Being The Church 7

Philippians 1

Paul saw that there was even more to be done than just this most basic testimony to Christ. He was eager to grasp the chance to teach and encourage through his letters, to receive visitors and to strengthen and send out younger Christians from his cell or house arrest. Like his Master, Paul was prepared to lay down his life (that is, postpone his full experience of eternal life) for the good of the Church.

With all this in mind, Paul pleads with the Philippians to use his situation as a spur for their own greater commitment to Christ and his work.

Only, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.v27.

Now this appeal comes with very significant weight behind it; the man making the appeal is suffering imprisonment for the gospel of Christ. Paul, on the inside is being persecuted for the gospel – so it hardly seems appropriate for the Christians on the outside to be undermining the gospel by their slack lives. This applies as much to us as it did to the Philippians and other Christians in Paul’s time. If people like Paul (and presently, Christians in Gujarat, India or in China or Indonesia) are suffering imprisonment and persecution for promoting the gospel – it seems outrageous that those of us living in peaceful times and places should be found neglecting the gospel and contradicting it by the careless manner of our lives.

Does it seem right that we should be wallowing in worldly entertainments, while at exactly the same time, Christians in other places are suffering for meeting together in a home group?

This is why Paul challenges us to make sure that the way we are living does not discredit this gospel which is so critical to the rescue of men and women. How would you feel sitting down right now to discuss with Paul or the other Christians who are under direct attack for even admitting that they are followers of Jesus Christ, how you have spent the previous week? Would you feel ashamed? Shouldn’t you feel stirred up to use the relative prosperity, peace and quiet you currently enjoy to promote the gospel by your manner of life, your resources and your commitment to grow spiritually and build the church?

What does Paul describe as a ‘manner of life worthy of the gospel of Christ’?

1. It is a life that is noticed and spoken about by others. ‘that I may hear of you’ v27. Your life hasn’t fallen below the radar. People are talking about your way of life. You haven’t let your life fall away into meaningless, low-level stuff that has no impact on anyone. You are not just following the flocks of people heading into the cinema or one of the thousands shut up in your room watching the flickering box in the corner, or one of those trudging off to work to do your time so you can visit the mall on the weekends with some money in your pocket. These are low-level lives that nobody notices. A life lived in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ Jesus is a life that strives to have an impact on people. A life that speaks up; a life that is always ready to give the reason for the hope that inspires it. A life that exemplifies love, justice and consistency. A life that serves. A life that takes the initiative to actually do Christian work: gathers friends to pray and study God’s Word together; plans good works to meet others’ needs; gets itself into a secular job that has a chance to build up rather than damage people’s lives.
2. It is a life that is ‘standing firm’. v27. Your life is not leaving a trail of false starts where you get serious about following Christ and then keep wandering back into the world and sliding back. A manner of life worthy of the gospel of Christ means you have made some ‘never going back’ decisions. You have burned your bridges back to a self-centred, world-focused life. For you a life not centred on Jesus Christ is irretrievable and your decision and commitment is irrevocable. To put it in gospel terms, you have died to yourself and died to the world. You have taken up your cross so you can follow Jesus. Daily you meet new things and new situations which you crucify so they will have no power of control over you. This is why your baptism is so important. It is the day you make public your intention to be planted firmly in Christ and his gospel. You are a life standing firm in Christ and for him and his gospel.
3. It is a life that is firmly in one spirit and one mind with other Christians, striving with them side by side for the faith of the gospel. v 27. You are not running a selfish or lonely race. You know yourself and feel yourself to be part of the family of God. A manner of life worthy of the gospel of Christ is a life that is embedded in the church. You can no longer think just of yourself and your immediate family. You are concerned for the encouragement and shared growth of your Christian brothers and sisters. Every time you learn something new you want to find a helpful way of passing it on to other Christians. You look for ways to work alongside others in the Church.
4. It is a life that is not afraid of opposition. v. 28.’not frightened in anything by your opponents – a clear sign to them of their destruction and your salvation.’ You are courageous. Having been convinced that Christ has even your enemies under control, you see beyond the angry faces of those who trouble you and you see past their strategies to upset you and you see the firm hand of Christ working in everything for your good. A manner of life worthy of the gospel of Christ is not deflected by the fear of suffering. And when you draw down Christ’s courage and peace and goodwill in the face of opposition, you become a billboard (a sign) that reminds your enemies of the futility of fighting against God that can only result in their destruction. And that billboard advertises that you are being rescued by God himself.

You will suffer as a disciple of Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 3.¹²In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted! It is necessary that your suffer – not because your sufferings make you worthy to be blessed by God – it is necessary that you suffer, so that in your life the conflict between death and life, Satan and Christ, can be displayed. Your life is supposed to be a 24 hour live broadcast telling of the success of the gospel in defeating everything that defeats human beings (not just any human beings, but particularly the ones near you: your family, friends, neighbours, workmates, acquaintances and coincidental daily contacts). Their chance to find life that lasts hinges on the manner of your life. A life that contradicts the gospel deliverance, confirms them in their unbelief and accelerates them towards destruction. A life that displays the gospel creates an opportunity for life.

If your life is suffering-free, how will the contrast between life and death, Christ and Satan be displayed to those you live amongst? How will they know that the good news of Christ frees us from guilt and fear? How will they know that a person can taste eternity in Christ now, so that when sickness, accident and old age bring us to death’s door we are not eaten up by fear or bitterness? Only by witnessing the disciples of Christ overcoming suffering by faith in him.

This is a conflict we are in. We are not lying on the beach in a deck chair, sunning ourselves, eating and drinking until our lives run out. We are invading the beach – just at the allies stormed the beaches of Normandy or Guadalcanal. We need to live our lives on a war-footing. We are not fighting like the world fights with violence and weapons. We are attacking stongholds in people’s minds. We are establishing beach heads in the thinking of people so that the deceptive ideas of self-dependency and love of material things can be driven out and they can hear and see the truth as it is in Jesus – truth that can set them free.

In today’s text, Paul has said that his imprisonment is not a mistake. It is included in God’s plan. He wants them to get more of an edge to their Christian lives. Paul was exhilarated by the reality that in his sufferings he was sharing in and broadcasting again the sufferings of Christ. And HIS sufferings were not a sad, head-shaking defeat - they ended in total triumph and deliverance. Paul wanted those Philippian Christians – and us – to understand how our sufferings serve to advance the gospel. Jesus’ inimitable suffering was the catalyst and our little sufferings keep pointing to that occasion when the worst that Satan could do was absorbed by him and completely emptied of its power.

Colossians 2¹³When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Your life must confirm this victory over and over again.