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From Philippians 1:27-30: In this passage, Paul talks about an uncomfortable topic. That topic? Suffering. But he shows us what it takes for us to endure and to move forward in the midst of it.
As I was growing up, I was given the gift of camaraderie through sports. Depending on what your interests were growing up, maybe you experienced camaraderie in sports too, or some other extra-curricular activities.
But for me, sports were it.
I played a lot of sports growing up, but my two favorite ones were hockey and baseball. Absolutely loved playing them.
When it came to hockey, there were two seasons in particular that I think back with so much joy and appreciation.
When I was a sophomore in High School, I was a part of a travel hockey team in Fort Wayne. We would travel throughout Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky for the most part every weekend. It was an absolute blast.
We spent a lot of time together as a team. But we didn’t end up having a great season in the wins and losses, but man, I just remember that season with such joy and excitement.
My senior year in High School, I played for Northside HS. If you’re not familiar with hockey in Fort Wayne, if you attend a school that doesn’t have a team, then you can get drafted and join another school’s team. Since Wayne didn’t have a hockey team, I went into the draft my junior year and was selected by Northside.
Our junior year, we played really well, but our senior year we went undefeated in the regular season. We were dominant. Our coach was great—Gary Graham—he’s now the coach for the Komets.
My senior year was a blast. It didn’t end like we wanted to—we lost in the city championship—but I had a ton of fun and the camaraderie we had as a team that was constantly winning was such a good feeling.
But when it came to baseball, probably my favorite year was the summer between my sophomore year and junior year. Me and a lot of friends that I grew up playing at Elmhurst Little League with all joined a team for the summer. Included in that was the Indiana state tournament.
We played out of our minds that summer and made it to the state championship. And to make a long story short, we lost to a team that was ineligible and shouldn’t have been in the tournament—they had 17 and 18 year olds in a 16 and under tournament. So Indiana had no representative in the Little League World Series that year in our age bracket.
It’s no big deal. I’m not bitter about it.
Camaraderie. It’s a mighty powerful thing. It can create intense feelings of togetherness and hope and power. It can also create intense feelings of nostalgia when you think back about those times of great camaraderie.
Veterans
Veterans experience this when they come back from being overseas or are no longer on active duty. Assimilating back into civilian life can sometimes be hard.
And I think one of the reasons for that is the intense familial bond that veterans share. They are side-by-side and living out mutual sacrifice on a level that most of us can’t relate to.
It’s that feeling of camaraderie.
But that begs the question
But that begs the question, at least in my mind: why do we crave camaraderie?
Why do we crave it? Why is it so powerful in the human experience?
As we get older…
It seems like as we get older, we rarely enjoy high levels of camaraderie.
That’s not how it ought to be, though. In fact, if you’re a part of the body of Christ, what we know as camaraderie should only be a taste of what we experience together as God’s church.
Philippians: Finding Joy in a Discouraging World
If you have a Bible, go ahead and turn to Philippians 1.
Thus far, we’ve seen how the Philippian church began. It began in the midst of persecution. It was in Philippi that Paul was beaten and thrown in jail. But his trip there proved to be fruitful because people came to Christ and were bonded together by the blood of Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
People from different walks of life, people who thought differently, who looked differently, who lived life differently—prior to following Jesus—were rescued by the powerful hand of God and they all experienced the barrier breaking, sin crushing, death destroying power of the gospel of Christ.
Paul has told them how he is constantly praying for them, how God is going to finish what He began in them—you don’t ever have to feel like God is finished with you because He is busy working on you until the day you get to see Jesus face to face and are perfected in every way. Paul has shown them how his imprisonment—this seemingly bad thing—has actually turned out for the advance of the gospel. He has shown them how he is processing what he is going through and how he has an eager expectation, a deep desire to see to it that Christ would be highly honored in his body whether by life or by death.
Why because to live is Christ, to die is gain. But he sees that the Philippians still have some work that needs to be done in them, they haven’t reached the level of maturity Paul wants to see in them so even though Paul sees that dying and being with Christ would be FAR better for him, he believes he is going to come to them and further serve them.
Why? Because Jesus people serve people.
And that brings us to today.
Philippians 1:27-30
27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord,[a]contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.
This passage is going to take us to some uncomfortable places. So you’re going to want to buckle up.
Philippians 1:27
27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel,
Just one thing…
Have you ever been telling someone what the plan for something is or have been teaching someone something or have been telling your kids some kind of instruction and you realize you’ve been talking a long time and you’ve expressed some possible situations, but you want to bring it all back to the bottom line?
You know, because some of you in here tend to talk in circles and you’ve gotta go around and around a few times before you figure out where you’re going.
Or you may be the type that will start from point A and you take that conversation straight to point B and then you go back and start giving the little details once you’ve outlined the overall path and then you realize that you’ve been talking for quite awhile and you’ve given so much information and you stop. You don’t want them to lose the bottom line.
That’s kind of like what Paul is doing here.
Just one thing…
If you forget everything else I’ve said…
But you have to keep this in mind…
I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves…
Listen up.
As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ
Paul’s expectation for them, whether he is able to come to them or not is that they would live their lives WORTHY of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And if you think back, you can see that a life worthy of the gospel is what Paul has been showing them all throughout this letter.
It means to strive for the advancement of the gospel, to let Christ be the keeper of your identity, to rejoice in the furthering of the work of Jesus, to have your greatest desire to be honoring Christ through your life and through your death, to make your life Christ, to have Him as your greatest desire and have Him be the story you walk in and live in.
It means surrendering your life to Christ and letting Him do with you what He pleases.
So that’s what Paul wants them to do whether he comes to see them or not. He wants to come serve them and be with them, but if he can’t, they’ve gotta know that Paul isn’t the key to them living out their faith, Christ’s work in them is.
And so he is helping them to zoom out frothier immediate context and see that they are not just citizens of Philippi. They are not the only Christ followers who are suffering. They are not alone.
They are citizens of heaven. They are members of a vast nation known as the global body of Christ.
Standing firm—United by the Spirit—One accord/Soul—Contending together
But what will it look like if they are all striving to live their lives worthy of the gospel of Christ?
They’ll look like a group that is standing firm and holding the line like soldiers in a battle.
They’ll look like a group that is united by the Spirit of God where nothing that comes against them will have the power to divide them.
They’ll look like a group that is in one accord or a group that has the same soul or mind. In other words, they are in tune with each other. They are elevating each other above themselves. If one of them suffers, they all suffer. If one of them rejoices, they all rejoice.
They’ll look like a group that is, like a sports team, contending and struggling and fighting together to win a championship.
And what’s the prize? What is it that they are contending and struggling and fighting together for?
The faith of the gospel.
Infighting, division, and missing the main thing
In my short time in the church and following Christ, I’ve seen and heard of so many sources of division and conflict.
I’ve seen infighting about power. I’ve seen division around feelings being hurt.
I’ve seen minor things be elevated above major things.
I’ve seen people leave churches because of petty things.
And yet, what I long to see, what I want us to be, what Paul is saying we must be as the church is a group of people, united by the blood of Jesus, joined together by the Spirit of God, and striving, contending, struggling, fighting for the faith of the gospel.
A group that has more camaraderie than any other group in the world.
A group that has the greatest mission in the Universe and ACTS LIKE IT!
If Christ has saved you from the pits of hell then don’t we want to be the church God wants us to be because we, my friends, we are the vehicles for the gospel to be advanced in this world.
You. Me.
We don’t have the luxury of time to waste. There are people perishing. The gospel must be advanced.
In us first. And in the world second.
Because only when the gospel is advanced in the church will the gospel be advanced in the world.
Philippians 1:28
28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God.
Fearless faith—A billboard of Salvation
When the church is who the church is supposed to be, we will live with a fearless faith that no matter how people oppose us, we will continue moving forward without fear.
And this will be a sign.
Make no mistake: there is a battle going on.
Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
Here’s the thing: we live in a very comfortable country as it relates to experiencing any kind of real persecution for our faith.
That’s not the case for all, though. And we’re already beginning to see our culture become less and less friendly toward the Christian faith.
The broader American culture doesn’t take its direction from a kind of nominal Christianity.
Opposition will surely come. It may be small. It may be large. It may come in the form of ridicule from a classmate. It may come in the form of verbal hostility from a coworker or a stranger.
But what Paul is saying is that when the church is standing firm, united by the Spirit of God, being one mind and one soul, and contending for the faith of the gospel, the opposition that will come against God’s church will be met with a fearless faith and this will serve as a billboard of salvation.
When your faith is greater than your fear, you begin to see that Christ really is on the throne.
And for those who oppose Christ, for those who oppose the church, they’ll see that billboard too. But that billboard of salvation will be an assurance that they are headed for destruction because the faith that these Christians have is REAL and their opposition of it is futile.
Philippians 1:29-30
29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.
Now here’s the uncomfortable part.
Charizomai—faith and suffering
That word “granted” is an uncomfortable word given its context.
It’s saying that God graciously gives us two gifts on Christ’s behalf—to believe in Christ and to suffer for Christ.
We live in a world that, broadly speaking, opposes Christ. And so if you contend together for the faith of the gospel, if you are in the fight, if you are engaging in the battle against the true enemy, if you are choosing to fight with the weapon of the love of Christ, you will face hardship.
But like I’ve said before, we live in a relatively comfortable place where we exercise our faith freely and largely unquestioned.
But this isn’t the case for much of the world.
According to the organization, Open doors USa…
According to the organization Open Doors USA, they release the World Watch List which is a global indicator of countries where human and religious rights are being violated, and those countries most vulnerable to societal unrest and destabilization.
According to Open Doors USA…
Every month:
- 255 Christians are killed
- 104 are abducted
- 180 Christian women are raped, sexually harassed or forced into marriage
- 66 churches are attacked
- 160 Christians are detained without trial and imprisoned
According to their research:
- 215 million Christians experience high levels of persecution in the countries on the World Watch List. This represents 1 in 12 Christians worldwide.
- During the World Watch List 2018 reporting period: 3,066 Christians were killed; 1,252 were abducted; 1,020 were raped or sexually harassed; and 793 churches were attacked.
Real, blatant, harm is being done to Christians because of their faith all throughout the world.
And you know what? The Christian faith often thrives in those places. Why? Because the Christians living there KNOW there is a battle in front of them. They can see those who oppose them. They understand what is happening. They aren’t being distracted.
But the risk we run here
But the risk we run here in America is not seeing the opposition. The risk we run here in America is apathy and comfort.
We let our guards down. We don’t stand firm as a church body like soldiers in a battle holding the line. We don’t bother even getting to know the people in our church body let alone contend together, struggle together for the faith of the gospel. We get busy with life and we end up chasing fleeting things, all the while opening the door to division, to fear, to elevating minuscule things above the main thing, Jesus.
It’s why we run to the church down the street when things get tough. It’s why we view church as a place to go instead of a people to be.
My friends, we must not forget that suffering for Christ will come when we contend together for the gospel.
And maybe the reason we’re not facing persecution in America is because we’re not really contending for the gospel here.
Because the devil will leave you alone if you don’t contend for the gospel. He’ll let you be your own worst enemy.
People won’t oppose you when you act like them, live like them, and keep Jesus to yourself. But you know what also won’t happen? They may not experience the freedom that comes with knowing Christ as King.
Now, I’m not saying that we should go out and look for suffering. What I am saying, though, is that we must band together and contend for the faith of the gospel.
Participants, Passengers
A unified church doesn’t consist of passengers, it consists of participants.
That’s not to say that if you’re here and you’re still not sure about Jesus that you’re not welcome. I’m so glad you’re here. You are welcome here.
But what that does mean is that when we make the decision to surrender our lives to Jesus, we are being ushered into a community called the church and that community is now our family, that community is the bride of Christ of which will be presented to Jesus in the end as a beautiful bride adorned for her husband.
If we are going to be the church God wants us to be, it will require all of us who call ourselves Christians to get out of the cheap seats and get into the game.
If you’ve been bought by the blood of Jesus, if you accepted His gift of salvation that came through His suffering, you’ve gotta get off your seat and start to participate.
A unified church doesn’t consist of passengers, it consists of participants.
Friends, Don’t Go At This Alone
Friends, don’t face suffering alone.
Don’t face hardship alone.
Don’t face life alone.
Get over yourself and realize that you and me… we were created for togetherness.
It’s Not Good for Man to Be Alone
When God created Adam, He said that it’s not good for man to be alone. So He created Eve, too. And they began to procreate. Why?
Because it’s not good for us to be alone.
We need each other. We were made for togetherness.
We were made for camaraderie.
We were made to walk arm in arm.
If you keep trying to live the Christian life alone, you won’t survive let alone thrive.
Their Response to Hardship—Our Response
Paul wanted the Philippian church to bond together, to stand firm, to be united by the Spirit of God, to be of one mind, and to contend, to struggle, to fight for the advancement of the gospel just as he had been doing.
They were going to face hardship.
But he knew that they would survive because they had the Spirit of God bonding them together. They had a mutual hope to push them forward in their mutual struggle and their mutual sacrifice.
He wanted them to engage in the fight. He wanted them all to participate. He wanted them all to contend together for the gospel.
Can you imagine if we did that? Can you imagine if we were more laser-focused, not on having our little preferences met, but more laser-focused on advancing the gospel in ourselves and in the world?
Engage in the Fight. Become a Participant. Serve.
Friends, we must contend together for the gospel. There is a battle going on. And the stakes are eternity. There are people in this community, in this country, in this world who are headed to hell because no one has spoken the gospel to them.
There are Christians in this world who are being persecuted for their faith. And yet they keep going. They keep contending for the gospel.
Why? Because the hope they have in Christ goes beyond this life. The bond they have with their fellow disciples of Jesus is greater than the opposition they are facing.
If they can keep contending for the gospel in the midst of that opposition, surely we can contend for the gospel in the midst of the minuscule opposition we face.
So what’s holding you back from moving from passenger to participant?
Time? Priorities? Discomfort? Fear?
Step out on faith.
On the screen you can see my email address. If you’re ready to serve and be a part of contending for the gospel, the greatest mission in the Universe, please email me and we’ll talk.
