Unity in the Bible --Ways of Unity Found In Philippians 4th Chapter
(Philippians 4:1 – 3) “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Paul urges the Philippians not to sit back and watch people build walls between themselves, but to step in and actively maintain unity. He calls on what they have in common, which is far greater than what is separating them. “My fellow workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.”
He’s saying, “We can’t let your church that God founded fall apart like this. Think about what we have been through together.” It is reminiscent of chapter 1 verse 27 of the same epistle, “With one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.” It echoes the sentiments of having the same mind as Christ stated so eloquently in Philippians Chapter 2, v. 5-11.
The first thing we have to do to have unity is to help bring people back together, to have communication, to look for the things we have in common, at what we have together in Christ.. The second thing is to forbear.
Then when we focus on the big picture, whose we are, and who we are in Christ, joy will overcome the division. (Philippians 4:4 – 5)" "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near."
That’s an interesting word, forbearing. The King James Version has moderation. The New International Version has gentleness. The Phillips translation has reputation for reasonableness.
Whenever there is a word in the Scriptures that is translated in different ways in different versions, usually it is because there is no adequate English equivalent for the Greek or Hebrew word in that place. The translators had to make a choice because they did not want to include a whole paragraph of explanation in the middle of Paul’s thought.
As you can see, which English word best describes what Paul meant here is open to considerable debate among translators. When that happens, what are we to do? The best approach for us is to take all the translations and blend them together. In that way, we get a bigger picture of just what Paul intended.
The type of spirit Paul wants to be known to all men is one of moderation and meekness
and gentleness and a reputation for reasonableness. It is the meekness and gentleness that
reasonable people display. It is the moderation that comes from being confident in the Word of
God and not just in my understanding of it.
If we were to read chapter four just starting with verse 4, we might not pick up on the unity theme that pervades the first three chapters of Philippians.. But, that is the context of the letter: unity between believers. Developing forbearance is one thing we must do in order to obtain the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17.
Paul says that this forbearing spirit is manifested in rejoicing in the Lord. If you are happy in the service of God, gentleness and reasonableness can be displayed. If we will just remember that the Lord is near, we won’t be concerned that we might lose anything. We can afford to be gentle and reasonable like David, while still being good leaders in God’s kingdom.
(Philippians 4:6 – 7) "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses
all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Everyone gets anxious, nervous, worried. How to we handle this? How do we fight this anxiety that makes us do unreasonable things that cause division? Paul says, “Pray.”
Discord makes us anxious. How should we combat discord? Paul says to do it with prayer in order to cure our anxiety and to have peace which allows for unity.
Paul says, “Make your requests known to God.” Talk to God about what is making you anxious. You have to put your thoughts together in order to explain it to God. In the process, maybe we will understand our own anxiety a little better. Paul writes, “With thanksgiving.” Count your blessings. That may sound a little trite in the face of mounting anxiety, but it works. If you start thanking God for what has gone right, fears of the future will not seem so big and our confidence that God can handle even this will be greater.
Anxiety can be turned into “the peace of God,” but not by the empty-headed ignoring of problems that make us anxious, but by knowing that God will provide answers and bridges between people.. Of course, my experience has been that He will provide in ways I had not imagined and with results I would have thought were undesirable. Never the less, prayer allows us to express our confidence in God before we see the outcome, which is the essence of faith, rather than waiting until we see the outcome, which is walking by sight.
Anxiety destroys reasonableness, and unity becomes impossible. Prayer overcomes
anxiety and unity works.
After helping, forbearing, and praying, the fourth thing we must do to have unity is to
think. We need to think on the good things, not focus on the bad ones.
(Philippians 4:8) “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
This kind of thinking is not an attitude, but an action. It is conscious thought control. If you think about good things, you will have a better outlook on life. If you think about good things, you will do the good things, because you can only do the things that you think about.
Does discord loom on the horizon? Then shift to Paul’s list of topics, that which is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and of good repute and excellent and worthy of praise. God promised back in chapter 3 verse 15, if we will stay together and keep trying, that He will see to it that we come to the correct understanding. What do we do if disunity threatens?
We want to narrow down on that one sore point. That’s not what Paul says to do to have unity. Instead, shift to these topics. Shift to the good reasons to be united in Christ, to stay together.
If we make an effort to think about the things Paul lists, we will know what is good and we will do what is good. The ways of God will become automatic because we will think about them all the time.
After helping and forbearing and praying and thinking, the fifth thing that we must do to
have unity is to imitate.
(Philippians 4:9) "The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you."
The goal is to have the mind of Christ, yet Paul says to imitate him! It is because seeking Christ and imitating Christ has been at the heart of Paul’s ministry. The old saying “What Would Jesus Do’ was an operative motto for Paul.
We start by thinking about good things. We pray in order to dispose of that difficult enemy of our thought process, anxiety. We strive toward gentleness and reasonableness. We look upon each other with love and compassion. Unity comes in Christ Jesus, because of Christ’s actions, and the amazing work of the Holy Spirit when we open our hearts to the Spirit’s power.
written by Rev. Rhys Thomas, contributed by a friend
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