Being Like-minded with Others Unlike You
Philippians 1:27-2:4

It seems that strife and tension exist at nearly all levels of life. Adversarial relationships abound. The President is at odds with the Congress; Unions are at odds with management; husbands are at odds with wives; children are at odds with parents; deacons are at odds with pastors; citizens are at odds with police. Everyone has someone to blame when something goes wrong; and someone is always seeking to take the credit when something goes right.
A guy said, I was married by the justice of the peace and ever since then I’ve had neither justice nor peace!
If we are going to rejoice in life we must strive for unity with those we work with; whether in our family, church, or business. A lack of unity leads to a lack of joy. Very little can be accomplished all by ourselves. God has made us to work with other people. We cannot live as islands, separating ourselves from others. Our goal in this church is unity. Look at how Paul describes this unity in this passage:
In 1:27, Paul says this unity should be a SPIRITUAL unity, we stand fast in ONE SPIRIT. And the word “mind” is psuche, or soul. We are to have a unity of spirit. In 2:2, the word “one accord” is sunpsuche, or souled together. This speaks of a harmony of desire and affection.
In 2:2, this unity should be INTELLECTUAL unity, we are to think the same thing. Minds that are thinking alike. A unity of thought. Unity of thinking in what is right and what is wrong. Standards often cause conflict, but we need to be united in our thinking.
In 2:2, this unity should be an EMOTIONAL unity, the same love. Two hearts beating as one. A unity of affection. Is this an easy task, especially for people with active minds and independent spirits to be spiritually, intellectually, and emotionally unified with others? NO! This takes the grace of God! This kind of unity will lead to joy in our church, or in your marriage, or in your home, or in your business.
How can we attain this kind of unity in our church and home?
1. DISPLAY Conduct Consistent with the Gospel, 1:27
What does this mean? Display a genuine lifestyle that is consistent with the person and work of Jesus Christ. There is no more vital message in all the world than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation, it is the one message that is to be preached to every creature. If you had an opportunity to tell somebody something, tell them the Gospel, and live it, too! In other words, the Gospel is the HEADLINE NEWS. The Gospel is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, he was buried, and he rose again the third day according to the Scripture. This is the Gospel of grace and peace, the Gospel of Christ and of God!
We are to live a life consistent with the Gospel. First, we must make sure we know what the Gospel is. The term Gospel means good news, and the Good news speaks of the work of Jesus Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.
A life consistent with the Gospel will be a life that is holy and forgiving, loving and joyful, for Jesus Christ died because He is holy and He is forgiving. Our lives are not to tarnish the triumphant message of the Gospel. We are not to stain the glory of the Gospel message with our sin! INDIVIDUALLY, our lives should be consistent with the Gospel and therefore a believer will not live in drunkenness, fornication, adultery, pornography, and rebellion against authority.
The problem in America is not abortion, but the problem is that professing Christians are endorsing or having abortions . The problem in America is not Rap, Hip-Hop, or Rock and Roll, but that professing Christians (and even some evangelical Christian leaders) endorse and listen to such music. The problem in America is not drunkenness, bars, discos, drugs, pornography, divorce, adultery, or even homosexuality; the problem is that professing Christians endorse and do such things and then rationalize it by saying “everyone’s doing it.” The problem in America is not that more people do not go to church, pray, or read their Bibles. No, the problem is that professing Christians do not get up and go to church, read their Bibles, and pray!
1 Peter 4:17, For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
2 Timothy 2:19 says, Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
This is not merely our individual responsibility, but as Harry Ironside points out in his “Notes on Philippians,” it is our “assembly responsibility.” In other words, CORPORATELY we should demonstrate the Gospel. When people walk into Heritage Baptist Church, they should see a body that reflects and communicates a people delivered from sin, jealousy, bitterness, envy, covetousness, and hate.
A. Three Word Pictures: In driving home his point, Paul gives us three word pictures to illustrate how we display a holy conduct consistent with the Gospel:
1. Citizens of His Kingdom, Properly Representing your Kingdom and King: The word “conversation” is an old English word that means one’s whole manner of life. We get our word “politics” from the Greek word. It is a word that emphasizes our citizenship in God’s Kingdom. We are citizens of heaven! We must behave so that we represent our King and Kingdom well. Philippi was a Roman colony and citizens of Philippi were honored with the dignity and also the responsibility of Roman citizenship. They had a more dignified and honorable citizenship than earthly; they were citizens of an eternal, holy, and all-powerful kingdom. Citizens of a nation must interact and respect one another in order to have peace.
2. Soldiers on His Battlefield, courageously standing in the field of battle, not retreating but defending the faith and promoting the Gospel. Paul says that we are to “stand fast in one spirit…” Paul has already spoken how he lived to further the Gospel as a soldier on the field of battle.
3. Athletes of His Team, working together with the other members of our team: We get our word “athlete” from the Greek word, “striving together.” Athletes must be disciplined to keep a healthy diet and strict rules in order to compete victoriously in an event. Athletes must work together with their teammates in their competition.
B. Three Conclusions,
1. Be Daring, as Citizens, for we stand against those who seek to destroy God’s Kingdom: v.28. Citizens of the most powerful kingdom in the world have nothing to be afraid of! In nothing terrified by your adversaries! We are daring and dauntless, unafraid and unintimidated against those who despise what we love. We stand against sin and the darkness that this world loves, do not be terrified or ashamed! We stand for salvation that this world denies; do not be terrified or ashamed!
2. Be Believing, as Soldiers, for we fight for His cause! As soldiers, we do not lose faith in our cause. We “believe on him!”
3. Be Sacrificing, as athletes. We “suffer for his sake.”
Everyone lives for some cause. Some live for very SMALL CAUSES: a small cause is when you live for self. Self promotion, possessions, power, prestige, popularity. What a small cause when you put yourself first. Your cause will die when you do.
Others live for SECONDARY CAUSES. That is, things that are not necessarily wrong, they are just secondary. Here is a secondary cause: business, sports, politics, PTA, Lions club, Rotary, AA, medicine. Now, all of us will be involved in these things to some extent, we must just make sure that these things do not become our ultimate goal. If I live to become the greatest athlete in the world, and I play basketball better than Michael Jordan or golf better than Tiger Woods, and I rewrite the history books, when I die and meet the Lord, will that save me? Gain me reward in His sight?
We ought to live for a SOVEREIGN CAUSE. That is the cause of God’s glory. The cause of eternity. We seek to win others to Christ. We must have a passion to know and serve our God. A life dedicated to God’s sovereign cause will be a holy life, a life that is forgiving, a life that is compassionate and willing to endure suffering.
Robert Murray M’Cheyne was a young minister in Scotland in the mid 1800’s, and he wrote a letter to his friend and said,
“How diligently the cavalry officer keeps his saber clean and sharp; every stain he rubs off with the greatest care. Remember you are God’s sword- His instrument-I trust a chosen vessel unto Him to bear His name. In great measure, according to the purity and perfections of the instrument, will be the success. It is not great talents God blesses so much as great likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.”
He said in another place, “oh, study universal holiness of life! Your whole usefulness depends on this. Your sermon lasts but an hour or two- your life preaches all the week!”
(From On Being a Servant of God, Wiersbe, p.39,41)
A life consistent with the Gospel is a holy life that is being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. The founder of my alma mater said, “You can borrow brains, but you cannot borrow character.” We have to live right. You see, a church that is truly consistent with the Gospel is not a BIG church or have a BEAUTIFUL BUILDING. We can BUY a church building, but we cannot buy holiness in our church. We cannot substitute GOSPEL character with stained glass windows, big offerings, or high attendance.
2. DEPEND on God’s Resources, 2:1
The word “if” does not imply that there might not be these things, but Paul has the idea of SINCE. The “if words” carry the idea of SINCE there is.
A. Consolation of CHRIST, that is, if there is any encouragement by the life and death of Jesus Christ, and there is! Yes, what encouragement we receive from our Messiah. His PERSON is a consolation to our souls, that He is the Son of God and Son of Man. His WORD is a consolation to our souls, that He loved us so much to die for us and shed His blood for us while we were yet sinners.
B. Comfort of LOVE, and there is! Yes, His love has power to stir our hearts. Yes, His love is our comfort when the trials and sorrows of life billow in upon us. C.H. Spurgeon, in his sermon on this verse, gave two points: That Christ in his varied positions is our consolation in every trial, and that Christ in His unchanging nature is a consolation in every sorrow.
Can you imagine if your loved one was on the Russian Submarine, Kursk, that sank this past week? Where you could you go to find comfort in such a trial. Only to our Savior!
C. Communion with the Spirit, and there is! Yes, His Holy Spirit dwells in us and is in fellowship with us constantly. That is why we are admonished to not grieve or quench the Spirit, because we have an intimate fellowship with him.
D. Compassion of His mercy, and there is!
Remember that Paul was in jail, people were criticizing him, and seeking to destroy what he had built, but the resources of God’s comfort was sufficient for Paul!
God is our sufficient sufficiency, that is why we can be content in whatsoever state that we are in. He is our strength, that is why we can boldly say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” He is sufficient for our unity. These things are BLESSED REALITIES!
3. DESPISE Carnal Attitudes, v.3
A. A Spirit of Competition or SELFISH AMBITION
“Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory.”
The word, “Strife” is the same word Paul used in Phil. 1:15, a word that speaks of selfish ambition, trying to gather a following. It is what politicians do. We are not politicians, we are Christians. This word is found before NT times in the writings of Aristotle where it denotes a self-seeking pursuit of political office by unfair means. The only desire is for the strife-filled soul is profit and power.
There was a spirit of competition in the church of Philippi. Isn’t it strange to think of two people on the same team competing against one another? It would be like a running back for a football team, taking the ball, running through the line, and the lineman blocks the opposing player, but after blocking the opponent, turns around and tackles the runner on his own team! Or, if a baseball player hits the ball, and starts running to first base, and while he is on his way to second base, his teammate runs out of the dugout and hinders his teammate from running to second base! Isn’t it strange to compete with people on your own team? Yet, sometimes Christians are jealous of others who can function in a particular way. Competing desires lead to conflict.
The one who is involved in STRIFE is always trying to KNOCK someone down.
Paul is saying that we should not act out of motives of selfish rivalry so that there is no competition among us.
B. A Spirit of Conceit or Empty Glory
Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory…
What destroys the unity of a church or home is personal vanity and vain conceit. In other words, PRIDE. An EGOTIST is an “I specialist.” A proud person is empty-headed because he only can think of one, one, one letter word, I. Everything focuses on them. Pride is the iceberg that sunk the Titanic, and it will sink anyone who thinks they are unsinkable. It will sink this church, and it will sink your home.
How do you know when pride is taking over? When you say, IT’S NOT MY FAULT and IT NEVER IS. When you always POINT YOUR FINGER AT OTHERS and you can see their faults, but never your own. The one who is proud always has to be first, and always thinks they are right. The one who is proud is unteachable and thinks they already know it all.
William Barclay said, “Pride is the ground in which all the other sins grow, and the parent from which all the other sins come.” Among the sins that God hates the most, pride heads the list.
Prov.6:16,17; These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.
God hates pride! It was pride that led Lucifer to his fall.
Pride destroys the unity of the body. The attitude that you are always right leads to a pride. Pride always leads to contention, conflict, and fighting.
The one who is full of strife is knocking down others; the one who is full of pride is building themselves up.
If we delete conceit and refuse to compete with one another, this will reduce criticism and conflict.
4. Develop Christlikeness, v.4,5
After carefully weighing the facts, we are to consider others as better than ourselves. After carefully weighing the facts, I deem others to be superior in rank to me. (The word “better” is used in Phil.3:8, “excellency” and Phil.4:7, “passeth”). Paul was not merely being polite. This was not a momentary impulse of niceness. It was a careful decision after weighing the facts to consider others better than himself. How can I do that? We need the mind of Christ.
He says do not pay constant attention to yourself, but pay attention, look carefully at the needs of others. It is impossible to do this, unless you have the mind of Jesus Christ.
The mind of Christ does not say, WHAT’s in it for me? If it feels good, do it.
Lowliness of mind or humility is the antidote to the strife and vainglory. It is the mind of Christ, a humble mind. Oh, that Jesus Christ could humble himself, ought we not be able to do it, too?
Jesus did not defend his rights, had a servant’s attitude, and was willing to sacrifice for the salvation of others. The person who is willing to yield His rights gets God as the defender of his rights. How do you know if you have a serving attitude? How do you respond when people treat you like a servant?
If there is the conflict of disunity, you need the PRESENCE and POWER of Jesus Christ to give us unity.
The problem with a self-made man is he usually worships his maker.
1. DISPLAY conduct consistent with the Gospel
2. DEPEND on God’s Resources, 2:1
3. DESPISE Carnal Attitudes, strife and pride
4. DEVELOP the mind of Christ