May 1, 2011
Background Scripture: Philippians 2:1-11
Devotional Reading: 1 Peter 2:18-25

At first, it appears that the Philippian church was doing well: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now” (1:3-5).

 In many ways, however, this is a letter of concern, perhaps even reproach. Something is going on that deeply disturbs Paul. Nevertheless, Paul is masterful in bringing his concern to their attention.

The problem in Philippi – as in so many Christian churches – is one of personal rivalries, and Paul knows that the root cause is pride, or a lack of Christian humility. Still, instead of castigating them, Paul holds up before them the wonderful example of Jesus Christ, whom they are pledged to follow and emulate.

Pointing to Jesus, he says: “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy …” (2:1). How can they then justify what is happening in their midst?
If their church is coming apart, is it not because they are fixing their attention on each other, instead of Christ? How can this happen in a church focused on the example of the one they call “Lord?”

An ancient disease

Robert R. Wicks reminds us that throughout history this deadly disease of personal rivalries has inflicted every human institution, including the churches: “It can corrupt secretly the very religion which is supposed to be the greatest bulwark against it … Unfortunately the victims of this ancient disease seldom know they have it, for their attention is mainly directed to signs of the disease which they see in their opponents.”

Or, as Oliver Wendell Holmes put it, “Humility is the first of the virtues – for other people.”

We might think that Christ, the incarnation of God, cannot be our example. But that is because we do not really understand what true humility is. We need not conclude that we are “nothing,” but that we have the capacity to be “something” and are not fulfilling that capacity.

William L. Sullivan says that “genuine humility does not arise from the sense of our pitiable kinship with the dust that is unworthy of us, but from the realization of our awful nearness to a magnificence of which we are unworthy.”
Thinking that we are worth nothing is not humility, but a denial of the God who made us and called us forth into life, for then the ego is still calling the tune to which we stumble through life. The self is still in charge. The choice is always self or God.

The suffering servant

So Paul is right in holding up Christ as our model: “… who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (2:6,7).

Jesus could have protested: “This is no way to treat the Son of God!” Instead, he accepted the cross, not gladly, but obediently. It was humanity at its worst that willed the cross for Jesus. It was God who overcame humanity’s worst for Jesus Christ and for us.

Paul reminds us that Jesus did not choose to be a victim, but to be the servant of God. Instead of clinging to his divine prerogatives, Jesus accepted the role of a servant or slave. Paul uses the term kenosis, a Greek word meaning to “self-empty,” a concept not easily rendered in English. The Living Bible says he “laid aside his mighty power.”

The Phillips Modern English: he “stripped himself of every advantage.” The TCNT says he “impoverished himself.” And the Jerusalem Bible and RSV translate it as “emptied himself.” But each of these translations indicate that he chose the role; it was not something forced upon him.

William Barclay says that Paul is saying that “when Jesus became human, it was not play-acting, but reality.” What a tremendous contrast Paul draws between Jesus’ kenosis and the egotistical rivalries in the Philippian church!
And it is this state of mind, this attitude of Christ, that he seeks to impress upon the people of the church at Philippi – and maybe us, too.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Rev. Althouse may write to him in care of this publication.