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1/31/99 Live In Harmony In The Lord
©1999 Larry Huntsperger
Peninsula Bible Fellowship
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1/31/99
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Live In Harmony In The Lord
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Philippians 4:2
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1/31/99 Live In Harmony In The Lord
We are studying the book of Philippians together.
We have been studying the book of Philippians
together off and on
for more than a year.
Last week we began chapter 4,
making it all the way through verse 1.
Today we'll make it through
at least the next two verses.
Paul takes a definite turn in his letter
when he reaches
verses 2 and 3 of this 4th chapter.
Let me read them for us
and you'll see what I mean.
Phil. 4:2 ¶ I urge Euodia and I urge
Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.
Phil. 4:3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you
also to help these women who have shared
my struggle in the cause of the gospel,
together with Clement also and the rest of
my fellow workers, whose names are in the
book of life.
Now obviously these two verses
are highly personal in nature.
They are addressed to three specific individuals,
two woman,
and one man,
all of whom were members of the church
at Philippi.
Paul refers to the two women by name-
Euodia and Syntyche,
and then refers to the man
only by the phrase true companion
or possibly true comrade.
Obviously, all three of those addressed
knew who they were.
All three were known personally by Paul.
He praised the two women
for the role they had played in his life
when he was with them.
They both "shared (his) struggle in the cause
of the gospel".
We don't know what role they played
in Paul's work at Philippi,
but we do know it established
a friendship between them and Paul
that he valued a great deal.
The true companion Paul refers to
was likely one of the elders at the church,
a man who most likely traveled with Paul on
one of his missionary journeys,
a man with whom Paul shared
both a significant history
and a strong friendship.
On the surface Paul's request seems
both straightforward
and rather insignificant.
Most likely through his conversation
with Epaphroditus,
the Elder from the church at Philippi
who had made the trip to Rome
with the gift from his friends at
Philippi,
Paul had learned that there now existed
some sort of strain or tension
between these two Christian ladies.
In a single sentence
he urges them to live in harmony in the Lord.
Then, in one further comment,
he enlists the help of his comrade there in
Philippi
to help these two ladies
restore harmony between them.
When we first read verses like this
we may have a tendency to skip over them.
Reading them
makes us feel as though
we have accidently opened
someone else's mail.
All three of these people
died nearly 2000 years ago.
Obviously, whether they resolved their conflict or
not,
it's a mute issue now.
But if we look a little closer
at what's happening between these four people,
between Paul,
and Euodia,
and Syntyche,
and Paul's trusted companion,
I think we're going to see
that the principles being communicated
in these two verses
are as relevant to us as
anything in the entire letter.
You see, it is reasonable to assume
that, as a result of his face-to-face
communication with Epaphroditus,
Paul not only knew that these two ladies
were in conflict,
but he also knew WHY.
He knew what the issue was,
what was causing the tension between these two.
Obviously it could have been anything.
It could have been doctrinal.
They might have both held strong convictions
about some aspect
of Christian belief,
or Christian practice,
or Church life,
and been unable to resolve
their different points of view.
It might have been a relationship issue,
a family conflict,
or a stress that grew out of the way in
which one of them
had dealt with the other's children.
Maybe their children
had wanted to marry
and one or the other didn't approve.
Maybe it involved money,
with one of them feeling as though
the other had cheated them
or been dishonest with them.
Paul certainly knew
what the issue between these two was,
and the first thing that hits me
as I read this single verse addressed to
them
is that we never do!
Paul doesn't tell us what the issue is
because it doesn't matter.
When Paul addresses this strained relationship
in this public letter
he doesn't attempt to resolve the conflict
by telling them who's right
and who's wrong.
If it was doctrine,
he doesn't declare who has the right idea and
who has the wrong one.
If the conflict concerned their children
he doesn't tell them
which one behaved properly
and which one was improper.
If it involved money
he doesn't attempt to determine
who was honest and who was not.
He doesn't try to resolve the issue
because the issue is not the issue.
The real issue is that
two prominent Christians,
most likely two leaders in the church,
had broken off their friendship with one
another
because they allowed an issue,
ANY issue
to become more important
than their unity in Christ.
John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to
you, that you love one another, even as I
have loved you, that you also love one
another.
John 13:35 "By this all men will know that
you are My disciples, if you have love for
one another."
Jesus gave the world the right
to evaluate whether or not
we are truly His disciples
on the basis of whether or not
we are able to establish and maintain
visible love relationships with one another.
When these two ladies
in the Philippian Church
allowed a public, visible breakdown
to occur in their relationship with one
another
they were proclaiming
to all those who were watching
that the presence of Christ in a person's life
really makes no difference at all.
I want to try to say something here
that could easily be misunderstood.
Purity of doctrine
can never communicate
the reality of Christ.
We Christians spend a tremendous amount of effort
building and refining our doctrinal belief
systems.
We wrestle with difficult doctrinal
and theological questions.
What do we believe about the return of Christ?
Will Christians go through the tribulation?
Where will the AntiChrist come from?
What is the mark of the beast?
What do we believe about the gifts of the Holy
Spirit?
Are the sign gifts relevant for today?
If not, why?
If so, how should they be incorporated
into the life of the church?
How should a local body of believers organize
themselves?
What is the role of church leadership?
How should a church handle
divorce?
division?
open immorality?
Those questions
and hundreds others like them
send growing Christians
deep into the Bible
looking for guidance,
for principles,
for answers.
In the process we build,
precept upon precept,
doctrine upon doctrine,
our systematic Christian belief system.
In the process
we also learn about our God -
who He is,
how He relates to us,
what it means to be His child.
His Word becomes food
that literally feeds our spirit
and equips us to grow.
It is understandable that,
given the effort,
and sometimes agony
that we invest in building our doctrinal
systems,
in the end they become very valuable to us,
very important to us.
And they should be.
But the truth is
if we could take our entire personal doctrinal
system
and write it up
and hand it to a nonchristian,
they would probably respond by saying, "So
What!!"
And you know something,
their response would be absolutely valid.
From their perspective
our funny little group of ideas about God
is of no more value
and no more significance
than the hundreds of thousands of other
little religious systems flooding our world.
The nonchristian drives down the street
and passes one group that believes
that Christians will be pulled out before the
Tribulation,
and two blocks farther on
he passes another group
that believes Christians will go through the
whole Tribulation,
and two blocks beyond that
he passes a group
that doesn't even believe
there will be a Tribulation
and it would be difficult
to find anything apparently less relevant
to his life,
with less power to draw him to God
than our little package of doctrines.
Because what he's looking for
is not the best system,
that covers all the verses,
with all the diagrams,
and foot notes,
and proof texts.
What he's looking for
is something that can change his life.
And so, the question he'll ask
and the one he has every right to ask
is not, "What do you believe?",
but rather,
"How does what you believe
affect your life?"
By this all men will know that you are My
disciples, if you have love for one another.
Paul addressed
this broken relationship between
these two Christian women at Philippi
because what was happening in their lives
was publicly proclaiming the message
that in the end the presence of Christ
in a person's life
makes no practical difference in our
relationships with one another.
And in this single verse
Paul is saying,
"My good friends,
I know you are both children of the King.
PLEASE, illustrate that truth
in your relationship with one another."
Now, that sounds great,
but how, then, are they suppose to
resolve whatever issue it was
that brought about this breakdown
between them in the first place?
Doesn't somebody have to change their doctrine?
Doesn't somebody have to change their position?
Doesn't somebody have to be "RIGHT"
and the somebody have to be
"WRONG"?
Well, to tell you the truth, NO they don't.
What they need to do
is to choose to make their relationship with one
another
more important than the issue that has
divided them.
And I need to offer one more point of clarification
here
in order for this to make sense.
God has never called us to a structural unity within
the Body of Christ,
He has called us to a unity of spirit.
Or, stated differently,
it is not our organizational structure
or our shared doctrinal statement
that unites God's people,
it is our shared submission
to the Lordship of Christ in our lives.
If it was doctrine that divided these two
Paul was saying,
"I want you to accept and respect the other person,
even though you believe their ideas are
wrong."
If they were fighting over
how to organize the women's Bible study,
they say to one another,
"Our friendship with one another
is more important than this project.
We'll set the whole thing aside,
or we'll each work separately
on the approach we think is best,
while preserving our friendship with
one another."
If they found it impossible
to teach the class together
without friction developing between them,
then don't teach the class together
for the sake of their friendship."
Simply stated,
Paul is calling them to make
the preservation of a workable relationship
between them
a higher priority than their individual rights,
or their possessions,
or their ideas.
Maybe some personal illustrations will help.
A little known fact in our fellowship
is that I was once on staff
at another church here in Soldotna.
I was their youth pastor for a year.
Then I was on their deacon board,
and for a brief time I even held the position of
assistant pastor.
The longer I was involved in the church, however,
the more I realized how strongly I disagreed with
the goals
and the structure of the group.
In the end I finally realized
that the healthiest thing I could do
for my relationship with my fellow
Christians in that church
was to break off STRUCTURAL ties
with them
so that I could preserve my relationships with
them.
I left the church.
That was nearly 20 years ago now.
I still see some of those Christians around town
occasionally,
and every time I see them
I share with them a strong friendship
and a deep unity of spirit.
Here within our own fellowship
we have a wide range of different doctrinal
beliefs.
Even on our church board
the four of us see some things very differently.
There are some places
where I think Chuck is totally out to lunch.
If we allowed it to,
any one of the countless differences
that exist between us here in this church
could destroy our visible unity in Christ.
And the only reason it doesn't
is because every time we meet together,
every time we see each other,
we each bring to those meetings
a value system that says,
"My relationship with you as my fellow Christian
is more important than anything else."
It doesn't mean we sacrifice our beliefs,
or our convictions,
it means we choose not to sacrifice our friendship
with one another
because of them."
And that, ultimately, is always a choice
we can and must make.
Phil. 4:2 ¶ I urge Euodia and I urge
Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord.
Phil. 4:3 Indeed, true companion, I ask
you also to help these women who have
shared my struggle in the cause of the
gospel, together with Clement also and the
rest of my fellow workers, whose names
are in the book of life.