"The Hard Work of Unity!"
Captivated by Christ: An expositional sermon series on Paul's Letter to the Church in Philippi (message #7)
Pastor Jerry Ingalls
May 30, 2010
Our Scripture lesson this morning demonstrates how Paul handles a divided faith community. A faith community divided at the heart-level of the preachers. Paul is describing the situation in Rome to the Philippians, but he is also teaching them (and us through the Holy Spirit) how they should respond when a similar situation occurs.
Jonathan P. to read the word of God from Philippians 1:15-18a (NIV): 15It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. [Prayer]
The reality is that this situation has fallen upon the church from the day that Paul recognized it in Rome in 61 AD to the present moment throughout the world, including Henry County, Indiana. Let's learn from Paul and apply three lessons on how we can engage the hard work of unity in our community.
First, WE WORK TOWARDS UNITY WHEN OUR MOTIVATION IS LOVE!
The context of our Scripture lesson is verse 14, "Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly." Paul then continues in verse 15-16, "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy [phthonon] and rivalry, but others out of goodwill [eudokian]. The latter do so in love [agape], knowing [eidotes] that I am put [keimai] here for the defense [apologia] of the gospel" (Philippians 1:15-16).
I'm shocked! Some of the preachers are acting more like politicians than shepherds! (ok…not really! J) The word of God was being spoken more courageously and fearlessly, but unfortunately some of that effort was for self-gain! We see here, already in the first century church, the contrast between 'careerism' and 'calling' within the preaching ranks!
It is very important for me to point out to you that Paul is not saying that either group is heretical or preaching a false Christ. When Paul deals with heretical preachers you know it! What we are dealing with is not the spirit of falsehood, but the spirit of division being fueled by wrong motivations!
We will address the first group (the politician-preachers) and their motivations in the next teaching point so let's first examine what Paul says are the motives of those who preach Christ with goodwill (the shepherds).
The Greek word translated goodwill is eudokian whose biblical usage is coupled with the Hebrew word rason which refers to the good pleasure of God; the divine good pleasure or the will of God. One group of preachers preach for their own glory, the latter group of preachers preach for the pleasure/will of God.
In verse 16, Paul emphasizes the pure motivation of these preachers; they preach Christ out of love, agape! This is a word that we have studied multiple times now between our studies of 1 John and Philippians. Agape is the purest sense of love that both characterizes who God is and all that flows from God—a selfless sacrificial love that is generous at all times. God is love! We love because God first loved us! For God so loved the world, that He gave… this is agape!
As Spirit-filled born-again followers of Jesus Christ, because the living God who is love lives in us, then our motivation at its deepest place should be love. Because we are filled with the One who is love, if we do not have love there is no evidence of God's indwelling presence!
Paul teaches in the very famous love chapter, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."
Paul is pointing out that you could have clear manifestations of the Spirit in your life and ministry (the gifts of languages or angelic tongues, the gifts of prophecy, wisdom, and knowledge, the gifts of faith or generosity), but if you do not have the very character of God in you in how you utilize them then those gifts are worth nothing!
If we are to work towards unity together, then our motivation must be God's love—a love that does not seek its own profit or reward. This brings us into further discussing the former preachers who are preaching out of rivalry and envy.
The second teaching point is, WE WORK TOWARDS UNITY WHEN WE HAVE A SINGLE FOCUS!
Philippians 1:17 describes, "The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition [eritheia], not sincerely, supposing [oiomenoi] that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains."
I intentionally made this teaching point into a positive action item for us, but based on our Scripture lesson I could have easily stated, "We work towards unity when we are not a double-minded people!" These are double-minded preachers! Their public lives war with their private lives and their tongues with their thoughts! Yes, they were preaching Jesus Christ, but at war with their love for God was the motivation of their own hearts which completely taints the sincerity of their preaching!
Friends, self-deception runs deep and is a cancer that breeds division in the name of Jesus Christ! Proverbs 4:23 teaches us, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."
If we are to have unity within the body of Christ then we cannot be torn between love and selfish gain. Our message is tainted when there is any other motive than love! UNITY IS HARD WORK FROM THE INSIDE OUT!!!!
In verse 15, we read that their motives were envy and rivalry towards Paul. The Greek word phthonon means more than envy, this words connotes that these preachers did not simply want what Paul had (his apostolic status and authority in the church), they desired to destroy Paul's credibility so that they could gain what they want (sounds like the playground at elementary school and continued antics in junior & senior high and unfortunately into adult life!).
Paired with the Greek word epis which means strife, discord, or contention we get a picture of preachers powerfully proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ tainted with some really negative words about Paul and his status as a prisoner. Yes, they were proclaiming Christ and for that Paul rejoiced, but they were double minded seeking their own selfish gain!
This picture is further clarified in verse 17 where Paul describes them as having a "selfish ambition" utilizing the Greek word eritheia. This word has in its sight a person who worked for pay; a careerist. This is a man who is out for office to magnify himself. The word conjures images of a politician canvassing for office. I guess thousands of years ago this image had negative connotations (unlike todayJ) because this word points to self-seeking and selfish ambition where as the motive was to advance oneself to an extent that their perceived well-intentioned ends justified the means.
Paul is not putting on a reactive smear campaign. In fact, he doesn't spill much ink at all over this topic, although I am sure he is personally disturbed by this kind of presumptuous behavior. No, Paul is reporting what is happening and will later build upon this contrast to orient the followers of Jesus Christ to always respond with the same attitude of Jesus Christ.
Leading into the famous Christ Hymn of Philippians 2, Paul further emphasizes how we should live as Christ-followers in a fallen world, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others" (Philippians 2:3-4).
Paul is modeling for us and calling us to respond to divisive people with the one singular motivation through and in which we are to do all things, we are to love them!
In 1 Corinthians 13:5, Paul teaches this about God's love [agape], "It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."
I can only imagine how deeply Paul was tested in his own convictions to live out what he preached! Only by the grace of God because of the Holy Spirit who lives in us! Paul did not fixate on their selfish motives, rather he returned everyone to the reason for our unity in the first place. Paul lifted the matter beyond personalities and methodologies to the single focus of Jesus Christ!
That moves us to our last teaching point: WE WORK TOWARDS UNITY WHEN JESUS CHRIST IS PARAMOUNT!
Our Scripture lesson ends with verse 18, "But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice" (Philippians 1:18a).
There is no unity when there is no unity in the truth!
We must have unity on the truth of Jesus Christ even though there is great diversity within who we are as Christ-followers! The gospel of Jesus Christ is our great ordering principle! All of us are in process; Christ is paramount! Let's keep our eyes on the One and not on the others!
Because here is the deep reality of what God is building amongst the raw material of our lives. From Ephesians 2:19-21 Paul exclaims, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord."
The imagery of "joined together" is of a master mason fitting stone after stone together, shaping each stone so that we fit together in perfect alignment built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ being the cornerstone! Everything is dependent upon Jesus Christ!
God is using us to build the temple, but do not lose focus that the temple will not stand without the chief cornerstone. Our commUnity is dependent on Jesus!
Paul later makes the same point, but instead of using a building image, he uses the body image. In Ephesians 4:15-16, Paul teaches, "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
We are the body, but do not lose focus that the body will not live without the Head, which is Jesus Christ! The body of Christ is dependent on Jesus!
True unity can only be built upon the One who is the Head of the body and the cornerstone of the temple of God! We must know who our unity is built upon and not presume that it can be found in any other way!
Paul states that the preachers who preached to God's good pleasure knew [eidotes] that he was put [keimai] in jail for the defense of the gospel. That word keimai has its original usage as a military term and means being under orders; Paul was put in jail as under orders issued by God. It was God's will for him to be where he was!
The faithful preachers whose motives were love knew Paul's apostolic authority and that his imprisonment was part of God's plan so they purposed their ministries to be in partnership with Paul's, not at odds. They worked for unity in hard circumstances trusting God's perfect will!
On the other hand, the preachers with selfish ambition presumed [oiomenoi] that Paul's imprisonment was a shameful thing and purposed their ministries to be opposed to Paul's. Why? Because they could not see God's good will in the face of difficult circumstances!
Difficult circumstances will come! Suffering is a part of the life of a Christ-follower in this life! We must purpose ourselves that God is working for our good pleasure in the midst of our difficulties and seek unity!
If we want unity we must stop presuming and start focusing ourselves in what we know is true! We cannot presume to know the future; we must make decisions based off of what we do know! Let me tell you what we need to hang on to for our very lives: We can know the paramount importance of knowing Jesus Christ! If you do not yet know Jesus Christ, then today you can know Him personally!
Paul witnesses in Philippians 3:8, "I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ."
Unity amongst Christ-followers must start at the heart level for each of us! The healing of the disease of division has to be achieved in spite of our imperfect sanctification on this side of heaven! The mandate of our unified fellowship is centered on the person and gospel of Jesus Christ and not on the secondary issues of church polity, worship expressions, generational music preferences, building design, or leader personalities.
For too long we have justified the disease of division in the forms of denominationalism, different services catering to music preferences (in the name of unity of course…everyone's happy!), and the limited concept of the body of Christ as the local congregation rather than the congregation of saints located within one geographical location. God is calling us to embark upon the hard work of unity, not only within our own church, but in our region.
Christ-followers of Henry County, God is calling us to be the house of reconciliation so that the world may know of the miracle of grace lived out through our unity within our diversity!
IT'S AMAZING WHAT GOD WILL DO IN AND THROUGH US IF WE CARE NOT WHO GETS THE CREDIT BUT THAT ONLY GOD GETS THE GLORY!
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