Philippians 2:5 - Our Supreme Example

’This be thinking in you what also [was] in Christ Jesus...’

-paul is still talking about the phrén, our mind as it relates to understanding.  but now he sets the bar as high as it can go, giving us the perfect example of how to be focused on others.  we are to be thinking and having the same perception and understanding that Jesus Himself had.  He is our supreme and primary example when it comes to living into others-first others-better.  He is the Author and Perfecter of our faith on Whom we must fix our eyes (heb 12.2).  which points out the fact that in order for us to be able fix our attention on the needs and interests of others, we must first make sure that we are focusing on Jesus.  in order for others to increase, He must increase (jn 3.30).  me-reduction begins with Christ-production, with God’s Spirit producing and re-producing more and more of the life and character and mindset of Christ within me (cf gal 2.20).  me in Christ and Christ in me (col 1.27-28).  and so we must talk about death.  death of self.  death to me, dying to the things of me - this is the journey i must undertake not only just to follow Jesus but also in order to attain to others-first others better (lk 9.23).  i must walk the calvary road, each and every day.  we’re not talking about a scaffold or a gallows, a place of public execution.  no, this execution chamber is my mind.

-it is the ultimate paradox.  we come to Jesus to find life.  we were never made to taste death, we want desperately to avoid death, and we come to Jesus because He is the One Who conquered death and offers us life forever (jn 11.25-26).  and yet the path He invites us to follow is the via dolorosa, the road that led to golgotha, the place of the skull, the hill of execution to where Jesus dragged the very cross on which He would die and in doing so gave us the ultimate example of dying to self and living into others-first others-better.  He understood that true life is found not in trying to hold on to it but rather in losing it, in giving it away (lk 17.33, mk 8.35). 

-so, what was Jesus thinking exactly?

-regardless, to the extent that i am to be thinking the same as Jesus, i definitely have a long ways to go...

Philippians 2:4 - Look out!

’...not the [things] of themselves each watching but rather each the [things] of others.’ 

-here’s the deal.  practically every modern translation modifies what paul wrote to say, 'don't only look out for yourselves but also look out for others.'  but that dumbs down the impact of the original language.  the greek does not have the word ‘only’ or ‘merely’, and the oldest manuscripts do not have the word ‘also’.  the use of those words in this verse have the effect of creating space for the reader to pay attention to themselves.  apparently the folks who copied the earliest manuscripts and those who have later worked on our various modern translations of the New Testament felt it necessary to add these words.  which is understandable to a point, because really, who can be expected to not look after their own interests?  it is only reasonable to allow that people need to take care of their own interests while they also look after the interests and needs of others.  but those who have handed down this text to us have truly lowered the bar.  look at the rest of Scripture - the bar is set quite high.  gal 6.2 simply says ‘carry each other’s burdens’ - it doesn’t add the word ‘also’.  rom 15.1-3 tells us to ‘please our neighbor for his good, to build him up, for even Christ did not please Himself’.  it does not say, ‘ALSO please your neighbor’ (the word ’just’ in v. 1 in the NAS - ‘not JUST please ourselves’ - has also been inserted there gratuitously by the translators).  but really it is quite simple - there is no also or and.  the language here is not, watch others AND yourselves.  to be sure, we must take care of ourselves to a certain extent.  but me-first is already our default position, and in this we generally go above and beyond.  we are experts at taking care of our own interests.  for many it is only children and elderly parents who tend to be the primary levers that pry us out of me-first mode.  but here we are simply being exhorted to get our eyes OFF of ourselves.  it’s not ‘merely’ one eye on us and ‘also’ one on others - that is not what paul says.

-the word is skopeo, which is the verb for skopos, which gives us our english word, scope.  it can be a goal or a target, something on which we focus intently.  picture someone with a rifle or a drawn bow, or perhaps a scout or a lookout on a wall with an enemy in sight, and they are looking closely and fixedly at one thing, and it is not themselves.  this is what we are instructed to be doing, getting our gaze off our navels and onto others.

-even the conjunction paul uses points out the contrast.  it means 'but rather' or 'instead'.  not focusing on me, BUT RATHER focusing on others.  INSTEAD of focusing on me, focusing on others.

-it’s like when Jesus is telling peter to follow and love Him and to take care of His sheep, and peter asks Jesus, ‘but what about john?’  and Jesus says don’t worry about him (jn 21.17-22).  don’t worry about that other thing.  right now i want you to focus on this one thing, this one thing i am asking you to do.  paul is making no concession whatsoever about looking out for ourselves.  he is simply saying, you don’t need to worry about your own interests right now - don’t look at them.  just get your eyes off yourself and think about others, look at them and at their needs instead.  and if the whole body of Christ actually did this - look out!

-practically speaking, why would someone even want to consider jettisoning their me-first mindset?  me-first not ony bars my access to heaven, it also shuts down the encroachment of heaven upon the earth.  me-first can suffice in solitary confinement or on a deserted island perhaps, at least for a short while, but one is definitely the loneliest number, and as long as i make it all about me in a broken world, i will ultimately be sadly disappointed.  and once i throw in other people who are also wired for me-first, things spiral downward in haste.  we all want paradise, peace and love, those peaceful easy feelings, those good vibrations, right?  ‘they were naked and unashamed’, no hiding, no hurling - that was paradise.  not merely a place of beauty but one of beautiful relationships - encouragement, giving, helping, sharing, patience, honesty, acceptance, forgiveness, faithfulness, trust, kindness.  but me-first shuts down every last drop of that.

-Lord, please don’t let me move beyond this passage and forget about it, such that it just fades into the background like so many of the great truths i have read about and studied and filed away.  don’t let me look away unchanged and just keep on living as the same old self-centered, me-first me-better donkey i’ve always been.  please work in me today, and tomorrow and the next day.  yes, God, do what it takes to reduce me so that i can truly see and focus on the needs of my fellow believers and really live into others-first others-better.  i have a long, long way to go...

Philippians 2:3 - A Radical Me-Reduction

’...nothing according to self-seeking nor according to vainglory but rather by lowmindedness ruling one another [as] exceeding themselves...’

-me-first, me-better.  that is the default position for the sons of adam and daughters of eve.  in this verse, self-seeking is eritheia, a base self-seeking which is unable shift its gaze to higher things.  this person is only in it for themselves.  me first.  paul used it in phil 1.17 to describe those who were only thinking of themselves as they thought to cause him trouble somehow by preaching the Gospel.  vainglory is kenodoxia, from kenos (empty), and doxia (glory).  it is a delusional and overblown sense of self-worth.  me better.  as we consider the importance of the understanding mind (phren) in relationships and functioning within the Body, paul is calling out any attitude of me-first-me-better, and saying, get rid of any hint of such thoughts, understand that there is no place for that mindset in the Body of Christ. 

-and the greek simply says ‘nothing’.  most versions render it as ‘do/doing nothing’.  some commentators suggest it should be ‘thinking nothing’.  but it is simply nothing.  ‘nothing from me-first-me-better...’  there is to be no room or quarter given to any hint of me-first, me-better in our thoughts or actions.  and in order for this to happen, each one of us definitely needs some radical soul-surgery, a me-ectomy.  not a full ectomy per se - more of a me-reduction... a radical me-reduction.

-yes indeed, because instead there is to be lowmindedness.  the word is tapeinophrosyné, from tapeinos, which describes something lowly or even servile, and phrén, which we have already seen denotes our mind and understanding.  this lowly perspective must take the lead (hégeomai, which is the initiative/decision of a leader - cf mt 2.6, lk 22.26) to decide to relate to others as though they are better than me.  the word is hyperecho, which means to hold over.  it describes something that towers over or stands out above something else, particularly in an elevated position or in one of power.  it is the position of a king or others in authority (rom 13.1, 1tim 2.2, 1pet 2.13).  we are talking about a conscious attitude of considering my fellow believers in Christ as being better than me, relating to them as though they are a king or queen, treating them with respect and courtesy and deference.  what if Christ-followers treated each other like royalty?  and it’s not that i treat them like a fellow monarch.  it is as though they are the monarch, and i am not.  others better.

-one might ask, to what extent am i to extend this royal treatment to unbelievers?  paul gives us no hint here.  elsewhere in Scripture we see that believers are to be good loving neighbors who meet needs, defending the defenseless, helping the helpless, respectful and submitting to all those in authority, honoring others esp the king (1pet 2.17, rom 13.7).  and yet we don’t really find the same level and quality of self-abandonment.

-but the paradox in the greek here is really fascinating - i am to make a ruling (in my mind at least) - just like a king or queen would - that my fellow Christ-followers are the real kings and queens.  i get off my throne and put them on it.  others better.  i have a long, long way to go...

Philippians 2:2 - One-souled

’...fill up my joy in order that you may be thinking the same, the same love having, souls together, the one thinking...’ 

-we know that paul has joy.  he told us about the joy he has in thinking about the philippians involvement in the Gospel and as this Good News about Jesus is being proclaimed.  so we have already seen that paul’s joy was tied to the spread of the Gospel.  here he exhorts the philippians to fill up his joy.  this is the main command of this particular section.  and it is totally safe to assume that what will give him full joy is tied to the forward progress of the Gospel in hearts and lives of these in philippi and elsewhere as well as among people(s) who haven’t heard or have no access to the Good News of Jesus Christ.

-now if paul’s joy is connected to how these believers in philippi are doing and on how the Gospel is moving forward, it makes total sense that what will fill up his joy is for these believers to channel all the things he just mentioned in the previous verse towards each other such that their own relationships show off the magnificent power and goodness of the Gospel and its ability to transform lives.  it’s not just about them having their fire insurance or having a good mano-a-mano vertical relationship with God.  paul is saying that they need to let the Lord make their relationships with each other so full of encouragement and love and sharing and caring that it totally enhances the way in which they come together and work together for the cause of Christ.

-what paul gives us is an application of phil 1.27, where the philippians are to be competing together in one spirit and one soul for the faith of the Gospel.  we’re talking about lives and conduct which are worthy of this Great Message and which are conducive to its spread.  now all the divine resources which the Lord has put at our disposal in the previous verse are to be employed to safeguard and grow unity of minds and hearts and focus among believers.  remember that oneness in the Body of Christ is produced automatically by God’s Spirit and must be guarded and preserved by God’s people (eph 4.3, 1cor 1.10), who determine to love each other in spite of their differences (1cor 8.1, col 3.14).  this is completely consistent with the new command which Jesus gave in jn 13.35 - ‘by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’  like Jesus, paul here is linking the forward progress of the Gospel to a manifestation of the selfless agapé love that those who follow Him show to one another.

-so, what does this love actually look like in the body?  does it look like absence of conflict?  everybody just getting along and being surfacy-nice to each other one day a week?  on the contrary, there is a shared passion for Jesus and a united commitment to the spread of His Gospel.  there is readiness to give and a mutual concern for the well-being of other believers, particularly those within our local assembly.  there is life-involvement that produces an awareness of needs and results in generous giving of time and sharing of resources to eliminate them.  there is Holy Spirit-empowered encouragement and comfort and speaking words that give life and build up and spur others on to love and good deeds.  it is people who really care about each other, people who love to be with each other (more than just a couple of hours a week), people who believe in each other and give grace to each other and forgive each other and who come together to get through hard times together.  it is people who really love Jesus working tirelessly side by side to help others learn to love Jesus, to give them a glimpse of His unbelievably breathtaking goodness, to be a blessing to their neighbors and to the nations.  it is people who put aside what they want or think they deserve and put the needs and wants of others before their own.  like Jesus did, as we shall read.

-so paul is saying, you guys are in the game with me, and the Gospel is going forward, and this is great, but now, fill up my joy by letting the Lord totally transform your relationships with one another, SO THAT you can really be united and focused on loving the Lord and on living to make Him famous.

-take note of the role of the mind, our thought life.  paul twice here uses the verb phroneo, which refers to the activity of the phrén, the perceiving mind or understanding (as opposed to the nous, which is the thinking mind).  the verb will be used again in phil 2.5 where paul exhorts us to have the same phroneo as Jesus.  it is important for us to understand the significance of the phrén both as it relates to the progress of the Gospel as well as the role it plays in all of life.  the activity of the phrén is certainly core to following and devotion to Christ (phil 3.13-15, col 3.1-2).  but for the greek, good phroneo (i.e. the act of perceiving and understanding well) is THE source of virtue.  plato actually considered phronésis (understanding) to be the chief virtue.  all culture is linked to it, to our mind and the proper/healthy exercise thereof.  it is a divine gift that should guide society and leaders and which directs the mind toward immortality.  for His part, God’s phronésis is unsearchable (is 40.28).  phroneo is how He set up the universe.  and while humans should certainly strive towards good phronésis, phronésis apart from God (fear and awe of Him) becomes arrogance (rom 11.20, rom 12.3), and faulty phroneo (bad understanding) and a-phrosuné (not understanding) are seen as the most elemental of sins (cf phil 3.19, lk 11.40, lk 12.20, mk 7.21-22, mk 8.33, eph 5.17, 1pet 2.15, ps 14.1)(cf gen 6.5, 1chr 28.9, ps 10.4, ps 139.23-24, prov 12.5, prov 23.7, is 55.6-9, is 57.11, is 65.2, lk 2.35, act 17.29, rom 2.14-16, rom 14.5, rom 14.13-14, rom 14.22, 1cor 14.20, 2cor 10.5, heb 4.12-13).  paul repeatedly urges unity of phroneo for those who follow Christ (rom 15.5, 2cor 13.11).  but the outcome of encouraging and comforting and loving and fellowshipping with one another should definitely increase our ability to really unite and focus on making Jesus famous.  one-souled.  we all want most what Jesus wants most, for us to love the Lord with all our hearts and to love each other and our neighbors really well.  i have a long, long way to go.