The Right Attitude

Christlike Church Membership Pt 1

This morning we are going to look at Philippians chapter 2.

In this chapter Paul is writing to the Philippian believers about being Christlike.

We must have the right attitude, or we can hinder what the Holy Spirit is trying to do through us.

As we look at the first eleven verses of Philippians chapter 2, I want us to think about how having the right attitude effects us as church members.

Look with me at Philippians 2:1-11

Philippians 2:1–11 NASB95

1 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, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Pray

When we have the right attitude we are driven to do what God has called us to do, and in that we become joyous.

In other words, “if we have a right, biblically directed attitude, we will experience joy in our church membership.

When we all experience that joy in our church membership, the church as a whole will be joyous, and people will be drawn to the church and want to be apart of it.

The right attitude means we recognize that no church is perfect.

With the right attitude, we know there will be times when we get irritated by others, but will not allow that to take our joy.

We also acknowledge that no pastor or church staff is perfect, we all fall short of the glory of God.

While recognizing that no one is perfect, that there will be people from time to time that get under our skin, we still serve.

We serve and do, not out of a sense of legalistic obligation, but out of an overflow of gratitude of what God has done for us through His Son.

I. Unifying Church Members

Philippians 2:1–4 NASB95

1 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, 2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

The healthy of any group is tied to its unity, and the church is no different.

Here is the thing about unity.

Unity only works when individuals have made a decision.

Every individual in a group, a church, must decide to put the good of the group or church before their own needs.

This only works for those individuals who have the right attitude.

In these first four verses Paul emphasized unity very clearly.

He states there in the beginning of verse three, Do nothing from selfishness.

If we are selfish, there will not be unity.

The Bible mandates us to have an attitude of unity in the church.

There are four things in verses three and four that we are told is needed for unity.

Unity requires - humility, gentleness, patience, and acceptance of one another in love.

1. Unity requires Humility.

Humility means we view others as better than ourselves.

How do we do this, Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:6

1 Peter 5:6 NASB95

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

It is only through God that we can view others above ourselves, in today’s society we are told to put ourselves first, to do whatever we need to do to climb the ladder of success.

Jesus said in Luke 14:11

Luke 14:11 NASB95

11 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

I do not know about you but I would rather be humble, than be humbled by God.

2. Unity requires Gentleness

Gentleness means we control our temper and demonstrate kindness to other church members, whether they are good guys or jerks.

Later in this same letter Paul writes Philippians 4:5

Philippians 4:5 NASB95

5 Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.

We are to have gentleness as a character trait, as in Galatians 5:22-23 it is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit.

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 15:1

Proverbs 15:1 NASB95

1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

Now I am like most people, if you come at me with an attitude and your voice raised, I in the flesh will respond with the same.

But we are told that a gentle answer turns away the wrath, that is we can calm the situation if we respond with a gentle answer.

3. Unity requires Patience

Patience means we put up with a lot even if we are frustrated and perplexed at the behavior and attitude of others.

James uses the illustration of a farmer waiting for his crop to grow.

James 5:7–8 NASB95

7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. 8 You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

We must be patient with others, we never know what they are going through.

Paul writes the church at Colossian encouraging believers Colossians 3:12

Colossians 3:12 NASB95

12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;

4. Unity requires acceptance

That means we accept people unconditionally.

It does not mean we condone sinful behavior.

It does mean we demonstrate a lot of grace.

Paul writes the church at Rome and tells them to accept others

Romans 15:7 NASB95

7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Jesus has accepted us even though we have sinned against Him, we must accept others even when they get under our skin.

II. A Sacrificial Church Member

Philippians 2:5–8 NASB95

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

We are told to have the attitude of Christ.

Even though Jesus was God in human form, he did not think he needed to use this to his own advantage.

Even though Jesus was God, and could do anything, he emptied himself to the point of the lowest slave.

In his human form, Jesus humbled himself to the point of death on the cross.

Death on the cross was not just a severe punishment but it was also humiliating.

Jesus humbled himself, that is even though he was God, he did not place himself above others, but became the lowest, so that he could be the ultimate sacrifice.

We are to have the attitude of Christ, that sacrificial attitude that took Him to death on a cross.

Does that mean we go out looking for a way to die, no, but we are to die to ourself daily.

Matthew 16:24–25 NASB95

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

We sacrifice our wants, goals, dreams, and will for God to use us for His glory and honor.

When we make sacrifices, we are acting most like Christ.

We are learning that the greatest joy comes when we put others before ourselves.

III. A Prayerful Church Member

In Chapter one of this letter to the Philippians Paul writes about prayer.

Philippians 1:9–10 NASB95

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ;

There are two basic petitions here.

First, that your love may abound.

Second, that you may be able to discern what is best.

Paul first prays for the church to have love.

John 13:35 NASB95

35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

As followers of Jesus Christ, love should be evident in our lives, that is love for others.

Paul prayed for the readers’ love to abound, he prayed for their Christlike attitude of self-sacrifice to continue as it had been demonstrated earlier in their giving.

As the church grew in love, they would be able to discern what is best.

Paul envisioned mature Christians who had the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

He directed his prayer toward that end.

A growing love, fed by proper knowledge and moral insight, enables one to see the best way to live.

As we discern what is right from wrong we develop character.

A growing love provides for character development and completion.

As Paul prayed, his thoughts moved to the day of accountability, when we stand before God and answer for our lives.

He prayed that the Philippians would live in such a way that they would be without blame.

As we see in the end of verse 10, that the people would be sincere and blameless, or pure and blameless.

Paul had an attitude of prayerfullness.

And he wanted all the members to have that prayerful attitude.

The Bible is clear that we fight the spiritual battle with our spiritual strength, which is prayer.

Immediately after Paull tells the church in Ephesus to put on the full armor of God to fight spiritual warfare, he closes with an admonition of prayer.

Ephesians 6:18 NASB95

18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

We need to have an attitude of prayer.

IV. A Joyful Church Member

Philippians 1:4–7 NASB95

4 always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, 5 in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.

Paul shoots straight with us.

If we are to really have joy in our lives, we must be gentle and gracious.

We are to pray instead of worry.

And as we pray, we are to pray with a spirit of thanksgiving or gratitude.

A joyful church member is always grateful.

The grumpy church member is regularly complaining and frustrated.

The joyful church member looks for opportunities to encourage and give.

The grumpy church member nitpicks and finds fault in many things.

That is why one member is joyful and another is grumpy.

It is all a matter of attitude.

If we are grumpy and always complaining, no one will want to be around us, no one will want to be apart of our church.

But when we are joyful and have a attitude of gratitude, people will be attracted to the church.

Our attitude determines who we are.

Our attitudes are the foundations of our actions.

If we are joyful, we tend to be an encouraging person.

If we are angry, or grumpy, we tend to be a critical person.

We must ask ourselves how is my attitude reflected in my actions.