Paul does not often single individuals out in his letters unless it is something positive. However, when he does, Paul is serious about what he’s talking about. One such letter containing an instance of Paul singling individuals out is Philippians in chapter 4:2-3. He specifically entreats Euodia and Syntyche to live peacefully with each other. We don’t know the exact nature of the problem, but often these type of conflicts occur when the focus is on me. “I’m not getting my way;” “I can’t believe someone doesn’t agree with me;” and much of this letter seems to be centered around developing better attitudes about one another.
About Philippi
This letter comes some ten years after the establishment of the church in Philippi in Acts 16 when we see Lydia, a nameless jailer, their households, and likely others converted to the Lord. Lydia is typified by her hospitality, and the jailer is characterized by his readiness to respond to Christ’s word. The congregation is consistently hospitable to Paul through his journeys, and he and the congregation have a strong relationship. Now, these ten years later, Paul is imprisoned in Rome and has recently spoken to Epaphroditus, from whom he likely learned the situation in question.
In Philippians 2:2, Paul writes “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” As well as the Philippian church is doing, they have need for these words, and Euodia and Syntyche serve as an example of that need.
Chapter 1: Confidence in Them and the Lord
Chapter 1 opens with his gratitude for their work and their continual growth. He is confidant in their spiritual walk, and verses 7-8 expresses his affection for them. Subsequent verses then record his prayer that they press on in knowledge and wisdom. He wants, when Christ comes again, for them to remain sincere and blameless. Verses 12-26 then contains three negative elements, three clouds, that Paul looks beyond for his hope in Christ.
- Verses 12-14 contain the benefits he sees in his confinement – conversion of some guards and his stand emboldening of brethren in Rome.
- Verses 15-18 contrast the motives of those teaching of Christ. Some do so lovingly where others are doing it in rivalry to Paul. Still, he concludes that, either way, people are learning of Christ.
- Verses 20-26 record Paul’s reflection on his own mortality. He may die in prison, yet he sees the benefit in both life and death – dying to live with Christ or living to work for Christ.
Paul admits some dark things in his life, but dwells on the positive instead of the negative. Euodia and Syntyche may have needed to learn this in their relationship. Paul finishes this chapter with an admonition to stand firm united in their faith regardless of his fate or their obstacles.
Chapter 2: Comfort in Unity
Paul begins this chapter by encouraging his readers to lift one another up as more important than self, disregarding selfishness and rivalries. We should be actively interested in one another’s needs and concerns. Verse 3 speaks of humble service in our lives, and he goes on to appeal to Christ’s example to illustrate this. He appeals to Christ’s humility, His willingness to do God’s work, the enormity of His sacrifice in leaving Heaven to dwell with and be killed by those over whom He is Lord. His life is one of service as ours should be, and He is exalted because He abased Himself.
Starting in verse 12, Paul encourages his readers to go the distance in their service. He admonishes them to avoid complaining and arguing, continuing to be lights in the world. In verses 17-18, Paul reminds them of his devotion to their work – his efforts in preaching to the Gentiles. Then, chapter 2 concludes with some practical matters.
- Verse 19-23 contain Paul’s hopes to send Timothy in his stead, and he praises Timothy’s faith, love, and work.
- Verses 25-30 records Paul returning Epaphroditus to them and speaks of the mutual concern the congregation and Epaphroditus have for each other.
Chapter 3: Laying Aside the World
This chapter opens with a warning to avoid false teachings, especially those that would place weight in worldly manifestations of faith. He specifically points out, in the next several verses, his own pedigree, but he calls such qualifications unimportant compared to the value of Christ’s salvation. Then, the last few verses of the chapter address worldly appetites that can distract from our spiritual work, reminding us where our true citizenship resides.
Chapter 4: Live in Harmony with Each Other and Christ
Now we come to Euodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4:2, both having shared in Paul’s work at one time or another. Now they are at odds with each other. So many times, we let numerous things upset us and drive a wedge between ourselves and brothers and sisters in Christ. We alienate one another when we should be of the same mind, intent on one purpose, full of love. We can have disagreements without forsaking one another, without forsaking our congregation, without holding grudges against other Christians.
We don’t know why Euodia and Syntyche do not get along, but so much of this letter centers around elements of our faith that can help us overcome these worldly obstacles. He speaks to our true goals, the attitudes we should have, the priorities we should have. He sets up Timothy and Epaphroditus as examples of individuals who demonstrate care and concern for others over themselves. He reminds them lay aside those things that don’t matter in comparison to our relationship with Christ. Whatever wrong exists between these two women, Paul reminds them that there is a better way.
Paul closes his letter with encouragement to dwell in the peace of Christ, meditating and fixing our minds on things that work for peace, that work for Christ’s cause. It comes down to how we live with one another and our relationship with Christ. We can complete the Lord’s joy by being of one mind, having one love, and helping each other stay intent on our one purpose.
lesson by Darryl Smelser
As we progress through the successes and shortcoming of God’s people found in the book of Joshua, we see a five-year journey of Israel spreading themselves across the Promised Land. In chapter 13, God comes to Joshua and says much work is left to be done, and it seems that the people were growing content with the progress they had made while failing to look farther. We also can grow as content as the children of Israel in our spiritual work. We think we can rest upon the progress we have made, but, as we see in the book of Judges, past accomplishments do not predict the future.
Judges 1 lists time and again that one tribe or another fails to drive out the inhabitants of their given territories, and, in verse 34, the Amorites drive back the tribe of Dan from inhabiting their lands. Chapter 2, then, comes with a warning that Israel should not be making covenants with the inhabitants of the land, nor should they worship their gods. Israel’s contentment with partial success would eventually set then up for falling into idolatry and apostasy. By Judges 2:10, we see a generation that does not know God, and the cycle of disobedience and redemption that characterizes the kingdom of the Old Testament begins. Once they arrived in the land, work was still to be done, but they do not do it.
Shamgar’s Deliverance of Israel
In these dark times, we are introduced to a number of individuals who stand as shining examples. One of these is Shamgar in Judges 3:31. Judges 5:6 describes the days of Shamgar as an uncivilized time. Roads are unprotected. War is pervasive. No one is safe. In all of this, we have Shamgar – who slays 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. There are some principles we can learn from this single verse:
- Shamgar uses the tools available. Weapons have been confiscated, so Shamgar takes what amounts to a pointed stick to battle his enemies.
- God accomplishes His work through imperfect tools. In Exodus 4:1-2, God asks Moses to take notice of the rod already in his hand as evidence of God’s presence. Likewise, Shamgar turns to the weapon at hand – imperfect though it may be – to accomplish his task.
- Shamgar does not look for someone else. He does not wait for someone else to rise to the challenge.
- Great good can be accomplished through a single act. This Judge gets one verse, but scripture attests that his actions delivered Israel.
Our Meeting the Challenge
Often, we wring our hands over what we don’t have while neglecting to use what we do have. We all have different personalities, talents, abilities, and opportunities. We have the power of prayer, but we don;t take advantage of these when we wait for someone else to step up or give us what we think we need. We sometimes use our own imperfections as reasons to avoid work, but God uses prostitutes, shepherds, carpenters, and tax collectors to do His work. While imperfect, we can engage in God’s perfect work.
We can’t rely on others or on programs to do what we should be doing ourselves, and we have to see the significance on small acts. In Ephesians 4:16, Paul speaks of the importance of every part of the church body contributing what they can. Philippians 4:13 reminds us all things are possible through God, and Matthew 19:26 records Jesus saying that nothing is impossible with God. Shamgar may have only one verse chronicling his entire life, but his impact is large. Can we take the opportunities we have and do God’s work in our own lives.
lesson by Tim Smelser
For whom he foreknew, he also foreordained to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29).
And be not fashioned [conformed] according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2).
Conformity involves taking the shape of one’s surroundings. A simple way to see conformity in action is to consider a glass of water: if the glass is tall and thin, the water is tall and thin. If you pour the water into a short and wide glass, the water will take on that shape. If the glass spills, the water spreads over the surface of the ground. It would be an odd day indeed if water no longer took the shape of its environment!
Many people have a very uneasy feeling about conformity. For the most part, being called a conformist is not a compliment. Nevertheless, everyone, to some degree, is a conformist. Everyone follows some type of pattern! Many young people seek to free themselves from the conformity of their parents and/or the system, but in the process conform themselves to the groupthink, habits, and styles of their peers. Even nonconformists conform to something, even if it is not the standard mold!
The Bible makes it clear that everyone conforms to something. In fact, there are only two forms to which we can conform: to the world (Romans 12:2) or to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).
Conformity to the world is easy: it does not take much effort. You can just go along with the flow. Conformity to the world may take on many forms. It may mean that you blindly follow the customs and traditions of your family. It may involve the repudiation of those traditions for other views. It could be just based on cultural conditioning and accepting the prejudices and norms of early twenty-first century America. It might involve following after popular religious trends or forms of spirituality that are not consistent with the revelation of God in the Scriptures (cf. Galatians 1:6-9). Or it may be blazing your own path and doing what you think is right. All of these, and many more, are simply different ways to conform to the world and its thoughts and lusts (cf. 1 John 2:15-17). They may be easier to handle in life, but they come with a heavy consequence in death (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9)!
The more challenging path is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. His way is truly counter-cultural and against conventional wisdom. Jesus came to serve, not to be served (Matthew 20:25-28). He was humble, and declared that the humble would be exalted while the exalted would be humbled (Matthew 23:12). He loved everyone, including those who hated Him (Matthew 5:38-48). He ultimately expended His life for God’s purposes, and challenged His followers to do the same (Matthew 16:21-25).
Conformity to the image of Christ is difficult indeed. It requires constant growth and work and all of our resources (2 Peter 3:18, Galatians 2:20). We must constantly and honestly compare ourselves to Jesus our Standard and work to better reflect Him (2 Corinthians 13:5). It may lead to persecution, temptation, hardship, and perhaps even death. Yet, while it may be difficult for the time being, it cannot be compared to the eternal weight of glory that await those who are conformed to the image of Jesus the Son (cf. Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18)!
That’s the choice with which we are all faced. Shall we just go along with the crowd and conform to the world? Or shall we stand against the corruption of the world and be conformed to Christ? Eternity hangs in the balance. The path may be difficult, but let us be conformed to the image of Jesus the Christ, and obtain eternal life!
lesson by Ethan R. Longhenry
And unto man he said, “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28).
The pursuit of wisdom has been one of the great pursuits of the ages. For generations, people have sought out wisdom and have attempted to preserve it for their descendants. Yet, unlike technology, advancements in knowledge, and other such pursuits. the pursuit of wisdom seems to begin anew with every successive generation. Why is it that we can learn about tools and information from those who came before us, but not wisdom?
For far too many, wisdom is considered as folly. We in the twenty-first century have advanced so much, and our forefathers were “ignorant” and “misinformed,” in their view, so what can we really learn from them? They may not have had cars, computers, cell phones, or quantum physics. In our new age, things are different, or so it is believed.
In reality, there are no greater fools than those who repudiate that which was learned by the experience of those who came before us. The fact of the matter is that while technology has advanced, nothing has really changed. Humanity is beset by the same woes that have always beset humanity: foolishness, sin, isolation, despair, temptation, and the like. The Preacher was quite wise in Ecclesiastes 1:9: there is nothing new under the sun!
One of the greatest tragedies of humanity is how each successive generation seems incapable of learning from the mistakes of their ancestors. Each successive generation either follows the paths of their fathers directly, or they decide to entirely repudiate that path and go to the other extreme. Parents make irresponsible financial or relationship decisions, and the children go and do the same. Parents raise children one way, and the children feel compelled to raise their children in the entirely opposite way. Neither of these reflect wisdom: our fathers made many mistakes that we would do well not to repeat, and over-reactions tend to produce different problems, but problems nonetheless, than the problem that was attempted to be solved in the first place.
Why is wisdom so hard to communicate? Job understands many of the difficulties as he reflects on wisdom in Job 28. Wisdom is not like precious metals or ore which can be discovered and mined (Job 28:1-2). Wisdom is not a faraway destination that requires great skill and an epic journey (Job 28:3-4). Wisdom is not gained by considering animals or nature, since it is not with them (Job 28:5-11). Thus, we cannot go anywhere to find wisdom, we cannot find the resources with which we could purchase wisdom, and we will not find it in death (Job 28:12-22)! The challenge of wisdom is that it cannot be obtained or discovered using the preferred means of human beings.
Instead, wisdom belongs to God (Job 28:23-27). Wisdom is not like knowledge– it cannot be forced upon anyone, and it requires a certain disposition to receive it. Wisdom must begin with a particular attitude and a particular perspective: the fear of God (Job 28:28).
This is why wisdom is so terribly hard to pass along to every successive generation. Wisdom is generally gained through hard learning. It is easy to give lip service to the “fear of the LORD” when one is young– the fear of the LORD is often gained through humbling experiences and challenges. We humans tend to insist on our own ways until we discover their folly and their end (Jeremiah 10:23). Until a person recognizes that they are the creation and not the creator, that they are in need of instruction and cannot figure everything out on their own, and that they need to trust in the LORD and His understanding and not their own, they can never obtain wisdom. Wisdom requires humility– the recognition that there is much to understand and learn that we do not understand and learn, and that we ought to keep ourselves in proper perspective.
When we come to terms with our own weaknesses, and can learn to trust in God Almighty, we can truly begin understanding that which is wise. Its basis is in the fear of the LORD and turning away from that which is evil (Job 28:28). If we understand that God is our creator and that He seeks what is best for us, we will trust that all things contrary to His will are detrimental to us, and we will avoid them. We cannot do that until we have humbled ourselves and have come to the realization that blazing our own trail leads to death and destruction (cf. Proverbs 14:12, Romans 6:23).
It is natural for every successive generation to attempt to strike out on their own trail. That is why many wise fathers end up with children acting foolishly, but it also means that some foolish fathers may, despite themselves, end up with wise sons. Wisdom can only be gained and understood when we realize that no matter how things change, things stay the same, and that we are really no better than our ancestors or anyone else. Wisdom can only be gained when we realize that we are the creation, God is the Creator, and life can only be found through Him and His will. Let us seek after wisdom, having hearts prepared to receive it!
There are many principles we follow that make us successful in this world that we can and should be applying to our lives with God. It’s all about the choices we make. At the end of the day, have the choices I made drawn me closer to or farther from God? What motivates us on a daily basis? Until we can understand why we would want to draw closer to God, we can’t fully follow those steps to grow closer to Him.
What does God expect of us? He wants us to be like Him, knowing that, if we are like Him, then we can live in this world without being a product of the world. Romans 12 examines how Christians come together to create something larger than themselves individually. We all respond differently to different situations; we all have different abilities and talents; we all have different roles we can fulfill in His work. He wants us to have the inner character to love as He loves, to be merciful as He is merciful.
Remaining Focused on God
Regardless of the many ways we may be distracted and discourages, we should ultimately be focused on our final goal. Like the gyroscopes of the old Apollo missions that could keep an easily disrupted flight path on target, we should be continually directing ourselves back to the course set before us. James 4:1-10 talks of us continually drawing nearer to God, even when dealing with the problems of this world.
We can focus on our past regrets or on the potential of our future, using that past as a tool with which we can build our future rather than a weapon to tear ourselves down. Galatians 6:7-10 reminds us that we will reap what we sow, but Paul encourages us to avoid growing weary and to keep trying to do what is good. We have to take responsibility for our own paths, but we cannot let the small things add up and build barriers in our way. We can fail many times, but we becomes failures when we begin looking for blame and excuses. We have to continually face those challenges if we are going to find success on the other side.
Small Steps Toward Our Goal
Where do we focus? How do we view our pasts? What happens when we face challenges and discouragements? Those small steps of determination, of purpose, and of direction can give us an edge in following our God. Why do we search Him out? He has already given so much to us. We can determine to draw closer to Him and allow us to lift us up. It just takes small steps – a few second more of prayer every day, another couple chapters of Bible reading.
If we truly believe in the power and salvation in our Lord, then our motivation to follow Him becomes clearer. In Him we can have a goal in mind, and we are all at different points in our spiritual journeys. We should never worry about making our journey slowly; we should only worry if we stop in that walk. We can continue in those small things that can lead to our spiritual success. Like David, in I Samuel 17, we can have confidence in God’s power in our lives, and, no matter how far we go off our course, we can redirect ourselves and resume our Christian walks. We can find time every day to refocus ourselves on God, making small choices that keep our feet directed toward His salvation.
lesson by Donn Koonce
