Living in Harmony

Church the last few weeks for me has been full, full as in busy, and it has also been full of some really good moments, good conversations, full of conviction, full of questions. To be honest l I have been trying figure all of this out, but I know I can’t do it alone. We’ve got to have community, healthy biblical community, where we are in Harmony with one another. That doesn’t mean we are all uniform, because we are all unique in the way God has made and wired us, but it does mean that we are in unity under the name of Jesus Christ. We stand on His Word, and we seek to live like Jesus just as Paul encourages the church in Philippi in Philippians 2:1-11.

So how do we live in Harmony with one another? Just for clarification Paul is writing these things to the church, christians, people who followed Jesus.

Have the Mind of Christ.

No selfish ambition and conceit(vainglory)

In Humility - Count others more significant than yourselves.

Look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

You know a really good picture of this is 1 Samuel 24.

Saul is seeking to kill David. Let’s just stop right there and ask why?

David defeated goliath and everyone praised David, and that was the moment that jealously, discontentment, anger flooded Saul’s heart and he never did anything about it, and it stirred and stirred to the point where He is trying to protect his Kingdom, his reputation, and in order to do that he thinks he has to kill the guy who has served him so well, the guy who loves him, David. So Saul in this chapter is pursing David in order to take his life. All of this pursuit was out of selfish ambition and conceit. He didn’t care about David or the Kingdom really, he only was trying to do what was best for him, it was only about his interests no one else.

Meanwhile David has opportunity after opportunity to take Saul’s life, and David’s men even encouraged him too, but He followed the Lord and trusted the Lord to judge, to take vengeance, and too deliver. David was humble, there was no selfish ambition in his heart, but thought about others and not just himself.

Before you are quick to say, “man I am like David” You and I are more like Saul than we want to admit. No we may not be trying to take someones life, but we do try to steal the credit, We do in our minds try to compare and think less of others, we do think a whole lot about ourselves and very little on others.

But Here is the point David represents Jesus, and Jesus would come to do just that. People pursued Jesus to take his life, while Jesus was pursuing the way to bring us life. It is still happening today, there definitely seems to be an attack on Christianity in todays culture, all the while Jesus has and is building His church, his people, to go and make disciples to show that Jesus is pursuing even the very ones that curse Him, to try and bring them life.

You see we kind of get caught up in all of this that we are like James and John, when they found out that a certain town didn’t receive Jesus and they proceed in Luke 9:54

Luke 9:54 ESV

And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

Jesus turned and rebuked them and they went on to another village. it’s also mentioned in this same story right before this Samaritan village rejected Jesus that Jesus had his face set to go to Jerusalem, You see Jesus was journeying to finish his mission to die on the cross for the sin of the world and raise to life, so that whoever believes, even this town full of people that rejected him, if they believed they too could have the forgiveness of sins and enteral life.

Again Have the mind of Christ which is ours in Christ Jesus, James and John had a moment here where they were just like lets destroy this people, and Jesus didn’t kick them out of his group, Jesus walked and taught them and they didn’t run away and leave, but they humbled themselves and continued to follow Jesus.

You see that is what I appreciate so much about James and John is they didn’t run away, they received instruction and stayed following Jesus, and also Jesus wasn’t trying to destroy their leadership, but He was helping prepare them to be leaders in a culture that is twisted.

I think that has convicted me, because as I learn more about leadership, and I’ve got a long way to go, but leadership, biblical leadership is about leading, preparing, and raising up others. It is not about I’ve got to stay at the top, what is everyone thinking of me, I’ve still got it, they are lucky to be with me, but it’s how can I raise them up, what can I do to prepare them, they’ve got something inside of them, I am blessed to be a part of their Journey.

So here is where I am getting at, if we have been saved by Christ, we have been given His Spirit and so we have the mind of Christ. He has empowered us, He is leading us to be humble, to do things and to gather not with or in selfish ambition, but to look not just to my interests but to the interests of others. To build up the body of Christ so that we can be lights in a world that is twisted and we can go and make disciples. We can be rebuked, corrected, and stay in fellowship with one another, We can love and honor one another deeply, we can invest in others in hopes to raise them up to be better than we were, no longer being afraid to lose our status or position because we are secure in Christ. We can back down the kingdom of darkness if we just throw off the flesh and put on the attitude of Christ.

Going back to Philippians 2 Paul says if there is any of this? Paul wrote this to provoke reflection to see if these qualities are evident in your life?