Motivating Unity (Philippians 2:1-4)
Motivating Unity
Philippians 2:1-4
October 13, 2013
We have been studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians.
We know them to have been a faithful church,
And one that is faithful even in the midst of hardship.
If there is one issue in the Philippian church
It is that Satan was working to attack the unity of the church.
Really, the only negative vibe in the entire letter to the Philippians
Comes in chapter 4.
Philippians 4:2-3 “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Apparently these two women in the church were out of harmony,
And Paul not only encouraged them to get over it,
But even recruited two men in the church to help them do it.
And so of all the issues the Philippians faced,
A little discord proves to be about the only mark against them.
But honestly let’s admit that discord is no small matter.
Church dissension is no laughing matter.
Paul wrote about the importance of church unity in every letter he wrote.
And we know the reason it matters is because
OUR TESTIMONY HANGS UPON THE NAIL OF OUR BROTHERLY LOVE.
Jesus said it plainly:
John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 17:20-21 “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
Unity is important.
Now it is also important to give a much needed disclaimer about unity,
And that is that we are talking about Biblical unity, not just unity for unity sake.
The apostle John had a good handle on this.
He preached unity, he preached brotherly love,
But it always revolved around the truth.
1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”
John was clear.
He wanted fellowship, he wanted unity, but it had to be unity and fellowship with the Father first, and then with one another second.
That is the same implication he made in 2 John.
2 John 1 “The elder to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth,”
All who know the truth are in fact unified.
So when we are talking about Biblical unity
Just know that we are talking about unity in the truth.
Any unity apart from the truth is at the very least a club
And the very most an occult.
We want true Biblical unity centered on the truth of God
And true fellowship with Him.
And that is assumed here.
But once you have the truth, unity becomes of the utmost importance.
It is so important that the church not fracture and split
And become divided amongst itself.
It matters that we stand together.
We need one another.
Consider this verse:
Ephesians 4:15-16 “but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
Notice there Paul talked about a body,
And according to him every joint supplies something.
There are no expendable parts of the body of Christ.
And if any part is cast aside, then the body is handicapped.
We must be unified.
And if you will remember that is what Paul encouraged them to be
At the end of chapter 1.
Philippians 1:27 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;”
Twice in that verse Paul mentioned the necessity of unity.
You must stand firm together and you must strive together.
But whatever you do, you must do it together.
There must be unity.
There must be a solid front.
And so long as there is purity of doctrine and correct theology
There is no excuse not to have it.
Now there are reasons why at times we don’t,
And the main reason is selfishness.
Remember the Corinthians and their division?
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?”
The Corinthians fought because they were fleshly.
They were babies, they were immature, they were selfish
And that was the cause of their disharmony.
And the reality is that today
Very few people break fellowship over bad doctrine (when they should)
Scores of people break fellowship over bad attitudes (when they shouldn’t)
Well, Paul is writing to a church that is theologically sound.
So the issue isn’t doctrine.
And therefore there is no excuse for there not to be unity.
AND THAT IS THE POINT OF THIS PASSAGE.
For us, we learn the steps to achieve unity.
To be a unified church, it is extremely simple.
Three main things
#1 MOTIVES TO EXAMINE
Philippians 2:1
I really love this verse.
It is probably my favorite verse to fall back on any time there is discord
Because it so simply states the foundations for our unity.
If a believer can’t come back to these foundational truths
And be motivated to find unity
There is something foundational wrong with that person.
Now you will notice Paul gives four statements
And gives them all as “if” statements.
He does this so that you and I will evaluate each of these statements and determine if we find them to be true or false.
The implication being,
• If these statements are true, then we should be unified.
• If these statements are false, then I suppose unity is overrated.
1) “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ,”
To put it another way:
“If Christ is an inspiration in any way”
“If Christ is an encouragement to you”
He just told them up in verse 27 to be unified
And here he is giving the motivation and he wants to know
If Christ’s example has ever inspired you in this regard?
Has Christ inspired you to love your brother?
John 15:12-13 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
And obviously that was Christ.
Consider what Paul told the Ephesians.
Ephesians 2:11-14 “Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands — remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,”
What Christ did was the very basis of unity.
He made Jew and Gentile alike equally accessible to God.
His whole death was about unity.
To the Galatians Paul wrote:
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
• The death of Christ brought equality between Jew and Gentile
• The death of Christ brought equality between rich and poor
• The death of Christ brought equality between male and female
I mean all we have to do is open our eyes
And see that Christ brought unity.
But that is really what Paul is asking.
Did Christ inspire unity?
(You have to answer yes or no)
2) “if there is any consolation of love”
You know what “consolation” is.
It is what the person who doesn’t win the main prize gets.
It is for the runner up, it is what’s left over.
And let’s suppose here that in your argument
You didn’t get what you wanted.
All you get is the consolation prize.
And the consolation prize in this case is “love”
That’s all you get.
You didn’t get the color of carpet you wanted,
But you do get the love of your brother.
And there is Paul’s question:
IS LOVE ENOUGH?
• And I could remind you that “love never fails”
• I could remind you “now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
Is it enough to just be in a loving body of believer?
Is it enough to have nothing more than the love of God?
Is it enough to have nothing but love?
At the end of the day you don’t get any of your personal preferences,
But you still have the love of God on your behalf.
Is that enough?
(And again you have to answer yes or no)
3) “if there is any fellowship of the Spirit”
Very simply Paul is asking:
Is the Spirit a bond?
Do you feel a spiritual bond with other believers
That does not exist between you and non-believers?
Is it evident that He has put in you the same thing He has put in someone else?
Or is that fellowship just a farce?
That is Paul’s question.
Does a genuine fellowship of the Spirit really exist?
(Answer yes or no)
4) “if any affection and compassion,”
And here he is just asking if affection and compassion exist.
• Do you have them at all?
• Is there anything in you that feels affection toward your brothers and sisters in Christ?
• Is there any part of you that is moved toward compassion for your brothers and sisters in Christ?
I mean that is what he wants to know.
He’s asking you.
He really just wants to know if these things exist…
• Is Christ an inspiration?
• Is love enough?
• Is the Spirit really a bond?
• Does affection and compassion exist?
Those are the questions and you have to answer yes or no
To those questions.
Those are motivations that you and I have to examine.
#2 MOTIVES TO EMBRACE
Philippians 2:2
Now obviously we all answered yes to every one of those questions.
And Paul knew we would, because the correct answer is yes.
• Christ is an inspiration…
• Love is enough…
• The Spirit is a bond…
• Affection and compassion do exist…
Well if the answer to those things is yes, then this is what you need to do.
“make my joy complete”
HOW?
“by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”
And I hope you recognize that these four realities
Directly coincided with the realities listed in verse 1.
In fact you could read them like this:
“if there is any encouragement in Christ…make my joy complete by being of the same mind”
Be like Him
Be an inspiration like He is
“If there is any consolation of love…make my joy complete by…maintaining the same love”
If love is enough, then give it
“if there is any fellowship of the Spirit…make my joy complete by being…united in spirit”
If the Spirit really is a bond, then be unified in Him
“if any affection and compassion…make my joy complete by being…intent on one purpose”
If there really is those things then use them and be unified.
Each of these realities coincide with the realities of verse 1.
And that is the whole point.
You and I have to decide whether Christ is enough,
Whether love is enough, whether the Spirit is enough,
Whether affection and compassion are enough.
And if we decide that they are,
Then we really don’t have any choice but to unify.
• I mean, If Christ is all you need, then you have no excuse to split over the color of the carpet.
• If love is all you need, then there is no excuse to split over music style.
• If the Spirit is all you need, then there is no excuse to split over the budget.
• If affection and compassion are all you need, then there is no reason to split over the Wednesday night menu.
Paul is trying to make sure we all see what is important and what is not.
Now granted if we were talking heresy or false doctrine,
Paul would lead the charge to stand your ground and not give in.
But we aren’t talking about those things, we’re talking about petty issues.
And there should be no petty issue that cannot be overlooked
If we have Christ, love, the Spirit, affection, and compassion.
We really ought to be able to handle any issue, get over it and move on.
SHOULDN’T WE?
That is how Paul lived:
1 Corinthians 8:13 “Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.”
Paul wrote to the Romans:
Romans 14:15-17 “For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy with your food him for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
And you know this.
We are called to make unity a priority.
We are called to put aside our petty differences for the sake of what is more important.
We can all put up with a little disappoint if Christ and love and the Spirit and affection and compassion really are enough.
So we embrace those things.
• We determine to be “of the same mind” as Christ.
• We determine to maintain “the same love”
• We determine to be “united in spirit”
• We are “intent on one purpose”
Those are the motives we embrace.
Motives to Examine Motives to Embrace
#3 MOTIVES TO EXCLUDE
Philippians 2:3-4
First Paul gave the attitudes to embrace
And now come the ones to exclude.
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit”
What a statement, and one we should all learn.
• There is never a time…
• There is never a decision…
• There is never a situation…
When selfishness is ever appropriate.
• There is never a time…
• There is never a decision…
• There is never a situation…
When it is ok to be conceited.
And we hear that junk in the world all the time.
• “Well you know sooner or later you’ve got to take care of yourself”
• “I deserve this…”
• “It’s time for me to get what I want out of life”
“DO NOTHING FROM SELFISHNESS OR EMPTY CONCEIT”
“but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;”
Now there is a notion.
We have a church dilemma
We have a church disagreement
One person says, “I want the thermostat set at 72”
The other person says, “I want it set at 69”
Wouldn’t it be great if person 1 said, “You’d better set it at 69 because we don’t want to offend them. The church would be fine without me, but it really needs them.”
And then person 2 said, “No, not at all, I’m expendable, but we couldn’t survive without you, set it at 72”
But that isn’t very often how people think is it?
In fact we live in the day where people
Continually try to manipulate and connive to get their way.
“If you do that, I’ll leave…”
The implication being, you need me here,
And so you had better do what I want so I don’t leave.
That is a horrible attitude.
And Paul blatantly commands us to never think that way.
We must look around our church and honestly believe,
I am the least important person here.
And start feeling gratitude for being here,
Instead expecting everyone else to be grateful that you are here.
And then Paul pushes it even further.
Verse 3 dealt with the ATTITUDE, verse 4 deals with the ACTION.
“do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”
You cannot live this life only concerned about
You getting what you want.
I’ve learned this principle over the years.
(I didn’t always have a handle on it)
• But this principle works in this church
• It has worked on mission trips
• I’ve even seen it work with coed softball leagues
And here is the principle.
IF OTHER PEOPLE DON’T PROSPER, NEITHER WILL YOU
IF OTHER PEOPLE DON’T SUCCEED, NEITHER WILL YOU
If people don’t individually succeed, the main cause won’t either.
I’ve learned that for the group to have the right kind of attitude
It is more important that I meet the needs of others
Than that I meet my own need.
Because if everyone in the group feels like things are going their way,
Then the whole group will go the right direction.
But if others don’t succeed, neither will you.
And we see this clearly in our world today.
It’s no surprise our government is dysfunctional.
Everyone wants to win at the cost of everyone else.
And people don’t go for that.
And you end up with gridlock and a shutdown government.
But let me assure that the same thing will happen in the church.
If you go in and try relentlessly to make everyone do everything your way, get ready for implosion.
But if you set your mind on focusing on their interests
Then the whole thing will prosper and you will share in that prosperity.
Let me give you some examples.
Jeremiah 29:4-7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. ‘Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.’”
Could it really be that God would command His children to work for the prosperity of Babylon?
Yes, because if they wanted to live in a prosperous community,
That was their only option.
I mean they could trash the place,
But then they’d have to live in a trash heap.
You might as well work for the common good
So you can reap the common benefit.
Remember what Paul told the Corinthians?
TURN TO: 1 CORINTHIANS 12:14-26
You see that same type of “me first” mentality there.
And did you notice what Paul said?
(26) “and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
That is a true life principle, and true in the church.
Take your body.
I love playing softball, but if one leg is hurt, my whole body suffers.
My hand can’t catch a ball that my leg won’t let me reach.
There has to be a mentality of corporate prosperity.
Then everyone can rejoice.
That is why Paul told the Ephesians:
Ephesians 4:1-3 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Notice he said to be “diligent to preserve the unity”
In other words, protect it.
If you aren’t unified, then pursue it.
Die to self, put away selfishness and start seeking the interests of your brother.
If you are unified then preserve it.
Work to keep it.
And listen the means to unity are not complicated.
• If Christ is enough then be of the same mind.
• If love is enough then maintain the same love.
• If the Spirit is enough, then be united in the Spirit.
• If affection and compassion are enough, then offer them.
• Don’t be selfish.
• Don’t be conceited.
• Instead see other people as more important than you.
• And don’t always seek what is best for you.
• Seek what is best for your brother because when he prospers you will benefit.
That is how you achieve and maintain unity.
And the result of unity is this:
(2) “make my joy complete…”
The result of unity is complete joy.
I promise you love this church the most when we are walking in unity.
It is those moments of hostility and discord that make you dread it.
But when we are all unified, church is a joyful place to be.
So seek unity
Pursue unity
Preserve unity
And then enjoy it.
