True Unity
- David Fairchild
- May 30, 2004
- Series: Philippians
INTRODUCTION
This morning we are going to spend our time discussing what is the most concise and practical teaching on unity that is found in the New Testament.
In these 5 verses I want to highlight and grapple with this strange and counter-cultural view of unity that calls you and I to be of one mind and one spirit.
If ever there was a time that the subject of “true unity” is needed to be discussed, it is today. We live in a world that is helplessly factious and segregated. We live in a time that the effects of the fall upon the unity of the human race is so obvious that one would need to be blind and deaf to not know that we live in a very difficult time.
Since 9/11, we have been so polarized from different groups that we have not only experienced global isolation from other countries, we are experiencing domestic isolation within our own country.
I have never seen a time when democrats hated republicans and republicans hated democrats with a vile hatred than today.
We face a group of Islamic radicals that want us economically crippled so they can move in for the kill.
We face a United Nations community that was founded upon the principle of global unity which has split into either supporters of the USA or haters of the USA and the idea of unity seems like a far fetched fantasy.
There has never been a time in our country when company loyalty and unity is at such a low. When corporations have so blatantly lied about their earnings to keep business afloat, to employees suing their employers because they are suffering fatigue for working 8 hours a day.
The book store shelves are littered with “how to” tips for managers to unify their departments.
The University campuses are beginning to resemble the same seeds of violence and anger that fueled the 60’s. Professors and becoming more and more intolerant of opposing worldviews, which basically means that they intolerant in establishing their view of tolerance, absolute in their quest to make you become a relativist, and if you don’t conform to their non-conformity you will flunk out of their class.
Our homes have all but lost their once impenetrable defenses. 40% of children will go to sleep tonight without a father around. The divorce rate for couples is up to 56% with almost no difference in the church or out of the church.
Recently there was a book written that came to the conclusion that you should get married once for practice then pick the right one.
For the last 5 years homosexual marriages have been the headline news, and now this last year we are starting to see a resurgence of those that want to have polygamist marriages.
The idea of unity in the home is almost a joke. That we would even expect that our home would have the same mind and same spirit is considered to be unhealthy and abusive. We should welcome diversity and disagreement in what a family should look like.
We are facing massive division within the Churches of America. There are over 6,000 factions and branches of denominational separation in the “Christian Church.”
Where we once stood as an example of unity, we now are ridiculed and mocked because we can’t even agree on the most basic assumptions the bible makes. Do you have to believe in God to be a Christian? Does it have to be the God of the Bible? Can you be a Christian without believing in Christ? Does the only book that teaches us about God have to be believed or can I just come up with whatever I want?
Along with denominational differences, the local churches are facing increased polarization from those that attend their church.
Pastors are openly mocked and ridiculed. Gossip reigns supreme. Men and women that call themselves Christians don’t see the need to be unified with other believers because they feel they have their own “personal” relationship with Jesus and that’s good enough.
Infighting, bickering, impatience, immorality, and a total disregard for the lost is common and unity, kindness, patience, and a zeal for those outside of the family of God is uncommon.
Here we stand in a dark room with wet matches wondering why we can’t see each other or ourselves.
The great irony is that the cry of our heart is a cry for true unity, a desire for one mind and one spirit, a hope that as God has reconciled us to Himself we can be reconciled with each other.
The world looks to us to set the example of charity and unity for one another and it is greatly disappointed
STUDY
Philippians 2:1-5
1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
I want to talk about three main things; why you and I should be of one mind and spirit, what it means to be of one mind and spirit, and how it is even possible to have one mind and spirit in spite of a world that continually tries to separate us from one another.
Why we should be unified
Verse 1-2a- Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ…
This first motive for unity in the family of God is “consolation” or as some translations say “encouragement” in Christ.
It carries with it the idea of coming along side someone to give them assistance by offering comfort, counsel, or encouragement for their troubles.
It’s much like what the Samaritan did when after he found the stranger beaten and left in the street, he “took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, “Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, when I return I will repay you.” It’s the same idea.
Paul says “if” Christ has come to you when you were beaten down and given you consolation, if He has given you encouragement, “if”…
… if any comfort of love…
The second motive for us comes from the reality that we have “consolation of love.”
It has the meaning of speaking closely with someone. It’s as if someone has come and spoken words of peace and comfort to us.
Both “consolation” and “comfort” involve a close relationship marked by genuine concern for someone else. A desire to help and give a consoling love, which God grants to unworthy sinners.
He constantly gives that love to us so that we can then turn and demonstrate gratitude by loving each other.
Paul tells us in Corinthians that Christ’s love for him made him so devoted to the Lord and the truth as to appear insane (2 Cor. 5:13-14).
We are to follow that same principle as we respond to this reality.
Then Paul says “if”…
…if any fellowship of the Spirit…
The third motive for unity is the “fellowship of the Spirit.”
We have studied this word before. It is “Koinonia” and it describes a partnership that isn’t based on affinity, but on mutual sharing and participation.
Every one of us participate in the work of God by having fellowship with the Spirit of God.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:1-3 that we are to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
We are called to have this unity in the Spirit of God.
Then Paul says “if”…
… if any affection and mercy,
As his fourth motivation for unity he says that we should have experienced the reality of the “affection and mercy.”
He is saying that speaking of Christ who gives affection and mercy to those who are weak and oppressed.
This is an intimate kind of compassion towards us. The word affection comes from the Greek “splanchna” and it means “bowels.” It’s as if we have experienced the deepest affection from the gut of Christ.
The mercy he calls us to is the mercy of grace that God has given to us as he adopted us into the family and grants His affection and mercy to us.
Paul is implying a flip side to all of these positive motives. Basically Paul is saying that failing to seek and keep unity weakens Christ’s church. It is a sin. It’s the ultimate act of ingratitude since we have been given consolation, comfort, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and mercy to not give to others what we have been given as a free gift.
Paul calls the Philippian believers to see the reality of what God has given them and to be motivated by that reality. As a response to what Christ has done. “If” we have experienced any of those things, even to the least degree, we are to be motivated to live out the reality of those very things.
It is a response that flows naturally out of a heart of someone that has felt consolation and comfort, someone who has been joined in fellowship by the Spirit, and someone who has been given a tender affection and mercy by a gracious loving God.
Paul has appealed to the goodness of the Lord as their motivation and now he gives a personal desire:
Verse 2a- fulfill my joy…
Paul is asking for a reward fro his service to them.
The New Testament speaks again and again about how we are to love, honor, respect, and appreciate those that God has entrusted as leaders of His church.
Paul even says to the Thessalonians “And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. 5:12-13).
The writer of the Hebrews commands: “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you” (Hebrews 13:17).
The way that the Philippians could love, honor, and appreciate their pastor is to be loving, honoring, and grateful to each other for those God has joined us together with.
After showing the blessings we have received from God as the motivation for unity, he calls them to respond to those realities.
Paul then shows us what it means to be unified. What does it look like?
What it means to be unified
Verse 2b- …by being like-minded…,
First, we are to be like-minded. The phrase means “to think the same thing.”
This is the major theme of Philippians. It is essential for us to think right so that we have unity.
Many of us want unity with the world, with our friends, with girlfriends or boyfriends, but were there is a break down in being “like-minded” there will be a break down in unity. Unity is not possible unless we agree.
Amos 3:3 says “can two walk together unless they are agreed?” The answer is no.
The problem is that often we will try to choose unity or peace at any cost. That cost is often what we believe. The problem is that without being like-minded there is never “true unity” there is only false unity, and it is temporary.
This implies right doctrine, right convictions, right moral standards, but it is not just that.
It also means to actively strive to achieve a common understanding, to basically have the same attitude.
If we have a contrary attitude towards each other we will never be able to do what God has called us to in our purpose and design.
It is unity in belief and attitude that demonstrates our unity, not affinity.
The second mark of a unity is…
…having the same love…,
This flows out of having the same mind. It means to love each other equally.
If this were purely emotional it would be impossible because people are not equally loveable.
But this is “agape” love. This is the love of our will, not a love of preference or attraction.
It’s based on an intentional, conscious choice to seek the benefit of its object. Because it’s stems from our will, Paul can command that we have this love. If it were simply emotional, he would have no grounds to call us to it.
In 1 John, the Apostle John makes it crystal clear that love for other believers is not just a mark of unity it is a mark of a genuine Christian:
1 John 3:14-19- 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
A mind that is governed by selfless humility produces a life that overflows with genuine practical love for fellow believers.
A mind that is focused on sinful, self-centered thinking destroys love and unity.
Dissention and lack of unity in the church always stems from a lack of love.
A third mark of what it means to be unified is…
…being of one accord…,
This literally means to be “one-souled.”
It means that we are to live a life in selfless harmony with each other. It completely excludes personal ambition, selfishness, hatred, envy, jealousy, and many other destructive attitudes and actions that kill unity.
This kind of unity is grounded in God’s objective truth which comes only from His word.
It also involves a deep and passionate concern for God, His Word, His work, His gospel, and His people.
No two Christians, no matter how mature they are spiritually, will understand everything exactly alike. But if they are controlled by humility and love, they will be “of one accord” and will have unity. They won’t allow personal taste to divide them or hinder their service.
The last mark of unity is being…
…of one mind.
This literally means to be “intent on one purpose.”
What do you think that one purpose is that Paul has been discussing in chapter one? The Gospel.
We are called to be focused and joined in “one purpose” in “one mind.” Thinking “one thing.”
Paul calls us to have:
One mind, one love, one spirit, and one purpose.
Notice the order of what this looks like- mind, love, spirit, and purpose.
This is exactly what we would expect. We need have right thinking, which affects our hearts and gives us selfless love, which joins us in spirit so that we can have the same purpose.
Paul says if you have any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, any affection and mercy, give me joy by being one minded, with selfless love, joined in the same spirit, and being focused on the same purpose.
He then shows us how this is possible. He doesn’t leave us without practical help.
How is that we can be unified when our natural flesh is constantly trying to separate?
How we can be unified
Verse 3- Let nothing be done through selfish ambition…
This is the first sin of our parents, it was the sin of Satan, it is the root of every one of our problems. It is selfishness.
Paul is saying that we shouldn’t seek personal advantage at the expense of someone else. It’s the idea of faction and division for your own gain.
It is basically building yourself up as you tear someone else down.
The second way we can have unity is by not allowing us to have empty conceit.
The word that is used for conceit in the Greek is “kenodoxia” which literally means “empty” (keno) “glory” (doxia).
It means to have self-worship.
Where selfish ambition seeks out self-gain, empty glory seeks out self-worship.
The third way to have unity is by…
…lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself
The fourth way of unity is..
Verse 4-Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
CONCLUSION
Verse 5- Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus
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