Philippians 1:27 - Part of a team

"Only worthily be living as citizens of the Good News of Christ, in order that whether having come and having seen you or being away I may be hearing the [things] about you, that you all are standing firm in one spirit, in one soul competing together the faith of the Good News..."

-paul here gives his first imperative.  having just shared his big, overarching purpose and goal in life, this command flows naturally out of that, out of this logical obsession with Jesus and full out commitment to help bring the Good News about Him to bear on the lives of others.

-several word pictures here.  the first is politueo, which is the verb form of polités, which is a person who is a citizen of a polis, or city.  politeuo then relates to the life that is lived by a citizen of a certain city.  citizenship in paul’s day was a big deal, esp. to be a citizen of rome.  it carried with it significant rights and privileges and protections.  it was something to be proud of.  it was something to aspire to.  it was something to inform and color how you would live and behave and carry yourself.  it was more than likely your lead foot, your primary identity.  despite being located in macedonia, philippi happened to be a roman colony, and the people who lived there took pride in the fact that they were full-fledged citizens of rome, the great city which gave its name to the empire over which it ruled.  being a citizen of rome was not just an identity to be lived out by individuals in isolation.  roman colonies were to be reproductions of the parent commonwealth (albeit on a smaller scale).  with this in mind, paul has in mind that these believers are citizens of an even better city, with even better rights and privileges and also with an even higher standard of behavior.  he is exhorting this Christian assembly on how to conduct itself collectively as a colony of the Gospel empire, the one ruled from Heaven by the Lord Himself.

-he is talking about living a life that is worthy of such citizens.  one which is representative, good enough - living and behaving in a way which measures up to the expectations and standards of such a place.  and following on the heels of his declaration of purpose in life, he says that this worthy citizen-living is the main thing, the only thing he has in mind for them to pursue.  so what does this look like actually?

-the first thing that characterizes the worthy conduct of citizens of the commonwealth of Heaven is this concept of standing firm.  the verb is stéko, which has the idea of something which has stood or has been made to stand in one place and is continuing to do so.  it comes from the same root as stérizo, which is another verb which has the idea of standing so firm and enduringly as to be established and fixed.  the position has been confirmed.  for these philippian believers (and all others for that matter), worthy conduct involves stick-to-it-iveness, a steadfastness and firmness of belief and commitment to and engagement with the Gospel, with Jesus.

-not only sticking to the Gospel, but sticking to each other.  this place where believers are standing in one place is a place where there are others who believe, and those who follow Christ are in it together, a togetherness in which there is one spirit.  there should be an amazing, enduring unity.  the same Spirit which gives us life and which animates our physical being also gives us new birth, gives us spiritual life and power and the fruit of transformed lives.  this One same Spirit indwells every Christ-follower and in fact is constantly at work forging bonds of love and peace and joy between those who are polités of the heavenly city (cf ephesians 4.3).  worthy conduct for citizens involves allowing that oneness of the life of the Gospel to manifest in such a way that we are being just as firm and fixed in our relationships with fellow Christ-followers as we are with Christ Himself.  we are a stake in the ground, and we are not moving.  it is samwise gamgee saying to frodo:

Sam: I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee." And I don't mean to. I don't mean to. 
Frodo: Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone. 
Sam: Of course you are. And I'm coming with you. 

we are sticking to each other through thick and thin, through whatever life and a broken world and our opponents might throw at us.  we are there for each other, we help carry one another’s unbearable burdens, and we encourage each other through life’s ups and downs.  we go through the dirt of life together.  we share our junk and we share our stuff - we are generous.  there are (or should be) no glaring unmet needs in an assembly of citizens of the Empire of Heaven (cf acts 2.44-45, acts 4.32-35).  we give grace to each other, we are patient and kind and forgiving to each other.  we believe the best about each other and we bear with one another’s gaps and failings - other believers are NOT the problem, and they are not our enemies!  they are our brothers and sisters, children of the King who He loves a lot.  we don’t get to pick and choose in our Heavenly family any more than we get to pick and choose in our earthly family.  none of us is perfect, but we are family.  we work it out, and stick together.

-the last word picture is that of competing together in one soul for the faith of the Gospel.  the word is synathleo, where the root verb is athleo, which means to compete for a prize as an athlete (which is also where we get our english word, athlete).  the prefix syn means with or together.  in other words, we are talking about a team.  not just a club that only hangs out and does life together, but a purposeful, missional community that is also competing together for the progress and spread of the Good News in the lives of people and communities and throughout the world, competing together to spread the knowledge of the breathtakingly good God and share His blessings in every nation.  and we are talking about a team - there is one soul.  not just tacit intellectual agreement about certain facts.  there is shared passion and volitional commitment and momentum around the advancing cause of Christ, and every citizen-member has a role to play on the team.  there are no spectators, no bench warmers.  if you are in Christ, if you are following Jesus, you are a citizen-member of the team of Heaven, and there is a local team that desperately needs you, and you need them, and you just need to get over it, whatever it is that is keeping you on the sidelines.  let go of your fear, let go of your insecurity, let go of your hurt, and find a way to join a team and get in the game.  the stakes are too high, eternity is too permanent, God is too breathtakingly good to be riding the pine.  Gospel-worthy conduct means competing on a Gospel team as an excellent teammate - it’s the one thing paul is telling us to do.

-paul doesn’t mention it here, although it perhaps shouldn’t go without saying, that this Gospel-worthy conduct, this citizen-of-heaven life that competes together as part of a team for the faith of the Good News is produced in those who follow Christ as they trust in and depend on Him (matthew 4.19).  Jesus can and will reproduce the representative life of His heavenly empire in the lives of those who are faithfully following Him - we just need to let Him.  i have a long, long way to go.