So even though we're just talking about confidence, what's at stake here, what you have to lose, is actually very very real. Paul is not exaggerating this passage when he says, “that he had lost all things for Christ's sake”. It's the very real cost that the Young Rich Man encountered in the story that Mark tells in his gospel in chapter 10. When this rich young person comes to ask Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life, essentially, “what must I do to be righteous?” And Jesus says, “you could just go do what all the religious people are telling you to do”. The young man responds, “I've been doing all that you see”. Even though he'd been doing, he'd been on the performance plan and he'd been killing it on the performance plan. This young man still feels that I still don't have this thing that I'm looking for. He knew he was standing on Shaky Ground and Jesus diagnoses his issue immediately and says, “go sell everything that you have, give it to the poor, and come and follow me." Now wait, is Jesus suggesting that righteousness can be achieved by selling everything that we have and giving it to the poor? Of course not. Selling everything and giving to the poor, that's just another achievement. That's just another performance plan. But this man's issue was his confidence in his wealth. And that misplaced confidence was keeping him from the one thing that would bring him the Eternal kind of life. That would bring him righteousness, and that is following Jesus, which is where of course Paul has landed. Everything else on his resume he considers garbage like quoting your GPA from kindergarten.
Paul's only interested in one thing, verse 10, I want to know Christ. Yes, to know the power of his resurrection, participation in his suffering, to become like him in his death, and so somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead. To know Christ, not just about Christ, not just his teachings, not just the historical facts about his life. Not just the various interpretations and applications of his words to today's issues. No, knowing how to live well. Being in right standing with God and man. Living rightly in the world comes from knowing Christ. The power of the resurrected Christ. To follow Christ into suffering. To allow Christ's death to become our death, so that his life becomes our life. And there is nothing on our resume good or bad. Nothing that we've accomplished. Nothing that we failed to accomplish that compares to knowing Christ. That's where righteousness comes from.
Paul says, “have the same attitude as Christ Jesus” or “conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel.” That can be kind of abstract for me. It can seem impossible and so I feel free to ignore it. But then Paul says look at Timothy. This is what serving Christ, prioritizing Christ’s interest means. It means caring for others. That simple. That real. Serving Christ’s interest is caring for others, not winning them, not having all the right answers for them. Not fixing anything per say, but genuinely caring about others well-being.
How does this orient our vision of next level discipleship like Paul’s? Caring, that’s the work. Easier said than done, yes, but also doable. We can train to become a person who can listen. Who has the space for others brokenness and isn’t overwhelmed by it. Who can see needs and doesn’t imagine they are the Savior, but a friend. Who can celebrate another’s wins and grieve losses while putting away our own insecurities and our sense of scarcity. Who can speak out for someone who is bullied. Or make a meal when someone’s sick. Or the call when someone’s scared or grieving. Or speak a word of truth when a friend is lost or stuck. And in it all we can learn how to speak of our Jesus. And won’t we also find our own loneliness unraveling. So, Timothy’s going to come to Philippi and make a web of connection and relationship between the Philippians and Paul’s work that much stronger. It’s going to be awesome, but not yet. Because Paul needs him with him in this dark stinking prison.
And I would suggest to you that Anthony’s adventure in football very much resembles our Christian experience. It’s a long process, of gradually learning the way of Jesus. And gradually becoming the individuals and the church community that he wants us to be. And through the process there are forward and backward steps, but even the backward ones are often forward. There are advances by inches and retreats by feet, but the retreats are often in a strange sort of way, advances as well. And our job through the process is to continue to take another step in the process. Philippians 2:12-18, what we read a moment ago draws our attention to this dynamic process of growth. Formation as we call it. Becoming individuals in a church community that increasingly displays the humility and goodness and character of King Jesus.
Think of what the Philippians heard. The cross wasn’t embossed on their Bibles or hung in their churches or worn on a pretty chain around their necks. The cross had none of the softened beauty of today, it was the brutalist of punishments and the ultimate humiliation. This is the heart of Paul’s theology. His understanding of Gods being and his doing in our fallen world. This is who God is. Obedience wasn’t demanded of Christ it was freely given. He humbled himself because it is who he is. The one equal with God has fully revealed the highest truth about God, that God is love. A love that expresses itself in sacrifice.
The mind of Christ kind of obedience isn’t a demanded, blind, unquestioning, “shut up and do it”, kind of obedience. Though at times when I am filled with selfish ambition and vein conceit it would probably be advisable. This is an obedience that flows out of love, knowing the character of God so deeply that that character is being formed in me.
More than just referring about their behavior as individuals in the world, Paul is actually pointing to the way that they live out their heavenly citizenship with one another, their collective polity. See, Paul recognizes that as a local church, they have a common life with each other. That is, set in the context of their citizenship in the Roman empire. So Paul is calling out the Philippians to live out their common life together in the secular context, not by simply adopting the customs and the culture of the world around them, but rather to live out their collective life together in a manner that fits with the Good News of life in the reality of the Kingdom of God.
And the reason I think that's what he's referring to, is that the litmus test is unity. Paul will know that the Philippians are conducting themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel, because they are in unity with one another.
According to Paul, the main outcome of a local church conducting themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel—is that they end up standing firm, in one spirit, striving together, as one, for the faith of the gospel.
Paul did not say, "Everything has a purpose." He did not say, "In spite of the difficult circumstances of me being in prison, God did something good." Paul simply did not make the best of a bad situation. What Paul said is far more remarkable.
He said, what has happened to me—that is, getting thrown into prison—has served to advance the good news. In other words, what has happened to me, the sufferings I am enduring, unjust as they are, have opened up an opportunity for the good news of Jesus' resurrection and new life to advance. And if I hadn't been put in this prison, this might not have happened. It's a remarkable recognition of God's bigness over his troubles.
This is not an "in spite of" perspective. It's a "because of" perspective. You see, Paul has this gigantic view of God. A really big view of God. And he knows that God is always at work bringing forth His Kingdom purposes, and nothing can stop God's unfolding plan.
Over the next several months, we will be reading someone else's mail. I say that as sort of a creative way to refer to the fact that this New Testament book, this epistle to the Philippians, really is a letter from the apostle Paul to the local church that he had started in the city of Philippi.
But in another sense, I say that because, you read the opening paragraphs of this letter, and you get a sense that there's this deep, personal connection between Paul and the Philippians. To me, I read these opening words...and it's like I'm peering into this tender exchange, this honest expression of love and longing between Paul and this group of people, this little local church.
How does the resurrection make a difference on a Wednesday? When I'm bored at school? When I'm grocery shopping at Trader Joe's? Or languishing at a mundane job I only endure for the paycheck? Now we can have a fine time today kicking around some theology of the resurrection, or maybe naming two or three proofs for the resurrection, but I want to take it out of the clouds and drop it into a typical Wednesday. How does the resurrection matter on a Wednesday? How does it bring hope in the real world where we are actually living in 2024?
"Our first priority as the church is not to make all these things happen in the world through political action, but to be a prophetic witness to the hope of a world remade according to Christ." Brian Zahnd
Too often, we sink our chips into politics and try and make the society righteous. But as the church, we are the ones who are to be the righteous society in the larger society... So wherever Kingdom values, ethics, and principles drive our voting, they should drive our actions within our own church toward one another, and then out from there. Caring for the poor—in our church... Loving the immigrants—in our church... Helping mothers who are contemplating an abortion. Helping mothers heal who have had an abortion. Adopting children. Helping at-risk children. Helping sinners find forgiveness.
We should be helping one another transform. Helping one another break free from the shackles of shame. We should be visiting prisoners. We should be sharing financial resources to do Kingdom work. Connecting skills with needs. Helping people get out of personal debt. Helping people find jobs... Forgiveness, reconciliation, transformation, grace, goodness, shalom. Being the church.
Politics—if we think of the fullest definition of it—has to do with how we live together, and how we relate to each other in the various communities that we are in. It has to do with the values and the principles that govern our communities and relationships and common life together.
And today's topic is "Incarnational Politics." It might seem like a strange phrase.
What it means is simply in-the-flesh politics. Hands-getting-dirty kind of politics that rejects ideology from a distance and embraces a politics of presence. A politics of showing up, and being with, and listening to, and seeking to do something about. Face-to-face conversations with people who think differently, especially with those within our own families and within our own church. Stepping toward political tension to unwind the antagonism and foster relationship. Incarnational politics means taking action on the various issues that we care about. It means living out our politics in the local settings that we inhabit, where we can actually make a difference. Could it be that what we care about and believe is reflected more by the actions we take in our local context than by the circle we darken on our presidential ballot?
[Note: This podcast includes an interview with Michael Zacharia, former White House executive and international consultant and professor on conflict resolution for large companies and countries.]