GETTING STARTED
We live in a culture that loves to exalt itself. We often find satisfaction in getting ahead of others instead of helping others get ahead. We are secretly content when we get the promotion instead of our co-worker, or when our child starts on the team while someone else’s sits on the bench. Our society encourages us to be aggressively ambitious and to look out for ourselves in order to succeed. In our passage today, Paul challenged the Philippians that Christian community should function in a countercultural way. A life of faith is attractively different.
- In what ways is your life different from the norms of culture?
READ THE WORD: PHILIPPIANS 2:1-11 (ESV)
2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
DIGGING DEEPER
(Today’s questions focus on verses 1-4. Verses 5-11 will be covered in our next study.)
- Replace the “so if” with “since” and reread verse 1. What four things in verse 1 are absolutely true?
- In light of these four truths, how did Paul instruct the Philippians (vss. 2-4)?
- Within the Body of Christ, what does it mean to be of one mind and have the same love (vs. 2)?
- What is selfish ambition, and what is vain conceit? How are they the same or different? How do you see them in our culture and in your life?
- In a practical sense, how do you count someone as more significant than yourself? Whose interests can you look out for today? How can you do that specifically and practically?
RESPOND TO GOD
Paul’s exhortations are not simple ethical summons to “do good,” but rather a call to draw upon the supernatural realities that are already true in our lives as believers. In our brokenness, we tend toward rivalry, conceit, and self-centeredness, finding our significance at the expense of others. The power of the gospel challenges our pride with the humility of Christ. The beauty of the gospel offers us true worth through serving others and counting them as more important than ourselves. Living for Christ as his servant is the most counter-cultural thing we can do.
- Is there any attitude or action in your life where you need the correction of the gospel? Confess that to God.
- Ask God to help you, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to demonstrate humility and a deep concern for the well-being of others before yourself.
- Pray for the people in your life that you struggle to love and serve.
