Unity and Humility

Introduction

Unity is hard. We all know what it is like to be apart of a group, but lack unity. What binds people together should have the greatest impact on what keeps them together. But division comes to all teams, groups, businesses, and families when selfishness, and pride become the focus. So how do we keep unified and moving forward?

We focus on the goal set before us. And what is the goal of the church? What is the one thing we are aiming at?

Our stated goal is to make disciples who love God, love others, and serve the community. Our goal is disciples. A disciple is someone who is learning to live with Jesus and love like Jesus and leading others to do the same.

We do not gather as the church for salvation alone. We gather to create mature worshipers of Jesus who lead others to become mature worshippers of Jesus. Salvation is the starting line for us, not the finish line.

The church grows in unity when we together focus on this goal. So what is the point of all we do? To lead people into a flourishing relationship with Jesus that matures them to lead others into a growing relationship with Jesus.

As the church we see this happen through many avenues. But when those different avenues and ministries become the end in themselves, we become divided and disunified.

In serving the community we can often get caught in the trap of doing good things without leading people to the best thing the church has to offer, a relationship with Jesus. For example, if our goal is a dynamic worship service that draws in a good crowd, but we are not leading people and challenging them to maturity in Christ we have missed the mark. Hundreds and thousands of people in a worship experience is the wrong goal. The question for us should not be how many are attending, but rather how many people are moving from unbelievers in Jesus to a growing relationship with Jesus?

If our goal is to meet felt needs alone through a warming center or a food pantry we are missing the mark. The goal of meeting felt needs is so that we can meet the one need people suppress. The real need is not warmth and food and clothing, but the real need is to be restored to a right relationship with our creator who will meet all our needs and cause us to be generous in meeting felt needs of others so that we can meet their deepest need.

In small groups and bible studies and all all other studies is not simply information transfer. The goal is life transformation. We want to see people equipped to know and APPLY what they are learning. Knowledge puffs up according to , but love, the love of Christ builds up.

Tonight I want us to be reminded of the unity and humility we must have as we pursue following Jesus and leading others to do the same.

Philippians 2:1–4 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

If There Is Any Encouragement In Christ

The motivation for seeking unity is found in the four clauses that begin with the word if. If in this instance is pointing to realities, or certainties, not possibilities or probabilities. There is inherent in a common experience shared among all who trust in Jesus. Paul is saying as surely as there is encouragement in Christ, as surely as there is comfort from love, as surely as there is participation in the spirit, as surely as there is affection and sympathy. these are experiences shared by all of us who are in Christ and are the basis for our unity and humility.

As sure as there is encouragement in Christ

The word encouragement has three meanings. 1. act of emboldening another in belief or course of action. 2. strong request. 3. lifting of another’s spirits. So the idea conveyed here is if there is any emphatic urgings found in Christ, let me be encouraged in Christ. After all up to this point we have been reminded of several encouraging truths about our identity and relationship with Jesus. in 1:29, it has been granted to us for the sake of Christ to believe in him and also suffer for his sake . In 1:6, because of Christ the good work that was begun in us will be completed. In 1:20 we are told that Christ will be honored in Paul’s life or death. In 1:26 we are reminded that because of Jesus the church will have ample cause to glory in Christ.

What common experiences do we have that are an encouragement in Jesus? Do we not have the Spirit in us? Do we not have our sins forgiven? Do we not have eternity ahead of us? Do we not look forward to living with jesus and loving like Jesus more and more? What do you have in Christ that is a shared experience with others? How can others confidence in Jesus bring you encouragement?

Any Comfort from Love

Some translations insert the word His into this phrase which is proper. Surely we have experienced comfort from the love of Christ. This is an appeal to unity. We can band together because the love of Christ unifies more than any other experience. The Love of Jesus means all adopted children in this family have more in common than any other group of people in the world. The love of Christ unites us more than nationality, more than blood line, more than political party or sports team or affinity group.

When no one else seems to accept you or approve of you, Jesus does. When no else thinks you are good, Jesus love caused him to die to make you good. When no one else seems to care we remember Jesus has suffered everything we have been through. And it is Jesus and his love that unites us.

The love that has been shown to you through Jesus has been shown to all who are in Christ Jesus. That is the love that unifies us.

Participation In The Spirit

The emphasis in this verse is not an individual experience with the Spirit, but a corporate one. We all have been brought together and sealed by the same Holy Spirit. We are unified because the Spirit of God dwells in us all, and the spirit is one being. We are interconnected because of that.

Soak that in, God dwells in the form of the Holy Spirit in all our brothers and sisters in Christ. We work with God and for God. We are all sealed for the day of His return. We are all disciplined and corrected by the work of the same Spirit.

Affection and Sympathy

These words have a deep and rich meaning. Affection speaks of the inward body parts, the intestines, a deep gut feeling. These are strong emotions. Paul himself expressed his deep love for the church at Philippi. They had been with him from the beginning. Not only that he was sympathetic to their suffering because he knew them, loved them, and had/is walking with them through there troubles.

Church should we not be the same?

Complete My Joy

The whole design of this letter was to build a stronger deeper friendship with the believers of this church. They were his partners in the gospel. He will tell them how he rejoices over their continued support of God’s ministry through Paul. Paul’s joy in Christ is made stronger with Jesus brings unity to his friends, the church at Philippi.

The one thing that brings Jesus more glory and us more joy is by being unified around Jesus and what he has left us to do. We must be united around the mission of Jesus. This is what causes the Father to be well pleased with Christians.

Unity is summed up for Paul in four simple phrases.

Being of the Same Mind

This means to be like minded. this is not a call to have the same thoughts or feelings about everything. Paul is not squelching human creativity nor diversity. he is calling on them to seek the same goal with a common mentality. He wants their unity to focused on seeing people live with Jesus, love like Jesus and lead others to do the same.

Having the Same Love

Paul is wanting to find joy in the church loving Jesus more than anything. The same love we share is the author and perfecter of our faith. Do you love who Jesus is? Do you love what Jesus did? Do you love how Jesus is working in other? Do you love that Jesus is still rescuing sinners from their sin?

Being in Full Accord and of One Mind

This phrase means souls together, be harmonious, one soul. of one mind means those who are thinking one thing. We are called to be so united that the mission is the same, the savior is the same, the growth into maturity is celebrated. Our mindset is to be the great commission.

Being of One Mind

What Unity Looks Like

As long as Christians have the attitude that what matters most is self-fulfillment and self-advancement, they will never experience the unity of one mind. Paul confronts the cause of disunity by exposing these divisive attitudes.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit

Paul challenges us and his friends to do nothing to obtain empty glory, that what selfish ambition and vain conceit are. The are empty glories. There is not real value in seeking the glory of position, prestige, power, and possessions.

In humility count others more significant than yourself

Humility is a characteristic that is seen as a flaw in our society. To be humble means you are weak and able to be walked all over. It was very similar in Paul’s day and age

The verb value focuses the mind “to engage in an intellectual process, to think, consider and regard.”46 Instead of being preoccupied with introspective, self-absorbed, egocentric thoughts, the mind turns outward to regard the value of others. This direction of thinking is not obsessed with negative thoughts about oneself; it is freed from thinking about oneself to consider others

Look not for your own interests but to the interests of others

When we fix our sight on others, we will “not be so preoccupied with our own concerns and the cultivation of our own spiritual life that we miss the noble traits to be seen in others.”

How, practically, can we curb the temptation to assert our rights over others? In his superb essay on how Christians should live together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer supplies seven principles for eradicating selfish ambition from Christian communities. Christians, he says, should:

•hold their tongues, refusing to speak uncharitably about a Christian brother;

•cultivate the humility that comes from understanding that they, like Paul, are the greatest of sinners and can only live in God’s sight by his grace;

•listen “long and patiently” so that they will understand their fellow Christian’s need;

•refuse to consider their time and calling so valuable that they cannot be interrupted to help with unexpected needs, no matter how small or menial;

•bear the burden of their brothers and sisters in the Lord, both by preserving their freedom and by forgiving their sinful abuse of that freedom;

•declare God’s word to their fellow believers when they need to hear it;

•understand that Christian authority is characterized by service and does not call attention to the person who performs the service.39