A text – Philippians 2:1-13
2 If, then, there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
assuming human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God exalted him even more highly
and gave him the name
that is above every other name,
10 so that at the name given to Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
A reflection:
I spent more than 20 years in this passage of scripture, as it was my job to help groups practice spiritual discernment on tough issues facing their groups, congregations, and even church bodies like synods and dioceses. We always dwelled in this text. Paul’s call for the Philippians to have the same mind as Christ was not a call for uniformity, not a call for absorbing everyone into one big self. Paul’s call for the Philippians to humble themselves was not a call to become doormats and forget about their individual giftedness from God. This beautiful passage was Paul’s way of saying, “No matter who is within or who is entering your group, treat them with deep hospitality, using all your resourcefulness and giftedness to make room for their ideas, their gifts, their contributions, because God may have sent them to you, and God loves them as well as you.”
The situation in Philippi was serious. Bible scholars have debated what was causing the conflict either between two women, Euodia and Syntyche, or between them and the congregation. But what is crystal clear is that if people in a community lift one another up so that everyone is heard and feels welcome, even if they are seen as very different, there comes a kind of transformed state in which everyone can be who God has created them to be in a wide and inclusive community.
Disagreements in a local church are inevitable. Humans, right? But unity that encompasses all our diverse ideas and natures and experiences is possible when we have the mind of Christ who knew better than we did what we needed and supplied it willingly, even though it cost Him his life. And Jesus’s sublime act of humility (not doormat subservience but willing servanthood) was rewarded by God with the name Lord.
When we are faced with conflict and high ego needs, let us remember the Christ Hymn in Philippians. We can be the all-knowing and loving servant who knows exactly what is needed in the situation and provide it, without regard to cost. That is the mind of Christ.
A prayer:
Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for Jesus who provided exactly what we needed, even to giving his life. Thank you for Paul and the congregations he served and for the lessons we can learn from his letters. Help us always to serve others with all the gifts you have given us. Amen.
