Christian Privilege: Philippians 1:27-30

Philippians 1:27–30 NIV

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Context: Paul writing from prison. Unsure whether he will see these dearly loved friends again. Writing to encourage them, and continue his teaching.

He writes to encourage them to be unified in the face of opposition, and gives them some teaching which is really helpful to us today. As I read over this passage, I felt it could be summarised as teaching about two privileges we might have as Christians.

The privilege of grace

Firstly, I want to look at verses 27 and 28. Paul says:

Philippians 1:27–28 NIV

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.

Phil:

So Paul is telling them live according to the gospel - literally to carry out their citizenship in the expected way. Part of how they do this is to stand firm together, unified. Stand firm, stand together. Ok. Well we know a bit about standing together from what we’ve read so far in this letter. But then he writes about those who oppose them, and he tells them not to be frightened. OK. An encouragement to be brave. Yep, got it, But then He writes:

This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved.

Wow. OK. Wasn’t expecting that. And at this point I want us to think about how we read scripture. More specifically, I want us to think about the tone that we read scripture in.

The natural state of the human heart is to be vengeful. Tim and I saw the musical Hamilton the other week, and if you are the kind of person who is prone to ear-worms then don’t do it, because the songs will be in your head night and day for the rest of time. This is in no way a spoiler - the story is essentially an old tale told well of pride and revenge. There’s also the beauty of forgiveness and did I mention great music? Anyway, from musicals to Shakespeare plays to soap operas and definitely to the Bible, culture tells us stories of the cycle of revenge and bitterness. If we read this verse through that lens, we might think Paul is saying something like:

“Be bold in their faces, and then those suckers will know that they’re going to burn and you’re not!”

Sadly that is how some people seem to treat this message - I sometimes get a sense when I listen to some preachers that they’re kind of getting pleasure from telling people they’re going to suffer for eternity in hell.

That’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is Him suffering and dying on the cross, and looking down on the crowd that had called for his execution, and on the soldiers who had stripped and whipped him, and crying out “Father forgive them”. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel that motivated Paul when he wrote about Jewish people who were persecuting him and he cried:

Romans 9:3 NIV

3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race,

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the good news that:

John 3:16 NIV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The gospel of Jesus Christ demands that you don’t rejoice in the idea that anyone would be destroyed.

So when we read what Paul is writing here, we need to make sure we don’t read into it a sense of vindictiveness that would be completely at odds with everything else we know of Paul, and of Jesus who he followed, and of the Father who loves us when we are far off. After all, if people were to be written off completely for persecuting Christians, then Paul himself would be top of the list. Let’s remind ourselves of his CV.

Acts 8:1–3 NIV

1 And Saul approved of their killing him. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. 2 Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. 3 But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison.

Acts ;

Reading scripture in light of scripture - Bible in a Year

We have to read scripture in the light of scripture. That’s why I would really recommend, if you are at all able, that you try to regularly read or listen through the whole Bible. For some people that’s going to take longer than for others, and that’s ok. When you get to the end, start again. And keep doing it. So then when you come to things like this you read it with that rich background behind you. If you need help getting started with that - join the club. It took an app for me to get started with the habit a few years back, and now I don’t need the app any more because it’s just a part of my life, but if you do need apps, or to do it in a group, or whatever, then better to read the Bible with help than to not read it! I’ll send round a couple of suggested apps that can help you get started in the newsletter this week.

This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved.

Imagine you’re on a road and you see a sign: London, 15 Miles. That tells you that if you keep going, you’re going to be in London. If you don’t want to go to London, that’s the point at which you look for a turning off. In the same way, as we conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel, that can be a sign to people of the road they’re on.

And in case you were still tempted to think of this vindictively, I want to highlight the end of verse 28:

Philippians 1:28 NIV

28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God.

And that by God.

The Privilege of Grace

The first privilege of a Christian is the privilege of Grace. Our salvation is from God. Not one of us has earned it. That’s another reason why we have no right to look down on anyone, and why we have no right to enjoy the fact that anyone might be separated from God. We did not save ourselves. We’re all in this together. The human condition applies to us all, and Jesus didn’t come to the well, but to the sick. If we say we trust in Him, if we call ourselves Christians, we’re literally admitting that we’re sick and sinful and we needed a saviour to come for us. There’s no sense of superiority there. We’re no better than anyone.

Sometimes the world will interpret what we say as sounding like we think we’re better than others. To an extent that’s not completely avoidable in our culture at this time. But let’s make sure it’s not true, that we don’t actually think that.

Let’s examine our hearts, check our privilege. Do we feel like we’re better than others? Do we feel like our Christian living makes us pretty ok? Do we look at the behaviour and lifestyle of others and feel superior?

If we do, and I confess sometimes I do, then we are as blind and foolish as we think others to be.

Paul said:

1 Timothy 1:15–16 NIV

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.

So do you know the privilege of grace? Maybe not, because you’ve fooled yourself into thinking that you’ve got where you’ve got by your self? Or maybe not, because you haven’t yet experienced God’s grace and rescue. Being in the grace of God avoids two extremes.

Grace doesn’t:

Make too much of sin. We look at ourselves, see what we have done and what we are and are convinced that we are not worthy of love, neither from people, nor from God.

Make too little of sin. “I’m not bad, I’m not like those people.” I once knew someone, very sadly a so-called leader in a church, who had a big issue with sin, and when challenged lovingly he said “didn’t happen, Jesus took it”.

The privilege of grace is the ability to look at our sin with sadness, but not despair. It’s the privilege of being able to feel deep, deep grief over our failings, and knowing that we are loved, and forgiven. It’s the privilege of being able to forgive others because we know all too well what we have been forgiven.

Christian - do you know the privilege of grace?

The privilege of suffering

The second privilege of Christians in this passage is the privilege of suffering

Philippians 1:29–30 NIV

29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Philipians 1:29-30

So Paul reminds them that even believing in Christ is a gift of God, and then goes on to say that they have been granted, as though it’s a lovely gift, to suffer for Christ.

Did you ever get a gift that you didn’t like? A few years ago my friend bought his wife a computer game “guitar hero” for her birthday. She was not impressed. We all knew it was for him! I bought my sister-in-law a book on parenting one Christmas, which was nice of me. I bought her the same book a couple of years later. That went down less well. Shortly after I got married, a friend said to me “you look lovely - your body is getting fat ready to have babies”. All these things were intended well - as a compliment or gift, but landed as an insult.

Do you have a gift receipt for that?

In a way, that’s how some of us feel about passages like this. You have been granted to suffer for Christ. “Oh wow thanks, do you have a gift receipt for that?” “Maybe I can regift some of that suffering to so-and-so?”

What kind of mindset is required that we can look on this accurately? I’m not going to answer that. Tony is going to tell you exactly what mindset we need next week!

Who is You?

But what does this mean for us. Well I think first of all we need to consider carefully how we read scripture. Sometimes we have a tendency to read the word “you” and go “that’s me”. We wouldn’t do that with every verse - when Jesus says to the man next to him on the cross “tonight you will be with me in paradise” I don’t read it and start saying my goodbyes to my family. When Peter says “you are the Christ” I don’t get all messianic. We seem to know when we’re reading narrative in scripture that not every “you” is “me”. I think we do need to be more cautious as we read the letters.

Do I believe that we have the scriptures God intended us to have? Yes.

Do I believe that the letters are as much Holy Scripture as the Old Testament and the gospels? Yes.

Do I believe that every verse of the Bible is profitable for me? Yes.

Do I believe that every verse is about me in my situation right now? No.

Paul is writing from prison to the church at Philippi who, while not imprisoned like him, are suffering persecution and hardship. He is speaking into that situation. Some of you are suffering right now, and for you I think it’s legit to read the “you” as “me”. Some of you have suffered in the past, particularly for Christ, and again I think it’s legit for you to hear this and to look back over that situation and say “that was a privilege to suffer for Christ.” And some of us are not suffering right now particularly, either for Christ or in general, and for you this is a treasure to store up for if that day comes.

Who is the “you” here and in scripture? Not all of us are suffering right now.

So for those suffering now, or coming out of a season of suffering, this passage is both a challenge and an encouragement to view that as a privilege.

What does this teach us about God?

Sadly, there are people who preach the so-called prosperity gospel. We have a brother from Nigeria in our life group, and he was sharing with us this week about the twin evils of persecution and prosperity gospel that are testing the church in his home country. The prosperity gospel teaches that health and wealth are evidence of the favour of God. The richer and more outwardly lavish the lifestyle of the pastor, the more that’s a sign of God’s favour on his life. The only shop I have ever bumped into Tony in is Lidl, and his catchphrase is “free is better than cheap”, so if he was in a prosperity gospel denomination he’d have been sacked a long time ago. The prosperity gospel teaches that if you name it and claim it, it’s yours.

Now in some contexts it can be the case that as Christianity spreads, people get richer. I wrote my university dissertation on the spread of pentecostal Christianity and free-market capitalism. There are some pretty material explanations to this - generally men stop getting drunk, stop spending their money on prostitutes and gambling when they start following Jesus. Studies have shown in some specific countries that non-christians prefer to hire born-again Christians because they find them more reliable. But that’s not universal. In some countries, being a Christian means it’s harder to find work. Being a Christian means poverty. There are Christians right now in refugee camps across the middle East who have lost all their worldly goods because of their faith.

The hope of the prosperity gospel is no hope at all. It’s a pyramid scheme, and a distortion of the gospel.

Paul tells the Philippian church that they are going through the same struggle as he is. He’s already told them that his struggle is not for nothing, but it’s glorifying Jesus. And now he says that as they fight the same fight, run the same race, the result will be the same.

The upside down privileges of the kingdom

So the two privileges of Christians in this passage are the privilege of grace, and the privilege of suffering. The privilege of knowing you’re not enough, and of going through hardship.

That sounds very different from how privilege of viewed in our world.

Privilege in the world is the stuff that makes life easier for you than for others. In recent years, the focus has been on invisible privilege, privilege that people don’t know they have. For me, an example of that has been hearing and seeing the experiences of my sister-in-law, who is British Asian. We go to the same places, she’s actually a nicer person than me, but she meets hostility where I meet indifference. She applied for a job in her name, and submitted the same CV in a more English sounding name, and the English one got an interview but she didn’t. For me, it has taken knowing and loving her to see some of the privileges that I have, and she gave me permission to tell her story today. I still have more to learn.

But in the kingdom of God the least are the greatest. The top dogs are the poor. Which pastor resembles Jesus more? The one with the private jet, or the one in prison for preaching the gospel? The one with the massive media reach and mansion, or the one who has lost the little they had in order to faithfully serve?

Mark 9:33–35 NIV

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Mark 9:33-

So in the kingdom of God, those with worldly privileges come last.

Jesus offended self-righteous people because he was surrounded by “bad people”. They flocked to him because He had the power to forgive sins. The religious elites felt like they were in a privileged position, but actually these tax-collectors and sinners had the privilege of grace.

So to finish, I want to ask you to examine the place of these two privileges in your life.

The privilege of grace.

How do you see “sinners”? Do you think you are better than anyone else? If so, you are actually to be pitied. You are missing out on the privilege of grace.

The privilege of suffering. Does this feel like where you’re at? Do you need to come back next week and hear about the mindset that sees suffering in this way?

Explain how privilege is used in society?

1 Timothy 1:15 NIV

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

1 timothy