Philippians 2:1-5
Paul starts of with a list of "if's": if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion. These are all things that should characterize any community of Christian faith so it seems like Paul is reminding the church that they have all these things so they should also be unified with each other around one purpose.
Paul connects this argument (with the word "therefore") to his observation that the Philippian church has been granted the privilege of suffering for Christ. It is because of this suffering that the church needs to be united in one love and one purpose. This will make Paul's joy complete (joy being a theme of the book: so far Paul rejoices that the gospel is being proclaimed, that he will be delivered through the prayers of the saints and the work of the Spirit and that the church will be one in purpose).
The end of this section is what catches my attention: do nothing out of selfish ambition but value others above yourself. Don't look out for your own interests but for the interests of the others. This is what the kingdom of heaven is supposed to be all about: it exists for the "other". I know that I don't even come close to living this out. Everything I do is carefully calculated in terms of what it will mean to my reputation and how people will see me. I am a slave to my reputation and I can't even imagine how freeing it would be to escape that; to worry only about pleasing God and serving others no matter what it might cost me. That is what the kingdom is about and as a citizen of the kingdom, I ask God to transform my desires so that in my relationships with others I would have the same attitude of mind as Jesus.
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It's pretty humbling stuff. What would it look like if we decided to really live our lives for Christ. If we dropped all our fears and pretenses and just lived for him. We became a servant to all just like Jesus, can we only imagine it, or can we do it? I know my fear and reputation hold me back too. So here is my prayer, may God grant you freedom to be a servant, to forget yourself and labor for the gospel. May God give you the strength to be a servant even in difficulties, and may you strive for the gospel until the day of Christ Jesus.
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