Philippians 2:3-7(NKJV) 3Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
Yesterday we started looking at the scripture above. We have found that the love we show for one another as Christians is vitally important to how effective we will be in showing the Love of God to the World. In the first two verses of Philippians 2, we learned that Paul is asking the church if they have benefited from their salvation in Christ and if they believe that his ministry can be credited with that benefit. He said these things so that he might make a very personal request of them.
He tells the Philippians that they need to be like-minded, have the same love for one another, be of one accord and of one mind. All of these things seem to be saying the same thing. They need to relate to one another according to the love of God. They need to treat the entire household of faith the same. It is natural to like some people more than we like other people. However, the love of God is not moved by likes and dislikes. It is based on decision. Jesus loves my brother or sister. Jesus loves me. I choose to treat my brother or sister according to that love. I will look past differences and preferences and love the members of the body equally.
How do we walk this out in practical living? Today’s scripture gives us some advice as to what steps we can take to ensure we are walking in love in the church. The first thing Paul tells the Philippians is to make sure that they do nothing motivated by selfish ambition or conceit. On the surface that may seem harsh. “Surly, pastor you don’t think I would be that way?” I am certain that most of us would not act according to selfish ambition or conceit consciously. We are all human. We all need a sense of value. We all need to feel that we matter and have purpose. Sometimes this can lead us to do things from the wrong motivation.
I think it would do us all good to examine our motives. What do I want from life? Why do I do what I do? It is easy to allow our need for approval to get in the way of proper motivation in the church. How can I guard against wrong motivations? Paul tells us.
We need to do what we do in lowliness of mind. I am a believer in not accepting the “I’m just a worm” view of our life in Christ. I am a child of God. Jesus laid down his life for me. I am God’s workmanship and as such, I cannot be nothing. I am someone. I am loved by God. So what does it mean to do things in lowliness of mind?
Again, Paul makes it clear. We need to esteem others higher than we esteem ourselves. This does not mean we lower our opinion of ourselves. It means we enter a healthy competition to elevate the value of our brothers and sisters faster than they can elevate our value. We consider the importance of others before we worry about how important we want to be.
This is a very simple point of view, but it can change everything in life. Most people I have dealt with that have emotional problems suffer from some kind of low self-image. If we build self-image based on who we are in Christ, I think it can be beneficial. However, too often self-image is built at the expense of others. We say, “I am as good as that person. Who do they think they are?.” This may make us feel better about ourselves but it is not healthy.
It is far healthier to look at someone else in the body of Christ and say, “I believe in you. I think you are vital to the success of the church.” When we do that, we elevate them in our eyes but we do not diminish ourselves. We stir them to do better and we free them from competing with us. We free them to see our importance without diminishing theirs.
Paul expands on the thought by giving us even more advice that is practical. We should look to the interests of others as well as our own interests. Paul is telling us that we should not just “look out for number one.” We need to be concerned about the needs of our brothers and sisters as well. We need to be sensitive to what others need, whether it is encouragement, finances or prayer.
I think it also means we should be interested in what other people find important. If I love someone, and they like something I do not really care about, I should not communicate to them that the thing they find important is foolish. I should do my best to show some interest in that thing. If nothing else, I will encourage them and I might even learn something.
These are very practical things. They are not deep revelations we have never heard before. However, how much are we practicing them? It would be good for all of us to take note of how we relate to the other members of the family of God this week in church.
Finally, Paul brings out the “big guns.” All of this is good advice but when Paul speaks of Jesus as our example it becomes far more. I believe Paul is giving us another way to express Jesus commandment to love one another as he loved us. We are to have the same mind or attitude he had when he left heaven and came to earth.
Paul says that Jesus did not consider it “robbery” to be called equal with God. What does that really mean? I have heard it said that this meant he did not think it was outlandish to be called equal with God. He knew he was equal with God, so it was no extreme for him to be called equal with God. However, this word has another connotation.
The term robbery means something that is grasped or taken hold of. Jesus was equal to God. He existed in heaven before he came to earth. He chose to lay aside his home in heaven and come to earth so that he could redeem man. He chose to lay aside the unlimited power of his existence as the Word of God and take on the limitations of flesh. He lived in the same kind of body you and I live in. His body was not tainted by sin, but it had all the same limitations as yours does.
Paul tells us we should cultivate the same attitude. I do not believe we have to become “doormats” and allow people to walk on us. I do believe that we have to be willing to lay aside comfort and convenience for our brother. There is a phrase here that I find very descriptive of the attitude we must cultivate. He became of no reputation.
What does your reputation mean to you? Put more simply, how important is what people think about you. For most of us, it is very important. We work hard to maintain a certain image. I believe we should have a good reputation where righteousness and integrity are concerned, but I do not think we should worry about what people think of us in most areas.
If loving a brother or sister means I “damage” my reputation, so be it. I have no reputation. Just as Jesus existed to lay down his life for the world, I exist to love the brethren and then to love the world. That is the only reputation I need to maintain.
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