“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:1-5)
by Kevin Tse
In Roger’s update last month he excitedly revealed that we’ll be going over Paul’s letter to the church at Philippi for the upcoming new year in Single Life. When Roger first brought up the idea of going through the book of Philippians, I could tell he was really excited to share with us how God’s Word instructs us on how to live a joyful life in Him. But I know Roger is equally excited (and I am too) to go over passages like Philippians 2 where Paul reminds the church at Philippi how they ought to treat one another.
Paul reminds the Philippians that because of their common bond in Christ, and their confession of faith in the same Gospel, they ought to love one another as Christ did (v5). Paul outlines what sacrificial love looks like, which is to regard others are more important than yourself (v3). He reminds us also that we ought not to be selfish (v2), but that we ought to look out also for the interests of others (v4). I’m sure this is a section of scripture that is very familiar to us, and many of us have probably even heard it exposited before. But the challenge is always to put what you hear into practice. After all, a change of heart is only complete once we are obediently acting on the Word of God. As it pertains to Philippians 2, the question we have to ask ourselves is: “What am I doing to think of others ahead of myself?”
The new year is going to bring with it new comers. They’ll probably get the bulk of the attention since (generally) we all like to meet new people. We especially get excited to meet those who we could see spending time with outside of church because they share some common interest(s) with us. While taking the time to get to know new comers is a potentially good application of regarding another as more important than yourself, be careful not to only seek out those with similar interests and backgrounds. In fact, if you think about it, by only spending time with those who are like you, you have really done nothing sacrificial at all. You’ve merely found another way to love yourself, by surrounding yourself only with people who like the things you already like to do anyway.
This might sound like a harsh rebuke, and well….it is. We (myself included) all enjoy spending time with those who are similar to us. Ethnic churches, in large part, exist because people have a hard time relating to people who are different than them. Cliques often exist for the same reason, whether intentionally or not, and are a means of keeping others out of our exclusive club. If Christ loved even His enemies, we cannot claim to be living Christ-like lives if all we end up doing is loving others whom we find easiest to love.
True sacrificial love, which looks to the interest of others ahead of ourselves, is when we go out of our way to get to know somebody who is very different than us. They might look and dress kind of funny, smell a little nasty, or act with very awkward mannerisms. And yet, if they are in Christ, they have a common testimony of faith in the same saving Gospel. We need to love them as Christ has loved us (and we all know how unlovable we were before God saved us).
As we go through the book of Philippians, in addition to learning about how to be joyful in the Lord, I challenge us all to reach out to those whom we don’t know very well. This includes the new comers, but also the old timers. People who have been around at the church for a while who you still do not know (or choose not to hang out with because they’re different) are just as blessed by your sacrificial love as any new comer. Look to the interests of others ahead of yourself, and step out of your comfort zone, and go show love to somebody at church who you really don’t know well. Christ did this by humbling Himself, taking on the form of a man, and ultimately going to the cross to die for His enemies.
If we can all reach out to at least one person who we don’t know well this year, just think of how much encouragement we can spread through the Single Life ministry, and maybe even to the rest of the church.
“The Gospel Wins;” let’s show the world why it wins.