Battling the Me Church
Philippians 2:1-4
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
One of the benefits of preaching is that I get to share my pet peeves with you all. Do you mind? I’ve got another one that gets under my skin. One of my pet peeves is devotional or specialty Bibles. There is some kind of Bible for every different kind of person. (all of these are real examples of the total available Bibles.) First, you begin with a baby Bible. After you grow a little you advance to the children’s Bible. Of course the next Bible you will need is the teen study Bible. If you survive high school you are eligible for the Graduate’s Bible. If you decide to hear off to college you will want to pick up the Varsity Bible. After college a logical next step will be marriage, but first you need a Bride’s Bible for the woman and the Groom’s Bible for the man. Once you are married an absolute necessity is the Marriage Bible. Soon kids will come laog, so you will need a Mom’s devotional Bible, and if she is really a Godly mom, she will use the Stormie Omartian, Power of a Praying Woman Bible. Dad needs to buy a Dad’s Bible and if he’s an exceptional dad, he will make use of the John Maxwell leadership Bible. With al of the kids you won’t be able to do without a Family Bible. If you survive the parenting years you will probably need a Recovery Bible. The next phase will require the Grandmother’s Bible. (I couldn’t find a Grandfather’s Bible.) If you like old things you will appreciate the replica of the William Tyndale 1527 New Testament and if you like really old things you can use the Archaelogical Study Bible. I found a Bible for every possible theological category. There is a Catholic study Bible. If you are a dispensational, premillenialist you will appreciate the Scofield reference Bible or the Ryrie Study Bible. If you believe that the miraculous gifts have ceased and are not active in the church today, you will swear by the MacArthur Study Bible and if you believe the miraculous gifts are still active, you will want the New Spirit Filled Life Bible. If you are an extreme environmentalist, nothing else will do except the new Green Bible that has all references to the earth colored in green print.
There are literally hundreds and hundreds of these specialty Bibles. I knew there were a lot of them, but I was shocked to get a glimpse of the full magnitude of selection. When you add in the different translations, there may actually be a couple of thousand different specialty Bibles. Why is this a pet peeve of mine? (Even more so now!) Before I tell you that, let me make something very clear. If you own one of these specialty Bibles and it has encouraged you to read it, or if you have bought one for someone else and it has helped them to read the Bible, them I am ecstatic.
First, it speaks to our great wealth and prosperity. If we can publish a thousand different specialty Bibles and people are buying them up like candy, then you know we are a wealthy nation. In fact, I think I may have discovered a new economic indicator. Forget about the Dow Jones and Nasdaq; forget about the price of crude oil, our Gross Domestic Product and the unemployment rate. I think a more reliable economic indicator is the number of specialty Bibles. The health of our economy is directly tied to the number of specialty Bibles being published. If the number drops from a thousand to fifty, then you know we are headed for trouble and if we get to the point that there is only one kind of Bible available and it is being smuggled across the state borders, then we are really in trouble.
The second reason this is a pet peeve is because the whole thing is driven by marketing. Publishers sit around in a room and try to think of a new subgroup of people to which they can market a new Bible. Eventually they will have a Bible for every single person on the planet. There will be a Lyme’s Disease Bible for those suffering with that malady; a blond-haired, blue-eyed Bible for Norwegians and a Bible for trash collector’s who like to read mystery novels. You name the disease, life-stage, hobby or career, and there will be a Bible just for you.
This leads me to the last and most important reason that this is a pet peeve of mine. All of these specialty Bibles give the impression that being a Christian is primarily an individual pursuit. Being a Christian is all about my own, personal spiritual growth. If I have the right study Bible, then I will be connected with God and be happy. If I can just concentrate on my besetting sins and all the stuff going on around me, then I will learn to overcome the world and will become a successful Christian.
We see this in the way we divide up Christian character into two different parts. Assuming you are wanting to work on your Christian life, which is not even true for many, we usually begin with our individual sins and issues. We have our “me” categories. I want to work on more self-control. I need to stop swearing so much or stop smoking. I want to get rid of all pornography and lust. I really need to read my Bible and pray more often.
ME list
More self-control
Stop swearing/stop smoking
No pornography/lust
Read my Bible/pray
Too often, then, the part of my Christian life where I am living in relationship with other Christians and everyone else takes a second tier of importance; issues like working toward unity, loving my neighbor, living at peace with others and forgiving others.
Therefore, we pat ourselves on the back when we look at the “ME” list, but we ignore the “me in relationships” list. If we are not living in unity with one or several brothers and sisters, that’s OK, because I have all of these other spiritual qualities. If I can’t seem to live at peace with someone in the church or if I am having difficulty forgiving someone, God understand, because I am still growing in my Christian walk. No you are not. Your spiritual growth is not just you and God. Your spiritual growth is always you and God in the midst of all of your relationships. In other words, there really is no Biblical category for growing as an individual. Spiritual growth is always in the context of relationships.
Let’s
pick up where we left off last week. In chapter two, Paul presented this truth
in form of a conditional, “if-then” clause. If we have encouragement, comfort,
fellowship, tenderness and compassion—and we do—then we are to live a life of
humility before God and others. Paul is very explicit in describing what this is
to look like. Be of the same mind, the same love, be of one accord (literally,
of one soul), and of one mind.
If we have these relationship benefits from God—and we do—then we need to live these out in other relationships.
ALL of these commands and exhortations are within Christian relationships. Not one of these things can be done by yourself. NOT ONE can be done alone. It is IMPOSSIBLE to mature by yourself. Christian growth is always in the context of relationships. There is no such thing as a “me church”.
If we understand this, then we can do the same types of disciplines that I mentioned before, but for vastly different reasons.
Me List in the context of relationships
Self-control à because it shows love for my neighbor
Stop smoking/swearing à so that my neighbor is not offended
No pornography or lust à because lust is a objectification/hatred for the other person
Read my Bible/pray à so that I experience God and my salvation
One of the standards is that we have the same mind. What do you think that means? Does it mean that we all think alike? That we must all cast our vote the same way or that all share the same opinions? I think it means that we have the same mind when it comes to the most obvious truths of Scripture. We are to think about the world and the gospel in the same way. In other words, we are to have a worldview that is centered around the gospel. If we both have the “same mind” about the gospel, we are united. If we both have the “same mind” about what we consider good and what we consider evil, we will be united. If we both have the “same mind” about “encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,” then we will be united.
We are to have the same mind, the same love and to be of one soul. Since your entire spiritual life is tied up in relationships—relationship with the triune Godhead—then growing as a Christian must also be done in relationships.
What is the result of living a life of humility in the context of relationships? Up until now we have skipped over the linking phrase between what God has done for us and how we live a life of humility. The linking phrase at verse two reads, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
What is the theme of the book of Philippians? Joy. And what is the source of all of our joy? The source of our joy is Christ. Is our joy supposed to be dependent upon circumstances? Normally, our answer to this question would be an emphatic “no”. Yet, here we have Paul making a statement which says “make my joy complete”. He is literally saying, “Fill up my joy to the top so it is overflowing.” Is Paul suggesting that his joy is dependent on the circumstances of their faith and unity? Yes and no. No, in that his joy is complete in Christ. Paul will “rejoice in the Lord” regardless of what happens. So in one sense, Paul’s joy is not dependent upon his circumstances. But in another sense, we would answer “yes” to that question. Paul’s joy is completed or “filled up”/spilling over when he knew that his spiritual children were maturing in their faith. Can you feel the tension in this book? Our joy is wrapped up in Christ despite the high and lows of circumstances in life. In this sense, suffering and trials does not have to rob us of our joy. But at the same time, our joy can increase, it can fill up and spill over based upon my surrounding circumstances.
For example, if my one of my children scores a soccer goal, makes the winning basket, pins his opponent in wrestling or dances gracefully and beautifully, I receive joy from these things. Likewise, if one of my children gets victory over a complaining spirit, makes a good decision under pressure, is becoming more helpful and growing in Christian character, I also receive joy. When I see progression in their spiritual life, I receive joy. My joy is made complete—it is filled up and spilling over.
As a parent, the question is: which gives you more joy? Watching your child kick a soccer goal or gain victory over a complaining spirit? To see them score a winning basket at the buzzer or make a good decision under pressure? To watch them glide gracefully over the dance floor or witness their growth in Christ-like character?
The problem is that, as a rule, we do not admire humble people. We admire people who do great things and hold great offices and who make great sums of money and have great masses of followers. We must train ourselves to love humility, to admire humility when we see it. Character trumps giftedness. Who I am is more important than what I do and who your children are and who they are becoming is way more important that what they do.
I have had the joy of watching a friend grow in grow in his spiritual maturity over the past few years. From our conversations I knew that he had come out of a difficult time and seemed to be growing in his faith, but since we had not spent a lot of time together, I couldn’t know for certain. I had an opportunity to ask two people who know him well and have observed his life. I asked one person, “He is different, isn’t he?” And they simply said, “Yes, he is different.” Another person told me a story how he expected this man to respond very negatively to a situation, but instead was pleasantly surprised by a very positive reaction. You see, he is not just growing as an individual—he is growing in the same love for others. There is no doubt that this man has changed and is being changed by the Holy Spirit. And you know what? I get joy from that! That fills up my joy. Would I have joy without knowing about my friend? Absolutely! But this fills it up.
In case we don’t know what it means to have the same love and to be of one soul, in verses three and four, Paul spells out the opposite of what this means. Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit. The ESV says do nothing from rivalry. That’s a useful word—rivalry. We usually use it when referring to great sports rivalries like Packers and Vikings or Viroqua and Westby. But the most fierce rivalries don’t take place on the sports field, but in everyday life. Even as Christians we can be in a competition to be better than someone else, even in small, subtle way.
You don’t think Christians can be locked in rivalry? Do you remember from chapter one where Paul described some people who were preaching Christ out of selfish ambition and rivalry? There we have the same word—rivalry. Think about it. They were preaching the true gospel. If it had been a false gospel, Paul would have condemned for that, but they were preaching the true gospel out of rivalry. Therefore, if the gospel can be preached out of rivalry, then anything in the church can be done out of rivalry.
Rivalry is like the game called King of the Mountain My most memorable times playing this was at a Boy Scout camp in a strip mine. There were piles and piles of loose gravel and cinder, and as you know, the purpose of king of the mountain is to throw everyone else off the top. It was winter and we were wearing heavy coats, so if you got tossed down the hill of gravel, it didn’t really hurt. I was one of the smaller guys, so I never was crowned king for even a moment. But I noticed something about king of the mountain—you don’t actually have to be at the top to win—you only have to be higher up than the other guys. This is what rivalry looks like. My goal is to come out on top, if I have to push you down to get there. I don’t have to be the most spiritual person in the church, I just have to push you down lower than me.
Beware of rivalry and her evil twin, envy. It creeps into the church undetected. It can worm its way into friendships disguised as good intentions.
We need to admire humility in others. We need to develop it in ourselves. “Humility is not to be confused with false modesty or “playing the martyr” which can be a source of self-focus. Humility is self-forgetfulness, and in two weeks we will look at the single greatest act of humility the world has ever seen—the incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Rich Maurer
November 23, 2008