The church at Philippi had a strong partnership with Paul. We read in Acts 16 how the church began. They continued on in partnership with Paul, even though in the early days Paul and Silas had to leave the city. Paul writes to them as partners, and there was personal communication, with people such as Epaphroditus travelling between the church and Paul.
Marshall states on page 66: “The gospel itself demands that we stand with our leaders and preachers in profound unity, teamwork and solidarity – not because of their personalities or gifts, but because of our common partnership in the gospel of Jesus Christ. There aren’t two classes of Christians – the partners and the spectators. We’re all in it together.”
What would we do if our pastor Chris was arrested and thrown into prison for preaching the gospel? Would we disown him – well, we didn’t really know him that well, and we did think he was a little extreme? Or would we support him? Visit him, help him in every way we could, and keep on preaching that same gospel to show our support?
How do we do this in real life? What do we do if we don’t agree about everything? Prayer is significant. Following God’s Word is critical. Discussion in closed meetings such as the Session is also important. Then, what if we still don’t agree in private? Should we keep that disagreement private? Or should we separate, such as Paul and Barnabas did over John Mark? (Acts 15:36-41).
Chapter 6 covers training and how it is far more than planned lessons, although these can be very important so that we know what has been covered. Training is relational, so that information is caught as well as taught. “Copy me”, says Paul, “as I follow Christ”. In 2 Tim 2:2, Paul tells Timothy to pass on what he has learned to faithful people, who in turn will teach others. The Greek word here (often translated as “men”) is “anthropo” (meaning mankind – men and women), and not “andro” (meaning males). [From my Greek-English New Testament, 1975].
“Paul urged his congregations to join him in suffering for the mission of Christ, to seek the salvation of others by forgoing their own rights. His ambition to save others was to be their ambition too.” (p. 74). We, in the Western world, rarely hear anything about suffering for the sake of Christ. How come we are missing out? Does it matter? If we were “real” about our faith, would that bring on suffering for us?
This chapter ends with the goals of teaching being conviction, character, and competency. These will be enlarged in subsequent chapters.
On: "What do we do if we don’t agree..."
ReplyDeleteI think it would very much depend on what the disagreement is about. Some disagreements are worth dividing over. For others we agree to disagree and then get on with serving Christ and one another as Christ did for us.
On: how we "in the Western world, rarely hear anything about suffering for the sake of Christ"...
John Stott agrees with your suggestion. He says"If we compromised less, we would undoubtedly suffer more."