I have
no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. Phil 2:20
We meet two friends of the Apostle
Paul in this last half of chapter two. These were men who quite unconsciously
displayed the character of Jesus Christ — excellent examples of all Paul has been
writing about.
First we meet Timothy. As Paul writes
about him, we see that the underlying quality that marks this man is Jesus
Christ. We see that Timothy is an exceptional man. Paul says, “I have no one like him.” Wouldn't you
like to have that written about you? There were many things at which Timothy
did not excel. With his frail body,
he wasn’t much of an athlete. He could very easily have been beaten at sports,
or possibly surpassed in learning. But there was one area where no one even
comes close to this man, and that’s in his selfless care — his demonstration of
genuine concern for the welfare of others. Here he’s demonstrating that
peculiarly Christian virtue, that distinctive mark of the presence of Christ
within: selflessness! That’s what the
Lord Jesus said of himself, “Learn from
me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” (Matt 11:29)
Most of us think of meekness in terms of weakness. We picture some spineless,
Casper Milquetoast who lets people walk all over him. But of course that
description would never apply to Jesus. What did he mean when he said, “I am meek”? It means he was willing to
receive injury without resentment and praise without pride. That’s what set
Timothy apart — his deep and genuine concern for the needs of others, no matter
the cost to him.
The only one to whom Christ's business
was his business was Timothy. You can
imagine what an encouragement he must have been to the apostle's heart as he is
longing to send someone to the Philippians to help them with their problems,
and everyone turns him down simply because of their own selfish concerns. But
Timothy says, “All right, Paul, I'm ready to go — any time, any place,
anywhere!” No wonder he was always a channel of God’s power wherever he went — he
saw himself as an instrument of God's grace. As such, Timothy was an excellent
example of the attitude Paul has been urging the Philippians themselves to
adopt.
Prayer: Father, teach me to me a person who genuinely cares for the welfare of
others, and is willing to demonstrate that care in selfless acts of service.
Amen.
In your
relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. Phil. 2:5
From Guest Blogger Jim Wiebel:
Now we come to what is one of the
most breath-taking passages in all of Scripture. You might say this is the Mt.
Everest among the mountain peaks of revelation concerning the person of Christ —
the amazing story of how the eternal Son of God stepped out of eternity into
time and became a man, as God always intended man to be. These few short verses
capture some of the most amazing truths that have ever been written.
Lest we be tempted to remove this
passage from its context, however, we must never forget that it’s set against
the background of two quarreling ladies in the church at Philippi. That quarrel
was threatening to destroy the unity of the whole church. The apostle has made
it clear that the secret of maintaining unity is humility. Wherever there is contentiousness, it’s a sure sign that
pride is at work. Pride — whether in
a person’s life, or a family, a church, a government, or a whole nation — always
divides, destroys, and perpetuates conflict of every sort.
Paul’s antidote to quarreling — the
only path to peace, in fact — is to seek the path of humility. When tempers are
hot, passions are aroused, and patience is strained, how can you get people to
calm down and start thinking about a humble attitude? How do you stop the urge
to defend yourself, and the stubborn insistence of what we call our “rights”?
The answer is in this marvelous passage concerning Christ.
Unlike cult heroes of every age,
whose success stories follow a pattern from “rags
to riches,” Jesus’ “success story” was just the opposite: “riches to rags.” And in that story of
“downward mobility,” Paul is challenging us to rethink our whole picture of God
around Jesus. This is a God who is known most clearly when he abandons his
rights for the sake of the world. Yes, says Paul; and that’s “the mind of Christ” — that pattern of
thinking that belongs to you because
you belong to him! And if you are
truly living “in him” and by his kind of life, the exhortations of verses 1-4 (yesterday’s
post) suddenly make a
lot more sense!
Prayer: Forgive me, Father, for insisting on “my way” and “my rights” so much
of the time. Give me the mind of Christ, so that I might live to serve others
in his name and so fulfill my calling as your dear child, just like Jesus.
Amen.
#Uncommon
Therefore
if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ...then make my joy
complete by being like-minded... Phil. 2:1-2
From Guest Blogger Jim Wiebel:
We sat in our seats listening to the
orchestra tuning before the performance was about to begin. Musical notes in
several different keys filled the air from the strings, wind instruments,
brass, and percussion. It was the musical equivalent of running your fingers
down an old chalkboard, though only slightly less ear-piercing!
After a minute or so, the lead
violinist stood and offered a single note. Within a few seconds, all the other
musicians began playing that same, simple “A” on their instruments…harmony at
last! What followed was an outstanding performance of “Carmen” by the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra, with all
instrumentalists doing their part to beautifully accompany the huge community
chorus standing behind them. A wonderful musical experience, indeed, for all of
us who filled the PAC that evening! It was like watching a highly complex piece
of machinery with all its cogs and wheels working together in perfect harmony.
That’s a bit like what Paul is urging
on the little church in Philippi. On stage, the musicians were not out for
their own individual glory at each other’s expense. If one single musician had
tried to steal the limelight from the others, the whole thing would have fallen
apart. It only worked because everyone was working together with the same
object in mind: to present the very best performance for their audience. That’s
how Christ intends his church to act, as well: Unity in Everything!
Then Paul tells us how to do it. “Hold on to the same love; bring your
innermost lives into harmony; fix your minds on the same object. Never act out
of selfish ambition or vanity; instead, regard everybody else as your superior.
Look after each other’s best interests, not your own” (Phil. 2:2-4).
In other words, everyone must be
focused on something other than
themselves; and that something is Jesus
Christ himself — the King and Lord — under
whom “all things in heaven and earth are
going to one day be united!” (Eph. 1:10) In the next few verses (5-11), Paul will spell this out gloriously in a beautiful poem
about Christ himself. You can read about it in tomorrow’s post.
Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for the encouragement you offer us thru the example
of your own sacrificial love. May your Spirit help us to look out for each
other’s best interests, and not just our own. Amen.
#Uncommon
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourself.” Romans 12:10
From Guest Blogger Kathleen Lane:
“I demand my rights!” “Don’t shove me
around!” “I’m not going to let anyone step all over me!” Have you heard
comments like that? It is the common way
of the world to be concerned with our own rights. Even within the church power
struggles can arise as each person focuses on what he/she considers his/her own
rights and privileges, without regard for the rights and concerns of others.
But God has called us to a
transformed, uncommon way of life.
Instead of being concerned with “number 1,” we are called to be devoted to one another and to put others first. That means, in Christ, my
rights take a back seat to the rights, desires, and concerns of others.
The Greek word translated “be devoted”
in this passage, refers to a special kind of love, the kind of “tender
affection” members of a family have for one another. Christians are called to love one another —
to honor one another — because we are members of one family.
We are all members of God’s family
because of Christ’s devotion to us. He gave up His place and power so that we
could have a place in the family. He humbled Himself to be born of a woman, born
under the law to redeem us that we might receive the full rights of sons and
daughters (Galatians 4:4-5). There was no power struggle — only
humility and devoted love.
Having rights as God’s sons and
daughters, being loved by Him, transforms us to humbly devote ourselves to
others and to honor them. We can look
at the person beside us with the eyes of God seeing her as someone worth our
love and honor, simply because she is placed there by God. In God’s family, we
have the right and privilege to serve others and to give, rather than receive,
honor and recognition.
Reflect on
the “rights” you have as God’s child.
How can you
humbly honor others in your family? In
your workplace? In your
neighborhood? In your church?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You have
honored us above Yourself. Though we are not worthy, You have given us full
rights as God’s children. Lead us to use those rights in loving and honoring
others. Amen.
#Uncommon
Do not
think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with
sober judgment … Romans 12:3
We all know him. The guy who talks
about himself incessantly. Like the guy next to me on an airplane once. He went
on about himself for 45 minutes. I couldn’t get a word in. Finally, he paused
and asked, “So where did you say you’re from?” Just the mention of my hometown
reminded him of a trip there, which meant another 20 minutes of him talking about
himself!
Another man invited his boss to his
house for dinner with his family. All through supper the boss kept using this
phrase, “I am a self-made man.” Finally having enough, the employee’s daughter
leaned to her dad and said, “If he’s a self-made man, why did he make himself that way?!”
We don’t tend to like people who are
arrogant, puffed up, and full of themselves. We use a lot of unkind words like
pompous and conceited. Yet how often do we ourselves fall into the trap of
thinking of ourselves “more highly than we ought,” to use Paul’s phrase (Rom. 12:3)? When we have a disagreement with a
spouse, are we more interested in restoring peace … or being right and getting
the last word? When we face criticism, do we choose to take the heat … or do we
pass blame onto others? I believe that much of our criticism of others is much
more about making ourselves look better by comparison than it is about prompting
change.
The sad truth is that we often think
of ourselves too much and consider others far too little. But this should not
be the way of those who follow Christ. The common pattern of the world is to
elevate yourself and tear down others. The uncommon
way of Christ is to consider others better than yourself (see Philippians 2:3-8). Think about this: even Jesus Christ,
who was God Himself, did not think of Himself highly. He lived with extreme
humility and was even willing to die a humiliating, excruciating death —
putting Himself below, while lifting us up.
If we follow Christ we should have the
same humble posture. Rather than tearing others down, we are quick to
understand, slow to judge, generous with forgiveness, rich in showing love,
willing to serve, and sacrificial in lifting others up.
Prayer: Jesus, You gave me a
great example of humility. Help me to have sober judgment, thinking of myself
less and others more. Amen.
