First of all, this was not written in response to the unrest surrounding George Floyd’s death and the unrest that has occurred in its aftermath. Perhaps these words may apply in some sense, but this blog post is about the unity that only Jesus Christ can bring, not as a response to recent world events. this I’m still sorting through what I think of it all, but I know God loves justice, God loves sinners, and God desires for his people to be unified by Jesus.

All of us have been hurt by division, rivalry, or selfishness on someone else’s part. And we’ve hurt people because of those same things too. We live in a dog-eat-dog world, don’t we? People just don’t seem to care sometimes. “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’!” might as well be a law of nature. It’s a jungle out there. And if we’re really honest, it’s a jungle in here too. More than we’d care to admit, the ways we act can cause division too. We love our tribes, our preferences, and ourselves more than most other things, and we pursue them at the expense of others. But, in all of this chaos and evil within us and around us, is it possible for us to find the unity and purpose that we so desperately need? This is the question that Paul addresses in his letter to the Philippians, in Chapter 2, verses 1-11. And this Word still speaks to us today. As the apostle writes this letter in jail, Paul urges his church that unity is possible – not just a dream. The Philippian church was a poor little church in a big Roman city, swamped with people obsessed with power and status and willing to do anything to get it. But this group of believers has stuck with Paul, even helping support him financially on his missionary journeys. And now Paul is writing to them as a pastor to his people, encouraging them to make use of what God has given them to be completely united, against all odds. He shows them what this unity looks like, and it’s not what you’d think. He shows them a beautiful picture of their savior, who makes unity possible. And then he shows them the purpose of unity, which will change the world.

This passage is telling us that Christians need unity, enabled and modeled by Jesus’ sacrifice, so that everyone will know He is Lord.

Let’s find out how by reading and jumping right in.

AN ENCOURAGING PLEA FOR UNITY (verses 1-2)

“[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.”

This passage starts off with some beautiful words. These verses sound incredible, don’t they? Who wouldn’t want encouragement, comfort, affection and sympathy? This sounds like love and community at its best, what so many of us desire, especially in these weird times of distance, isolation and unrest. These aren’t just words though – Paul is reminding the Philippians what they have in Christ and what they can be in Christ. These aren’t just fluffy pie-in-the sky ideas here, this is reality. Paul is reassuring his church that “if these things are true, which they obviously are, then make me even more joyful – the most joyful.” Encouragement in Christ is yours, Paul is saying. Comfort from the love of God and your family, the church, is yours. If Jesus is your Lord through repentance and faith, you have the Holy Spirit, which Scripture calls an advocate, helper and guide. Paul seems almost giddy with excitement – he says, “you have all of these gifts, church, so complete my joy by showing soul-deep unity!” Paul loves this church. He planted this church. They have been there with him through thick and thin for years. Now he asks them to step together and have the same mind. If they experience the goodness of following Jesus, the next step is to have the same mind. Now this same-mindedness is more than just thinking about the same things – This same-mindedness demands a same love – a shared heart for the same things. The depth of this unity is extended to the deepest parts of the person; when you read the phrase “in full accord,” don’t think of a packed-out Honda sedan, think of “souls together.” In essence, Paul is saying that the church is supposed to be a bunch of soul mates!

Some of us might pause at the image I’ve just described with skepticism or outright unbelief. For many of us, these verses might seem like a nice picture, but a little out of touch with reality. If you’ve been around human beings at least once in your lifetime, you know that this kind of unity sounds unlikely and rare at best. Sadly, this is also true of the church. Maybe you were hurt by a Christian, a pastor, or a church. I don’t want to discount your experiences here. But Paul is saying that these good things, these encouraging building blocks of unity, are really there. If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, I hope that you can look back on your life and experience times where Christ has encouraged you through his Word and his people. Think of the love of generous Christians in your life and reflect on how much God loves you – that he is love, as 1 John tells us. If you’re a believer, the Holy Spirit dwells within you, whether you listen to him or not. Paul invites you to participate with Him!

If we look back at the last paragraph of Chapter 1, we see that Paul is encouraging the church to be unified in the face of intense suffering & persecution. If this unity seems impossible to us now, in an age of ridiculous capabilities of connection and freedom to move and speak, imagine how much more difficult this might have seemed to a skeptical Philippian Christian two thousand years ago. The Roman culture that surrounded the Philippians was completely opposed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In verse 29 of chapter 1, Paul says that it is granted to them for the sake of Christ that they should not only believe but suffer for his sake. Suffering is guaranteed! How on earth is the church supposed to hold together in the face of suffering? In the next two verses, Paul begins to show us what this soul-deep unity looks like. He’s going to show us the humble nature of unity. Let’s look at verse 3:

THE HUMBLE NATURE OF UNITY (verses 3-5)

“[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. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…”

Now we see what this Jesus-powered unity looks like. Paul’s command to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit”  was a shocking departure from the Philippian society. And if we take a good look around us, this is a shocking departure from our society, too. The Romans were absolutely obsessed with status. They lived and often died for honor, glory, and fame – which are all too-often used as vehicles for selfishness, corruption, and idolization. To the Romans, selfish ambition was all that mattered! But instead of the pursuit of achievements for their own sake, or empty glory, the church was to “in humility, count others more significant than [themselves].” Think for a second about how hard that is to do. We think about ourselves all the time. We are by our very nature self-interested people. But Paul is commanding us – let me be clear; he isn’t suggesting, he’s commanding – the Philippians to radically rethink their entire social lives. He’s asking them to do what Jesus asked his followers to do. He’s asking them to crucify themselves, to turn the other cheek, to go the extra mile. If we think this kind of humility is mind-boggling now, imagine how it must have felt for Paul’s listeners. In the time and context in which this letter was written, humility was almost exclusively seen in a negative light. Aristotle and other thinkers of ancient times used the term “humility” to refer to the mentality of a slave, associated with weakness. Instead, Paul says that believers should own humility, embody it! Paul immediately follows with a direct action that results from this true humility, that a believer would “look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” This echoes Jesus’ recitation of one of the greatest commandments, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). While the unbelieving Philippians were busy building monuments and plotting for their personal gains, the church was to build up its members, strengthening the body selfless service to each other.

Let’s think about what this means for us in the year 2020. Aren’t we constantly trying to have newer, better, and more than the people next to us? What does it mean to do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit? Nothing? At all? How can we count others more significant than ourselves? Selfish ambition and vain conceit seem to be the fuel that propels the engine of power in the real world. And it propels us too, to do the little acts of selfishness that drive us apart. You refuse to give because You want more. You refuse to help because you might have to give up something. You’re scared that if you actually did do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, you’d be crushed by someone else who cared less. Nice guys finish last, don’t they? All of this is motivated by fear. By a lack of trust. Paul is urging us to radically trust in God’s provision, made possible for us by Jesus. This is why we need verses 5 through 11. We desperately need someone to trust, to give us purpose, in order to be unified as a church. We need someone to give us an example, to show us the way. We need someone to save us from our selfish ambition and vain conceit. We’ll never realize the gifts and the unity of verses 1-4 if we aren’t saved from it. This is why Paul tells the church to have this radical, humble unity, this same mind, in Christ Jesus. He’s the crucial piece. He’s the cornerstone, the anchor and the way through. The Christian church is not to be marked by empty striving like the culture around it. Our survival and unity comes from the all-powerful God of the universe.

As Paul goes on to show us in the following verses, our example and power for humility is Christ, who ultimately humbled himself. These next verses, 6-11, paint a beautiful picture of the salvation story in quick, bold strokes. Paul is making incredibly purposeful art here. He is showing us Jesus, the image of the invisible God, in bright bursts of color. Images are crucially important. They convey ideas, feelings, and thoughts with power. Think about the American flag, and all the history, meaning, and emotion tied up in that piece of cloth. Think about a family portrait – all the stories wrapped up in one photograph. Now let’s think about this this picture of Jesus together. We’ll see how he holds his people together, and what he holds his people together for. Let’s take a look at the at the humiliated Maker of unity. Look at verse 6 with me:

THE HUMILIATED MAKER OF UNITY (verses 6-8)

“[6] (Jesus) who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

These words reminded the Philippians that Jesus Christ, the second person of the trinity, has existed with the Father and the Spirit since eternity past. Before creation, before the beginning of time, Jesus was there. When Paul says that Jesus “was in the form of God,” he’s drawing attention to the outward appearance – the form – of Jesus before he became a human. We must imagine the majestic, incomprehensibly magnificent appearance of the God of the universe. The fire and lightning on Mount Sinai, the blindingly bright glory of the LORD, the thundering voice from heaven, are all mere hints of the absolute majesty that Jesus gave up to become a man, like one of us. Really, we can’t even picture this, because as God told Moses in Exodus 33, “man shall not see him and live.” But this unknowable majesty is precisely what Jesus gave up when was born in a manger in a dusty little town. In coming to earth to live among men, he “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.” Jesus, the God-man, completely divine through and through, gave up his majestic outward appearance. He felt no need to hold on greedily to his glory – to grasp it; he gave it up freely as an expression of complete love. But that’s not all! Paul continues to give even more detail of how Christ acted out his humility. He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”  Now Christ did not “empty himself” by becoming less than God, but instead these words emphasize Jesus’ refusal of his divine rights and privileges to take the form of a servant. If anyone had the right to insist on keeping their status, surely it is the perfect Son of God! But he did it anyway. When Jesus obediently humbled himself in his earthly life, he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53, in which the suffering servant figure has no majesty or beauty, but is instead despised and rejected by men, as he carries their sorrows and griefs. God keeps his promises, and Isaiah’s promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He was “born in the likeness of men.” Now don’t misunderstand the words here. “Likeness” doesn’t mean that Jesus was only like humans but not really. Jesus was completely human, and completely God. We won’t be able to mentally reconcile those ideas in our heads. We have to hold them in tension, and not forget the God became a real man in Jesus while staying God. Often, I think we struggle with this idea, and it makes Jesus unrelatable to us, like a distant idea we can’t get a handle on. But in this verse, Paul reinforces the idea of Jesus’ sinlessness– he was like us in our humanity, but unlike us in his perfection. And as if that ultimate demotion, from divine glory to humanity, wasn’t enough, the deepening levels of humility continue. Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus, in obedience, went from divine glory to mere humanity to a miserable criminal’s death. In a kangaroo court in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, he was betrayed by one of his closest friends, falsely convicted by the people who were supposed to be the moral standard of society, and put to death like a criminal. Further, the fact that this death came on a cross was scandalous to the surrounding culture. The cross was disgusting to both Roman and Jewish cultures; convicted Roman citizens were protected from the indignity of crucifixion; to Jews, the cross would have fallen under the curse of Deuteronomy 21:23. This is the deepest humiliation of Christ, from ultimate glory to ultimate humiliation.

Now why would Jesus go to all this trouble? Why would give his glory up to die for us? If you’re a believer, you know that he died to save you from your sin. That is the great truth of the Gospel, that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, that all who believe in Him would have eternal life. The beauty of the Gospel, too, is that it is like a multi-faceted diamond. It is one object, and as you turn it in the light it you begin to see that it shines beams of light everywhere, on every part of your life. You see, the Gospel isn’t just a get-out-of-hell-free card. Paul is lifting up the priceless diamond of the Gospel and showing us how Jesus perfectly models humility for us. He is the ultimate example to follow. And because all who believe in him have received the Holy Spirit, we can begin to experience the encouragement, comfort, love, and participation to act out the seemingly impossible selfless life God calls us to live for each other. He shows us the purpose for it all too.

All of this talk about unity and sacrifice and humility is a wonderful thing, but it’s pointless without a purpose. We’ve talked about what God has given us to have unity, we’ve talked about what Christian unity looks like, and we’ve seen how Jesus’ earthly life and death models humility and makes it possible for us to act out. But the question still remains, why? This brings us to the last two verses of this passage, where we will consider the exalted Lord of the Universe. Join me in verse 9:

THE GLORIOUS PURPOSE OF UNITY (verses 9-11)

“[9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Look at how quickly the scene dramatically shifts! God the Father is at work, lifting up Jesus from the tomb to the highest place and over everything! From his cursed death, God the Father gives his Son a magnificent gift. The resurrection wasn’t just Jesus blasting off into heaven and leaving his disciples to start the church. The resurrection was just the beginning! The highest exaltation! The name above every other name! From the lowest humility to the highest honor! From death, burial in a tomb, Jesus has now been raised up and seated in the highest places. He’s been given “the name that is above every name.” Beloved reader, this name is “Lord,” the ultimate title of authority. Jesus’ kingship is inaugurated, and everything is under his feet. And why has all this magnificent uplifting and exalting taken place? It is so that when people hear Jesus’ name, they would be moved to worship him, and acknowledge that he is king over all things. And here Paul means everyone.  Those in heaven will confess his Lordship, along with those alive on earth and those damned in hell. Pastor Tony Merida puts it well when he says that “some will confess Him as Lord with great joy and humility. Others will confess Him as Lord with despair and anguish. Pilate, Caiaphas, Stalin, Hitler, and every other evil dictator will confess Him as Lord.” These verses end this passage in fireworks and give us a preview to the fulfillment of time, the hope of the church and the purpose for Jesus’ exaltation by the Father. The day will come when our hope, humility, and unity is proven true. We know how it all ends, so we can endure! And all of this, our unity, Jesus death and resurrection, is all “to the glory of God the Father.” The divine purpose of Christ’s humiliation and exaltation was to generate confession and worship, which glorifies God the Father.

This is the image, the person, the true story, that enables us to embody unity. Christ died to save us from our own selfish tendencies, which will kill us, eternally. Jesus was raised from the dead, exalted, and glorified to generate worship for God’s glory. As his body and as people who bear his image, we must recognize that this is our purpose too. The gifts of verses 1 and 2 are for the purpose of making Jesus’ name known everywhere. Church is not a club; it is not even a place to huddle together and weather out the storm of an evil and nasty world. Christian reader, give up the selfish ambition and vain conceit that is keeping you from doing what you were made to do. Tap into these gifts that God has given you. Take the risk of trusting God to give you what you need to be boldly humble. Count your brothers and sisters in Christ as better than yourself. Look to their needs. You were made to follow in Jesus’ example – for some of us, that means going to the ends of the earth so that every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Don’t let your selfish ambition and vain conceit keep you from participating in God’s glorious purposes. For some of us, that means humbly seeking to serve others so that they will see Jesus work in your life, so that you will get to share the salvation story, just like Paul did for us in this passage.

My old baseball coach from high school used to push us incredibly hard. One of his favorite things to yell at me in tense situations was “Patterson! Pressure busts pipes or makes diamonds. Are you a pipe or a diamond today?”  There’s something really true about that. Pressure – suffering, isolation, danger – either draws people together or apart. Remember with me that the Philippian church was a persecuted church, facing threats from their culture and the government. Paul wrote this letter from jail! You will experience suffering at one point or another, and you may be suffering now. Suffering is an inevitable part of the Christian life. I’m grateful that the Bible doesn’t shy away from that. Christians must draw on a greater power than their own. We must draw on the gifts that God provides. This isn’t spiritual mumbo-jumbo either. This is rock-solid truth. We have a legacy of brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, enduring suffering with unity and completed joy. In a book called The Insanity of God, the author tells the story of a believer named Dimitri, who started a house church in Soviet Russia back when the communists were nailing shut cathedrals and jailing up pastors. As the government continued to harass him and his family, he refused to stop preaching the Gospel. Much to the frustration of the communists, the more they brought pressure on Dimitri and his church, the more the little house church actually grew. Finally, the communists had enough and dragged Dimitri off to prison for years; but Dimitri would sing praises to God in his jail cell all the same. Meanwhile, his church supported his family by bringing them food and support. In the middle of the worst times imaginable, they all persevered together because the Gospel held them together. There are countless stories like Dimitri’s. All you need to do is take an honest look at Christians in hard places throughout history, and you’ll find the power of the Holy Spirit doing incredible things. He brings his people together in the pain of life and holds them together with the gifts of his Spirit so that the Gospel will be made known.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Paul shows us that God has given us what we need for unity. He has given us encouragement, comfort, love, affection, and sympathy through the work of his Holy Spirit. Paul shows us what this unity looks like, as selfless sacrifice for the good of others above our own selfishness. He’s shown us how Jesus is the perfect model of unity, who gave up the ultimate high life in the form of God to die for us as a man. We see the purpose and power of our unity in Jesus’ resurrection and glorification, so that the whole universe will know that Jesus is the supreme King over all. So now, beloved reader, what will we do about it?

There’s something for each of us to take away from this. Maybe you believe that Jesus is Lord, but you’ve grown calloused to the drama and politics of life inside and outside of the church. Perhaps you’ve been hurt by someone. If this is you, you need to remember the good gifts of verse 1 and 2 that you have at your disposal and exercise them. Show the world the love of Christ by loving your Christian brothers and sisters selflessly. You don’t have the right as the Christian to hold your selfish ambition and vain conceit over someone else’s head. If anyone has the right to lord themselves over anyone, it’s Jesus. But we that this is the opposite of what he did. It is time for you to lay aside vain conceit and serve your brothers and sisters. If you have been hurt, forgive and encourage someone. If you’ve experienced the wounds of selfishness or fear being hurt yourself, participate in the church, build it up. If you feel that nagging feeling to beat out the competition, make yourself a servant and humble yourself. The Holy Spirit gives you power to do these things. It may feel completely unnatural! And that’s ok. It is against our sinful nature to follow Jesus. It’s by his grace that we do it at all. Ask a seasoned skydiver if it ever feels natural to jump out of a plane, even with a foolproof parachute on his back. If the heart-pounding adrenaline rush wasn’t there, he wouldn’t do it! But you have to jump! Our God is more sure and more trustworthy than any parachute. He’s the same God holds the universe together. He’ll hold you too. Believing that he’s good and powerful enough to sustain your obedience is the definition of trust. Do you believe God is enough for you? And remember, you’re not just doing this to make yourself feel better. Our purpose is much greater. The way that we love each other will make an impact on the world for God’s glory. We’re in this together, but we’re in this together so that the world will know that Jesus is Lord. If we leave here today thinking that we’ve just gotta be nicer to one another, we’ve missed it. We’re called to be unified for a purpose, and that is to make Jesus famous. Acts of love open doors to share the salvation story, just like Paul did in verses 6-11. Paul said earlier in this letter, in chapter 1 verse 13 that his imprisonment actually served to advance the Gospel. All of this unity enables us to carry out God’s mission of proclaiming the power of Jesus, and this what we are made to do. Let’s do it together!

Now, maybe you’re a not a Christian, you don’t consider yourself religious, or just aren’t sure what to think of all this. You need to consider this what we’ve talked about today. You currently know in your mind whether or not you think Jesus is Lord. If you haven’t thought about it before, the time is now. Your lack of a decision is a decision in the negative. Beloved, I am urging with you – pleading with you – to think about the fact that one day, you will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord, on this side of eternity or the other. With him in the completion of joyful unity, or apart from him in the completion of the pain, despair, and isolation you fear. You have a choice to make. Will your knee bow and your tongue confess that Jesus is Lord over your life? Will you own up to your selfish ambition and vain conceit? Will you acknowledge that Jesus is the only one who can save you from these things? Or will you give in to selfish ambition and vain conceit and decide you’re better off without him? Think about these things, and decide. It would my privilege to get in touch with you after you’ve read this and you know where you stand. These words you’ve read are strong, but I wrote them because I love you, and I want you to have life and fellowship with the God who created you. I love you because of Jesus’ humble, sacrificial love for me.