One of the things
I have learned over the years about inviting
people to follow Jesus is that many people judge God and Jesus by the character
of the Christians they know, and to a certain extent, I can easily understand
that. If they see compassionate, loving, grace-filled, humble followers of
Jesus, this is how they first see Jesus; but if they see fighting, proud,
isolated, demanding followers of Jesus, then this is how they first see Jesus. So
often it’s through who we are and our character that people first meet Jesus.
People look to see who we are before they accept what we say.
Character has been
defined as who we are when no one is looking. John Wooden put it
this way, “Be more concerned with your
character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are,
while your reputation is merely what others think you are. ‘The true test of a
person’s character is what they do when no one is watching.” Our character
is shaped by how much we allow Jesus into our hearts, minds and souls. If we
keep Jesus out of certain places in our lives, it’s not that he rejects us, but
we miss out on some amazing joy and being used more deeply by Jesus.
Many of us are
older and we’re at a point where we’re looking back more
than forward, and yet we desire to leave a legacy, a way of being, some way of
being remembered through what we’ve accomplished. How you live and who you are
as a person, not what you accomplish, speaks more loudly in your legacy. Making
disciples is a living legacy that speaks into lives for more years into the
future than we could ever imagine. Our character, who we are as followers of
Jesus, is the beginning of making disciples, whether the disciples we make are
our children or grandchildren, neighbours, co-workers, fellow students or whomever
Jesus brings into our lives.
This letter Paul
writes to the church in Philippi has often been
called the letter of joy. Paul
planted the church here, while church history records that the physician Luke
who wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts was its first pastor. Luke’s
compassionate nature rubbed off on the church, as Paul is writing because while
in prison in Rome, the church here took up a collection to help Paul’s mission
work and to support him. But every church has difficult stuff happen and it
seems here that Paul, in a round about way, addresses the feud going on between
Euodia and Syntyche that we find out about in chapter 4, by pointing the church
back towards Jesus and Jesus’ character, calling them to embrace Jesus’
character to shape their own.
It seems there’s a
problem having to do with selfish ambition and
vain conceit when we read between the lines here. Paul tells us that if
we’re getting anything at all from
following Jesus, whether it’s encouragement, comfort, a common sharing in the
Holy Spirit, tenderness and compassion, then be
like-minded, have the same love, and be of one spirit and mind, oh and by the
way, be humble. It hurts Paul to see people that he cares a lot about
having feuds between them. It seems he knows something about what’s going on,
which is why he calls them to be like-minded,
which doesn’t mean we have to all think and believe the exact same things, it
means having the same approach and commitment as they follow Jesus.
I’ve served on
many boards and organizations and I haven’t
always agreed with everyone about everything. I know that might surprise some
of you! But I worked hard at remembering the main reason, the main point of
what the organization was about and committed myself to putting the
organization’s needs first, before how I wanted things to go. This creates
unity. This is behind what Paul is getting at here about being like-minded. It rests in humility, “in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to
your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
There’s something uniquely character shaping that happens when you practice
submissive humility for the goal of like-mindedness. Paul then calls us to have the same mindset or attitude as Jesus.
This passage
always reminds me of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
where he cries out to his father for a different way of accomplishing God’s
plan. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus tells his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Yet in
the end, Jesus humbly tells his father, “Not what I
will, but what you will.” Because Jesus has the same goal, wanting to
save people from sin and Satan, he trusts his father and follows his father’s
way. It’s not always easy, yet when we trust Jesus, seek him consistently, open
ourselves up to his leading, allowing him to change our minds and hearts; when
we shape our lives around obeying Jesus in every part of our life, our
character grows more Christ-like and people notice that. One of the big things
I’ve noticed in my life and the lives of others who decide to fully trust Jesus
and give him the steering wheel in their life journey, is that we become more
loving and gracious, more humble and happy as we work at having the same attitude
as Jesus. This grabs people’s attention and as they see us change, they’re open
to hearing why we’ve changed, giving us opportunities to tell them about how
Jesus changed us and how he’s there for them too.
What does it look
like to have the same attitude as Jesus? Paul tells us it begins with a serving spirit, a caring for
others attitude that is willing to put others first. This is cross
attitude. Jesus came to earth as a human because we sinned and this
broke our relationship with God. God could have simply started over again, but
because of his great love for us, God puts our interests first and so Jesus comes
and goes to the cross to take away our sin. Jesus dies and rises again, defeating
sin and death and now calls us to live lives of gratitude and humble
sacrificial love and lead others to him.
Paul puts some
oomph in this when he calls us to “in
humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but
each of you to the interests of others.” Paul points us straight to
Jesus, “have the same attitude as Christ Jesus: who,
being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
used to his advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature
of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a
man, he humbled himself be becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Valuing others about yourself, so different from what our culture teaches,
something so against what we naturally want, and yet in valuing others above
yourselves, you are teaching your mind and heart to look for the image of God
in each person you encounter. You begin to recognize how deeply Jesus loves
them, and our hearts and souls change as Jesus’ love for them shapes us and our
love grows deeper. This is character shaping stuff and it develops humility,
grace and a deeper obedience to God as we become more and more who God has
created us to be. This leads us to worship where we acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul brings us to
the “why,” “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so
that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a
warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars
in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” As we become more
like Jesus, shaping our character around who Jesus is, we shine, not just like
a candle on a hill, but like stars in the sky. We become more beautiful in the
eyes of the community where Jesus has placed us, making it more likely people will
listen to our testimony of who Jesus is and how he is the son of God who has
come to make all things right again. Our goal is for more people to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord, to the glory of God.
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