Self-Sacrificial Unity (Philippians 2:3-4)

Philippians 2:3-4

 

³Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

 

      There is just no way that we will ever be unified in a way that will please God unless we learn to do two things.  We have to learn to take off sinful practices and attitudes.  But, we do not simply turn from sin and feel like we have done enough.  We also have to put on righteous practices and attitudes in order to accomplish what God wants. 

 

      In this instance, look at the things we are called to get rid of.  We are to put off rivalry, conceit, and looking out for our own interests.  These are exactly the opposites of the world around us.  The world says for you to look out for #1.  It calls you to get all that you can for yourself.  It calls you to make self-esteem a top priority of your life.  But God does not make such a call to you.  He tells you to avoid the temptation to be selfish, to think too highly of yourself, or to seek your interests and desires above those of others.

 

      God calls us to replace our natural selfish ways with humility, considering others more significant than ourselves, and looking out for the interests of others.  These are not the things they teach you in business 101, but they are the attributes of a citizen of God’s kingdom.  Just think back to Jesus’ teaching at the beginning of the sermon on the mount.  To be poor in spirit, to morn over sin, to be gentle or meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, to be pure in heart, to be a peacemaker, or to suffer for the sake of righteousness is not what the world values; but these are exactly what our God calls us to in order to reflect him and his values.

 

      What does it look like in the church when the people of God are humble and selfless?  Think to one of the most common fights in any church, the debate over contemporary or traditional music styles.  If the people of God were doing what Jesus commanded here, they would be looking out for the interests of others more than their own.  So, the young people in the church would not be demanding modern music.  Instead, they would be thinking more about the desires of the older saints who identify more with the hymns.  The older saints, for their part, would be calling the worship leader to sing more modern songs for the sake of the younger generation.  And, since we do not look for unity at the expense of doctrine, both groups would be regularly checking out every song of every time period to be sure that its words are doctrinally sound and honoring to Christ. 

 

      Can you imagine this kind of fight in the church:  “No, really, we want you to pick the carpet color you like best.”  “No, you choose, we want you to be happy first.”  Or, “Bob, I want you to lead the committee.”  “But Jim, you are so qualified, I would much rather submit to your leadership in this issue.”  Attitudes like those would make the world around us know that we really are different, changed by the power of God into something totally other than we would be naturally.

 

      When we put off hearts of selfishness, and replace them with hearts of humility, we follow God’s command, we walk toward unity, and we make his joy full in us.  This is, if we are honest, a tough thing to do.  We cannot do it by our own power, but we are commanded by God to do it.  We have to work with all our hearts to follow his command, and we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to truly change us.  We do not sit still and wait for God to change us, nor do we change apart from God empowering the change.  It is us working in the power of God to do what he wants most, to live lives that bring him the honor he deserves.

 

      So, the call here is to remember who you are in Christ, and then to make God happy by striving for unity in the church.  We strive for unity by thinking more about others in the body of Christ than we think about ourselves.  We look out for their interests.  We think of them as more important than we are. 

 

                And if you would like an example of what that would look like, spend some time in the verses that follow.  Philippians 2:5-8 show us that Jesus was the perfect picture of the kind of others-centered, self-sacrificing person that thrills the heart of God.