Unity in Humility
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Introduction
Variety is the spice of life. It’s our differences that make the world go round, so to speak. Because if we all liked everything and all our interests were exactly the same, the world would be a pretty boring place…although, if we all had the same interests and goals it wouldn’t be that boring because we’d be interested in the same thing.
When Paul talks about football, I switch off because I hate football - so there’s no conversation there about football. But when Paul get into a room of Liverpool supporters, or any football fans, there’s great conversation. Although Paul could talk the leg off a stool...
And speaking of goals…goals are things that are drummed into us from an early age. Even Bethany, at 10 years old, is about to do her AQE (or 11 plus) - and she is now trying to figure out what her goal is - whether that is to get into a grammar school or not.
And culture and society is all about goals and achievements and being the best. It’s a dog eat dog world out there where people are out for success and awards and status - or just even recognition. And I say, ‘out there’ but it’s the same everywhere... everyone - even people who are Christians, want to be successful in their career, or do well and feel like they have some kind of value.
That’s human nature....
Or is it?
Perhaps a better description of that is, ‘that’s a fallen human nature’.
People’s goal in life is to have the best life possible, be happy and healthy and successful in their career so that they can be comfortable. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
What if our goal in life was to forget about success if it meant that someone else could be happy?
What if our goal in life was to forget about status - in fact our goal in life was to be as low on the ladder as we could possibly be?
What if our goal in life was to only have enough money to survive and not be wealthy?
What if our goal in life was to be a follower of Jesus and nothing else?
How do you think your life would be different?
And what if everyone had the same goal - to put EVERYONE else before yourself. To make sure that you are the LAST, the lowest, the least important in order to give someone else some importance - to consider yourself as insignificant and consider other people MORE significant than you.
Is that possible? How would that look?
Pause
Let me ask you this?
Is there any encouragement in Christ?
Is there any comfort from being loved?
Is the Holy Spirit working among us here in fellowship?
Do we like each other here? Do we care for each other here?
Well, IF that is that is the case, Paul says in verse 1...
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
But if variety is the spice of life and our differences make the world go round, what’s the point of being of one mind? And if you’ve been to any meeting within the church you’ll know that people have different opinions and tastes. We can’t change that - so if Paul is writing to US here today, how can we make his joy complete by being of the same mind when we can’t agree on so many things?
Think about the constant worship wars that churches have - we like the hymns…we like praise songs…we like the organ…we like the guitar…we want a band…we want to use the hymn books…we want to use the screen so we aren’t tied to the hymn books.
And I could go on.
So if we don’t agree on that, how can we do what Paul is asking - how can we be of one mind, which Paul mentioned a few times?
Well, the answer is in verse 5.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
In other words - let’s all of us have the same mind that Christ had. And what mind was that? That should be our goal.
Well, Paul goes on to tell us what that is. Here it is in the Message version...
6 He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7 Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
9 Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, 10 so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, 11 and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.
THAT is the attitude that Paul is asking us to have.
So when it comes to status or achievements or success - being God is the best there is. Nobody can get better than that. That’s the best title anyone can have…God.
But Jesus wasn’t about the title or about what that title came with it. In fact, he didn’t count equality with God something that he had to hold on to. Instead, he emptied himself - not of his deity, but of his title and status and privilege - he emptied himself of what us humans consider important - his position. And he became a human who didn’t want any of those things.
In fact, he became a slave to humanity - he got tired, he got hungry, he got sad - he experienced the effects of sin on the world without sinning himself.
He gave up his place in heaven to serve humans. He made himself so low that he became a human and then we went lower to be hung on a cross. He became cursed by his Father, he became a thing of disgust - dying the death of a criminal.
Jesus had it all and he gave it all up to give others a chance of life. He looked to the interest of others and not to his own interests. He was not ambitious or selfish - he was selfless.
And his humility and self-sacrifice was for our interest - so that we could have life everlasting.
And because he humbled himself like that, God lifted him up higher than anyone else - he exalted him and give him the name that is above every name.
Just like Abram and Jacob were given a new name, Jesus was given a knew name and that name is LORD.
And there will come a day when everyone - everyone in heaven, everyone on the earth, and everyone in hell will bow the knee, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ IS LORD.
Pause
Jesus said the first will be last and the last will be first. And the proud are the ones who want to be first - who THINK they’re important, when in fact it is the humble that will be exalted.
That’s the irony of the kingdom of God. It’s an upside down kingdom.
Jesus humbled himself and that is why...
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
If we ALL have the same love, the same spirit and we all have the same mind of Christ who humbled himself....If we consider ourselves the least of the least, do you know what will happen? God will lift us up!
But the proud who want to do life their way and want a place of power or status or position will be brought down.
The first shall be last and the last shall be first.
IF you want to be important and want to BE something, you’ve got to ask the question - do you want to be something for a few years on earth or forever in eternity? If you want to be something for a few years on earth then work away - be someone, but you’ll be brought down. You’ll be FORCED to be humbled. You’ll be FORCED to bend the knee and confess that Jesus is lord.
But if you want to be someone and be exalted in eternity, then bend the knee NOW and confess NOW that Jesus is Lord and humble yourself before him and submit your life and your ambitions and your goals and dreams to HIM. Consider yourself insignificant and make HIM the significant one and then others more significant than yourself, because when you do that for a few years on earth, you will be exalted for all eternity.
So, like I said, and there will come a day when everyone - everyone in heaven, everyone on the earth, and everyone in hell will bow the knee, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ IS LORD.
And each of us here will be one of those people. Question is, will we confess Jesus is Lord because we are his followers and he IS our LORD here on earth, or will we be forced to confess it?
One is easy to do, the other is hard and painful. Either way we will confess that Jesus is Lord. But either we’ll do it because we WANT to or we’ll do it because we are FORCED to - either way, EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Either humble yourself now on earth or YOU WILL BE HUMBLED in eternity.
Pause
Interestingly, the phrase, ‘the first shall be last and the last shall be first’ is best seen at some airports.
I remember being on a plane to somewhere. I can’t remember where. I think it might have been easyjet but I’m not sure. But there were businessmen and women on this plane, and you could tell they thought they were someone.
You can tell these types of people. People who think they’re important.
And when the plane stopped, they wanted to be off first. They got up and rushed off the plane, probably because they had somewhere to be. Everyone rushes around in London.
Anyway, the plane didn’t land near the terminal this time. It was further out than normal, so when we got off the plane everyone was put onto a bus.
Now, I didn’t have anywhere to be and I let these busy, important people get on the bus first and then I was one of the last to get on the bus.
And when a bus is full and you’re one of the last on the bus, you’re right at the doors. The busy important people, who were first off the plane ended up right at the back of the bus, because they were the first to get on the bus.
Whereas there was me, who didn’t care where I was. I wasn’t important. I had nowhere to be and so I was happy to let those people leave the plane first. I was right at the door.
So when the bus drove the 500m to the terminal, who was the first off the bus? ME - the last one on the bus.
The important, busy people, who probably WERE somebody, were right at the back of the bus and had to wait for people like me who WEREN’T important to get off the bus - and it turned out that I was the first person into the terminal and NOT them, despite them being the first off the plane.
I thought to myself - the first shall be last and the last shall be first…literally.
Pause
But that’s the mind we must have - a mind of humility…a mind that says, ‘you go on ahead. You’re better than me. Your interests are valid and I want to make sure THEY get seen to.’
But if everyone thinks like that then there’s also someone looking out for YOUR interests too. Don’t forget that.
However, if we’re all looking out for our OWN interests then it’ll be every man from themselves and there will be NO unity.
In fact, if we don’t have this mind there will be disunity in the church.
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
Look at these things - not having these things is what causes disunity in the church.
Not having the same love...Some people love themselves, others love money, others love success, others love scandal and gossip.
Not having the same spirit…some people have a spirit of unforgiveness, others a spirit of bitterness, others are not Christians and therefore have a spirit of evil. Yes, that’s right - if you’re not FOR Christ you’re against him.
Selfish ambition - how many people do you know are out for themselves, and would do anything to succeed? How many people are looking for a place of power or authority in the church - to be a leader of something or to have a say about something, or to have some place of importance in the church?
All these things cause disunity and disharmony.
Paul says, ‘make me happy by having the same mind - the mind of Christ. Make me happy by having the same spirit - the Holy Spirit of the living Lord dwelling inside you. Make me happy by having the same love - the love for Jesus and for each other - such a love that will put the other person before you - that agape love that puts others first.
Maybe me happy by not being selfish but instead putting others first.
Pause
Paul says this is possible - this mind, this way of thinking, acting and loving is yours in Christ Jesus.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
This is available for YOU. This is attainable for YOU.
But it’s not for everyone. Because this kind of mind is only for those people who grasp the gospel of Jesus Christ who gave up everything for us. This kind of mind is only for those who are humble enough to give up their own way of living and their own way of thinking and their own way of loving and submitting to Jesus.
This kind of mind is for those who are able to say, ‘my way of getting into heaven won’t work.’
This kind of mind is for those who are able to say that being good enough isn’t good enough - remember we talked about that on Wednesday.
This kind of mind is for those who are able to honestly say that they AREN’T good, that their life is sinful.
I met with a guy last year who attends a church in England. And he said that he is now a Christian. And I asked him, ‘when did you realise that you were a sinner and needed saved from your sin and that you couldn’t save yourself?’
And his response was, ‘I never thought I was a sinner. I was always a good person.’
And if he’s never come to the point in his life when he realises that he’s a sinner and he actually ISN’T a good person, I would question whether or not he has truly grasped the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Because this kind of mind is for people who have humbled themselves and recognised that they are a sinner and that they are lost without Jesus. This kind of mind is for people who are NOT proud. You can’t be a harmonious church and be proud. You can’t be a Christian and be proud of yourself. Because pride goes against the humility of the gospel.
And pride goes against the harmony of the church. Because if we are proud, if we are ambitious, if we are about success and achievement then we will be jostling for position within the church. It will be dog eat dog - oneupmanship.
‘I’m better than you. I deserve to be here. This donation of mine must have a plaque.’
That’s not the mind of Christ. He didn’t do anything for the status or the prestige - in fact, he left the status and prestige behind to come to earth. And that’s what Jesus is calling us to if we want to follow him…but can we do that?
Can we humble ourselves and say, ‘you know what - while I like the organ, I will sacrifice MY need for the organ so that others can worship God at the praise band and I’ll still worship alongside them too, because I am looking to THEIR interests.
Or can we humble ourselves and say, ‘you know what - while I love contemporary music, I will sacrifice MY need for that so that others can sing hymns and I’ll still worship alongside them too, because I am looking to THEIR interests.
Or can we humble ourselves and say, ‘I’m going to help out in the kitchen, or in the car park, or in the committee or in the session, but I don’t want to be recognised for it. In fact, I would rather people not even know what I’m doing because I’m doing it for the glory of God and not my own glory?
Pause
If we're a follower of Jesus, it means that we do what he did, we WALK were he walked - we act like he acted.
And so the minute we say, ‘I'll never be able to forgive them’, or ‘I could never stoop that low’, then we've really got to ask the question, 'how exactly am I following Jesus?'
Can we put aside our own interests and look to the interests of others?
If we can do these things it will transform this church and this church will grow.
Because, take music for example - it will mean that the RIGHT INSTRUMENT is chosen for the song that works best with the preached word of God. And it means that EVERYONE will sing because we’re not looking to our own interests.
It means that if someone helps out at something and doesn’t get thanked, there’s no offence taken because we’re NOT selfishly ambitious and we know that God is getting the glory and it shouldn’t be me anyway.
And if we ALL think like this, it means that your own interests ARE being considered - just not by you, but by everyone else who loves you in the Lord.
Pause
This is achievable - it’s YOURS, Paul says, THIS IS YOURS…IN CHRIST JESUS.
And here’s how we get it - and this is the hardest thing for most people....we get it by recognising our place before Jesus - that HE IS LORD and we are not - because we have already bowed the knee and already confessed that he is Lord.
And this happens when we make him Lord of our lives and we take a step back. It happens when we confess our sin and our failings before him and trust in Jesus for our salvation.
Let’s bow the knee and confess with our tongues that Jesus Christ is Lord, here and now, before we’re forced to do it when it’s too late.
And let’s bring this attitude to the church and transform the spirit of this place into a spirit of humility and self-sacrifice, and let’s be united in this.
Let’s call upon God’s Spirit to help us in this.
Let’s pray.