than a few pieces of clothing.

What kind of attitude did the Son of God have that made him willing to do all of this? What mindset did he have, which we are called to imitate? It is described here at the end of v. 6—“he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,” or we might say “a thing to be held on to no matter what” or “a thing to be kept for personal gain.” You can almost picture a selfish child grabbing something and saying, “MINE!” That wasn’t Jesus’ mindset—when he considered his rights and privileges as God, he placed them below the best interests of his creatures. He didn’t consider his equality with God something to be exploited for his own benefit; rather, he considered his position to be a unique platform for service.

What a lesson for us about how we should view our positions and our rights and privileges. If I can think of this in the context of the church for a moment, it strikes me how easy it is to feel a sense of entitlement based on our positions within the church. Pastors can succumb to this temptation. We can start to feel entitled to many different things—maybe a nice salary, maybe unquestioning respect, it could be a lot of different things. You could succumb to this temptation if you’ve donated a lot of money to a church. You could start to think that your opinion should carry more weight than someone else’s because you’ve given more money. You could succumb to this temptation if you’ve taught Sunday School or lead some kind of program for a long time. There could be many different positions where we would feel this mindset of entitlement creeping in.

A feeling of entitlement is a sickness in the soul, and it is precisely the opposite of the mindset of Jesus. He was willing to lay aside his own rights and privileges to pursue what was in our best interest, and v. 8 describes the extent to which he was willing to go to serve us [READ v. 8]. Jesus paid for our sins by submitting to the most horrific and shameful method of execution that humanity has ever devised. The people of that time thought that there was nothing more humiliating than being crucified. The Roman orator Cicero once described what the Romans thought of crucifixion. He stated, “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.”*

The first thing that the example of Jesus teaches us about humility of mind is that it calls us to see to it that we don’t think of our own rights and privileges as being so important that we’re not willing to lay them aside to pursue the best interests of other people. And the second lesson is equally important and serves as a strong motivator for us to have humility of mind.

II. We can expect God to honor our willingness to humble ourselves (2:9–11)

In verses 9–11, we see how God the Father responded to the mindset and actions of Jesus—he responded by honoring his Son and giving him the name or the title of “Lord.” [READ vv. 9–11] These verses seem to tell us of a time in the future when all beings will have no choice but to admit that Jesus Christ is Lord—whether they like it or not! The book of Revelation tells us that human history is going to play out in such a way that Jesus will be vindicated, and his lordship will be evident to all beings.

So we can see here how God the Father honored Jesus for embracing a humble mindset and then acting upon it. But perhaps you’re thinking, “Okay, Tim—you just said that we can expect God to honor our willingness to humble ourselves. Where are you getting that from?” Well, it’s actually a consistent theme of Scripture that God will honor those who choose to humble themselves. Let me take you on a little tour of the Bible here so we can see how often this theme comes up. We won’t go around the world in 80 days, but we’ll go around the Bible in 10 or so minutes here to see how often God states that he will exalt those who humble themselves. Turn with me first to Prov. 18:12 [READ Prov. 18:12]

Then over to Prov. 22:4 [READ Prov. 22:4]

Then one more verse from Proverbs, Prov. 29:23 [READ Prov. 29:23]

Now turn over to the book of Isaiah and find Is. 66:1–2. These verses describe how God, as our Creator, cannot be contained by anything in his creation, but they also give a beautiful statement about which of his creatures he will take notice of [READ Is. 66:1–2]. What a great contrast in these verses! Here is God, so high and exalted, yet he takes notice of those who are humble and lowly.

Next, turn to the gospels and find Matthew 23:8–12. Just prior to this, Jesus is talking about the Pharisees and is describing how they love to be recognized and honored by other people, and then he says in v. 8 [READ Matt. 23:8–12]

Then over in Luke 18:10–14, Jesus tells a parable to teach this same lesson [READ Luke 18:10–14]

Then finally, just one passage from the epistles—1 Peter 5:5–6. In the context, Peter is giving instructions to different groups of people within the church. He says in v. 5 [READ 1 Peter 5:5-6]

So as you can see, over and over again we see this idea popping up in Scripture—that God will respond to the humble by giving them honor. What irony there is in this gift of grace! If we choose not to exalt ourselves, God will choose to exalt us at the proper time. Now of course, the proper time will be in his time—it may not even be until we receive our rewards after this life. But God will always be true to his promises.

So from the example of Jesus, we learn that we are not to cling to our own rights and privileges at the expense of the interests of others, and we can expect God to honor our willingness to humble ourselves. This is the mindset that we must embrace if we desire to have the unity that Paul has been calling for us to have so far in Philippians 2. If we choose instead to press for the rights and honors that we think we deserve from others, we will find ourselves to be a divisive factor within the church, unable to let go of the insults we think we’ve received from others who won’t show us the honor we think we deserve. Jesus shows us another way—the way of service, the way of self-sacrifice for the benefit of other people. Let’s choose to embrace his mindset.


*Quoted by Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdman’s, 1995), 217.

Minding Each Other's Business--Philippians 2:1-4

Frank Sinatra is probably one of the most well-known singers of the last century. He had numerous hit songs during his career, and even though many of us didn’t live through his peak years, we can probably sing a few lines of his songs. One of his best-loved songs is a song called “My Way.” Let me read some of the lyrics of that song, and as I do I want you to think about the attitude that this song expresses. The song starts like this: “And now, the end is near/ and so I’ll face the final curtain/ My friends, I’ll say it clear/ I’ll state my case of which I’m certain/ I’ve lived a life that’s full/ I’ve travelled each and every highway/ And more, much more than this/ I did it my way.” Then after a couple more stanzas, the song ends with these words: “For what is a man? What has he got?/ If not himself, then he has naught/ To say the things he truly feels/ And not the words of one who kneels/ The record shows I took the blows/ And did it my way.”

Now I don’t intend to psychoanalyze Frank Sinatra here, but this song seems to capture a spirit of individualism and self-determination that we really prize in our culture. We celebrate people who seem to live life by their own rules, people who seem to be able to handle anything that comes their way simply through self-reliance. We cheer on TV and movie heroes like The Lone Ranger, Rambo, Wonder Woman, James Bond, and Jack Bauer.

But did you ever stop to think that even The Lone Ranger had a sidekick? Even Batman had Robin; James Bond always had Q inventing new gadgets that allowed him to do his work. So even when we’re creating characters who are the epitome of the solitary hero, we still can’t get away from the reality that these heroes need other people in order to carry out their work.

So the old cliché is proven true once again: “No man is an island.” We can never get away from the fact that we need each other, and we need to work together with other people in order to accomplish anything in this world. This fact is not simply true in a church, but in fact the church was designed this way by God. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul likens the church to a human body, with the idea being that we all have different abilities and functions, but nevertheless we form one cohesive group that only works when it works together.

In our study of Philippians today, we are going to hear another call to unity from the apostle Paul. In last week’s passage, Paul urged the Philippian believers to stand together like teammates in light of the opposition that they were facing. Today, we are going to see Paul describing the basis for their unity and telling them how they can achieve it. I hope you’ll see clearly today that:

Humility based on our common experience with Christ is the blueprint for unity.

Would you turn with me please to Philippians 2:1–4? In these verses, Paul is going to make a personal appeal to the Philippians based on their mutual relationship with him and with the Lord Jesus Christ. The result is a passionate appeal for unity. Let’s see what he has to say [READ 2:1–4]

In these verses, Paul outlines for the Philippians the basis for their unity and the path that will get them there. Let’s take a look at those two things. First, the basis…

I. Our common experience as Christians is the basis for our unity (2:1–2)
In verses 1 and 2, we find a loaded “if-then” statement from the apostle Paul. The force of this statement is to show us that the logical conclusion from our common experience in Christ is to live in unity with each other. Unity has to be based on some kind of common ground, and Paul is going to remind us that we have all the common ground we need.

Paul begins by connecting this “if-then” statement back to what he had just written about their suffering. He states, “therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ.” The Philippians, you may remember, were facing some opposition from people outside the church, so they were in a situation where they could probably use some encouragement. Paul reminds them here that they can all find encouragement in Christ. Christ gave them all forgiveness and love and a reason to believe that one day things were going to be better, and they all had that encouragement in common.

Not only did they have that encouragement—they also had the consolation of love. Paul probably has in mind here the fullness of the Christian idea of love, that love is something we receive from God which enables us to share it with others. And he describes the product of that love as “consolation,” something that encourages us in the midst of an otherwise discouraging situation. It is something that lifts our spirits.

Then he continues on to write, “if there is any fellowship of the Spirit.” Again, he probably has the full idea of fellowship in mind here—that we all have fellowship with the Holy Spirit that serves as the basis for our fellowship with each other.

And then it seems that he appeals to their feelings for him. I think with this last phrase he is saying, “if you have any affection and compassion for me, then make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” So now his request comes in—he asks them to fill up his joy over them by being united with each other, and he describes that unity with several different phrases. First, he tells them to be of the same mind. Now I don’t think Paul is saying that they have to have exactly the same opinions about everything, because in Romans 14 he writes that Christians may legitimately have different convictions about certain things. Rather, he is calling them to have the same mindset or the same frame of mind toward each other, and he clarifies what that mindset is with the phrases that follow: it is a mindset that points us to love one another, to be like one in our spiritual lives, and to pursue the same purposes and goals in the body of Christ. This kind of mindset will serve to draw us together and keep us unified.

I believe we can think about this mindset in much the same way that a magnet works. I have a basic refrigerator magnet here; now you may remember how a magnet works from science class. It works basically like this: each atom that makes up the magnetic surface has a magnetic field around it. When you hold the magnet up in the air like this, the magnetic fields around the atoms all point their forces in different directions, but when you put the magnet close to a metal surface, all of those magnetic fields start to point in the same direction, which creates a force strong enough to make the magnet stick to the metal.

Now my point is this: if we can all cultivate a mindset toward each other that is pointed in a godly direction, then we’ll have a force that will pull us together—just like the magnet and the metal surface. But if you have a godly mindset toward me, and I have an ungodly mindset toward you, we won’t have that bond because we’ll be pulled in different directions.

And so to go back to Paul’s words here, if we can get our love for each other pointed in the same direction, and our spiritual lives pointed in the same direction, and our goals in the church headed in the same direction, then we will stand together with the same mindset. We will have that unity that he calls us to have.

And then, in the next couple of verses, Paul gives us what really appears to be the roadmap to finding this kind of mindset…


II. Thinking correctly about ourselves and others is the path to unity (2:3–4)
In the next two verses, Paul is going to tell us how to correct our mindset. First he tells us what to avoid—“Do nothing from selfishness (and we know that means to think only about yourself) or empty conceit.” The King James Version uses the word “vainglory” there, which is really a great description—this is an attitude where you’re trying to bring glory to yourself, but in reality you’re just being downright vain. You’re trying to heap praise on yourself that you really don’t deserve.

I imagine its pretty clear why those attitudes would be disruptive to our unity in the church—they would lead us to focus on ourselves. But Paul gives us the antidote in the next statement: “but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” Notice how Paul focuses on the mind in this passage—in v. 2 he calls us to “be of the same mind,” and now he calls us to “humility of mind.” I think he’s really emphasizing our thoughts here because the way that we think about each other makes a huge difference in the way that we act toward each other.

I don’t think we often do a great job of policing the way that we think about other people. It’s so easy to let our minds run wild with derogatory thoughts about others because we excuse ourselves by saying, “Well, I’d never actually say those things to so-and-so. I’d never tell them how I really think about them.” Well, maybe not, but we have to realize that even though we may not act out in hurtful ways against someone, our thoughts about them may keep us from acting in helpful ways toward them. We may not actually tear them down, but we probably won’t find ourselves building them up either.

The way that we act toward other people is a battle that is won or lost in the mind. It is a battle that is waged long before our mouths start to speak, or before our hands and feet start to move. To change our actions we must change our thoughts, and that’s why Paul calls us to have “humility of mind.”

Now we need to make sure that we have the right idea about what humility means, because its easy to have wrong ideas about it. We often associate humility with tearing ourselves down or belittling ourselves. Think of it like this: suppose that I entered a contest and I won the opportunity to play a game of one-on-one against Michael Jordan. Then imagine that we got together to play our game and he beat 40–0. He stole the ball every time I had it, and he dunked on me every time he had it. Then imagine that afterward we sat down to have a Gatorade together and I said, “Well, Michael, its pretty obvious why they call you the greatest.” And then he says, “Oh, I don’t think I’m really very good at basketball. You probably just had a bad day; I’m sure you’re really a lot better than I am.”

Now some people would say, “Oh, what humility!” That’s not humility—that’s insanity! Humility does not mean that we have to pretend that we’re not talented at something. The best biblical description of humility that I know comes from Rom. 12:3, which says this: “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” Humility means that you think about yourself accurately, with sound judgment—not building yourself up too much, and not tearing yourself down.

So the humble person is one who thinks about himself accurately. And that means that humility requires us to think about our relationship to others accurately as well. So Paul warns us against our usual mindset in v. 4 [READ v. 4]. Our usual temptation is to think that our interests, our needs, our opinions are the only ones that matter, and that causes us to focus on ourselves to the exclusion of others. And when that happens, our mindsets start to point in opposite directions again—I’m focused on what seems best for me, and you’re focused on what seems best for you, and all of a sudden we’ve lost that Godward focus that pulls us together.

So to live in humility of mind means that we need to think accurately about ourselves and others. We can remember that we’re valuable in God’s eyes—there’s nothing prideful about that. Yet at the same time we must remember that we are not more valuable than the people around us. We are called to love them as we love ourselves, so a humble mindset calls us to focus on being servants of others for their benefit and well-being.

If we are going to live in unity as a congregation, we must remember that our common experience as Christians gives us a solid basis for unity, and a humble mindset toward each other is the path that will get us there. We must think correctly about ourselves and each other, and a vital factor in the way that we think about ourselves is what we think about our relationship with God. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you need to realize something very important about your relationship with God. The Bible says that humanity was created in the image of God, with a deep and intimate relationship with Him. But rather than live to serve God, we decided to serve ourselves; we have rebelled against Him and turned our backs on Him, and the Bible calls that sin. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Our relationship with God has been broken because of our actions, and because of that we are estranged from God in this life, and we run the risk of being separated from Him for all of eternity if we pass away in this condition.

But because of God’s love for us, He didn’t want things to remain this way. So He decided to do something for us that we could not do for ourselves—He decided to provide a payment for our sins, to send His Son Jesus into this world, God taking on humanity and dying in our place on the cross, then rising from the dead on the third day so that we might have the hope of eternal life. God now offers that hope to us as a free gift—if we will place our faith in Jesus as our Savior, he will forgive us of our sins and restore our relationship with Him, so we can enjoy the relationship with Him that we were meant to have, both in this life and the next.

If you have realized today that you have never accepted God’s gracious gift of forgiveness by faith, you can do that right now by placing your faith in Jesus Christ, believing that he has done everything that was necessary to pay for your sins.