A KEY TO MAINTAINING UNITY

Philippians 1:1-2
Bob Bonner
January 6, 2008

Every year in professional sports, there seems to be at least one team, maybe even the previous year’s champions, that becomes disunified because one of its star players wants more money to play or demands to be traded so that he can reach his own selfish agenda. Typically, this has a demoralizing, divisive and distracting effect upon the rest of the team. As a result, the preseason focus and activity of building a unified team heading into a new season can be thwarted by one selfish player.

The selfish actions of a few can distract and become divisive not only for professional athletic teams, but also for business corporations, for families and for churches. Sadly, historically, the cause of Christ has been seriously and negatively affected by just such attitudes and actions. And such was the case for the small church at Philippi during the first century, just ten to twelve years after this church was birthed. We don’t know what the specific issue or issues were, but it is clear from Paul’s letter to the Philippians that some had put their personal preferences and desires above what was in the best interest for their overall church family and its calling to reach the lost and to encourage the spiritual growth of one another.

From the very opening salutation to his conclusion in his letter to the Philippians, Paul lovingly tries to correct and encourage these beloved saints to take the higher road in serving Christ. This morning, we are going to look at just the salutation, the first two verses, of this letter. In these verses, a key to unity within the body of Christ is revealed. If you have your Bibles with you, I encourage you to open them to Philippians 1.

From the very opening of Paul’s instructive words to these fellow followers of Jesus, one cannot help but sense Paul’s genuine love and humility towards these Philippians. His first seven words signal much about Paul’s attitude. He writes, “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus,”

The first noteworthy observation from these brief words is not so much what is written, but that which is obviously absent. Namely, Paul deliberately does not identify himself as an “apostle.” The reason he does not insist on calling himself an apostle is that he views his audience to be dear friends, ones who accept his apostleship without question. Because of their mutual love for one another, born out of Paul’s sharing the good news of Christ with them, Paul presumes that they will listen carefully and thoughtfully to what he has to say—as a father speaking to his children who are convinced of his love for them.

Take a closer look at how this great apostle views and describes himself: as a “bond-servant of Christ Jesus.” This expression, “bond-servant” is absolutely key to understanding the message of this letter. It’s not only how Paul views himself, but it is how he hopes his readers will view themselves. Viewing oneself as a “bond-servant” is precisely the attitude Paul is wanting all of his readers to consider as uppermost in their minds. This whole letter is based on understanding that all Christians, by their very salvation in Christ are His “bond-servants.” To fail to recognize this can’t help but lead to disunity amongst believers.

There are two terms in the Greek New Testament which are translated “servant” or “slave,” and they are never confused. There is a term for “servant” which is roughly the counterpart of a member of the labor force today, someone who sells his time and talents, an employee. This kind of servant was utterly free to come and go, and he had all the rights of a citizen. 

But there were also “bond-servants” or doulos, the term used here, which referred to those slaves who had absolutely no rights. Most bond-servants had been taken captive when Rome conquered surrounding nations, and they were bound to their masters for life. They could exercise none of the privileges of citizens; they were nobodies. Their masters held the right of life and death over them. 

It is this term that Paul applies to himself here to describe his relationship to Jesus Christ as well as his purpose in life. Once Jesus became Paul’s master, it was Christ’s purposes that became the priority of the investment of the remaining years of Paul’s life.

Paul saw himself totally in bondage to the wishes of his master, Jesus Christ. As a servant of Jesus Christ, Paul realized that he had no rights and no freedoms. He was owned by Christ and all that belonged to him was now owned by Jesus Christ. 

But as I say that, don’t mistakenly take the view that this being a slave was something repugnant or distasteful to Paul. For Paul knew that to be a slave of this divine master was not only a joy, but the only way for him to be a truly free person—free from the tyranny of sin, free from the control of fear, free from the controller we call guilt, and most importantly for Paul, free from the law and its performance trap whereby one would try to earn God’s approval.

It should be obvious from Paul’s words, that from the outset, Paul expects his readers to understand that if he was a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, so were they. Because of this expected understanding, I feel it necessary to take a side bar, and more fully explain the importance and nature of becoming a bond-servant of Jesus Christ.

It is a logical spiritual principle derived from the rest of Scripture that no one can become a servant of Jesus Christ until he realizes that by nature he is a slave to sin.

In the first century, there were three ways one could become a slave: 1.) By conquest. This is the manner I mentioned above, when the Romans conquered you. If they didn’t kill you, they enslaved you. 

2.) By birth.  If your parents were Roman slaves and they gave birth to a child, that child automatically became a slave. Thus, one could be born into slavery. 

3.) By one’s inability to pay a debt. If one found himself in a financial bind and unable to pay a debt, he would be forced into slavery until he worked off his debt by time served as a slave. Depending upon the amount of the debt, one could possibly remain a slave forever.

Some theologians would debate that the Bible teaches that all of us have become slaves to sin by all three modes: by conquest of Satan’s temptation to sin, by birth into Adam’s race, and by one’s inability to pay the debt for our own sin.

  However, there is no debate that the Bible clearly teaches that all of us have become slaves to sin by our very birth. For Psalm 51:5 teaches us, “For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.” And Jesus further described each of us this way, in John 8:34: He said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” Hence, the Bible teaches that there was never a moment of your life, previous to your committing your life to Christ, when you were not a slave to the taskmaster called “sin.” 

Now, obviously, each person must come to the place that he acknowledges that he is a slave to sin, and desire to be freed from the taskmaster of sin before he can be set free from that slave master called sin. But even after acknowledging this truth, that we are sinners and slaves to sin, how can we be set free from this slave master called “sin”?

Just as there were three ways to become enslaved during Paul’s day, there were also three ways to be set free.  1.) Earn it by works. However this was only possible if you had become a slave due to not being able to pay a debt. In this situation, you would exchange time working for a master at a set price to cover your debt. As you worked off your debt you could get closer to being freed. In the spiritual sense, Jesus made it plain in His teaching of parables that our debt to God was so great, that in any one person’s lifetime, we could never work off our debt to sin. o this way was out.

2.) Buy it. Some slaves had relatives who could loan them money and they could buy their way out of slavery. However, as stated before, the debt for our sin was so great, we cannot pay that debt either.

3.) Purchased by another.  The only other way to be freed from the slave master was for one’s freedom to be purchased by another who had the resources to pay off your debt. In that case, you would still be a slave, but of a new master. In the spiritual sense, Jesus paid the price for our sin granting us freedom from sin’s mastery over us. This is what Paul refers to when he writes in 1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you have been bought with a price [the blood of Christ]: therefore glorify God in your body.” In other words, everything that is attached to your body or your life, now belongs to Christ. Therefore, everything you do, all that you have, your dreams, possessions, expectations, your rights, your present quality of relationships, all of it belongs to Him. In return, our new Master grants us the power to overcome sin’s control or mastery over one’s life.”

Like the demonized slave girl, who came to Christ in Philippi, Satan and sin had no more right to master her life. Jesus Christ had set her free. As long as she set her heart to serve Jesus, Satan and sin had no control over her.

But still someone who has not experienced Christ’s purchasing his or her life from sin will want to argue that this is merely an exchange of slavery to one master for slavery to another. What’s the difference? You are still a slave? That’s right. And as we study God’s Word, it teaches us that we were created from the beginning to serve someone. We can either serve someone who hates us and desires to destroy us. Or, we can serve someone who loves us and wants what’s best for us, and someone whom we can love return.

Of this idea that we were created to serve one of two slave masters, the late pastor and Bible scholar, Dr. James Boice writes, “No Christian would ever compare the two [slave masters] except in terms of a total allegiance. The second service [meaning service to Jesus Christ as one’s master] is not at all like the first. It is a bondage of love and gratitude, a relationship that we could compare quite closely to marriage. If you are married, you know that a person is not autonomous in marriage. You are not free to do anything you want—to marry another, to leave the home, abandon the spouse. But you are free—free to serve, free to give, free to love your family....this will never be slavery. It is the way of joy and peace and genuine spiritual satisfaction.”

As Paul opens this letter to the Philippians, this is what his only claim to fame is: not that he is an apostle, but that he is a “bond-servant” or “slave of Jesus Christ.” And hence, he lives his life from this perspective. No doubt Paul is implying in these words that what was true for himself should also be true for any Christian reader of this letter. Unless Jesus Christ is Lord and we live as his slaves, we really have no right to call ourselves Christians, because “slaves of Jesus Christ” is the way the New Testament defines Christianity. 

Throughout this letter, Paul will stress the importance of being not only a slave of Jesus Christ, but also a servant to one another, because as His slaves, that’s what He expects of us. It’s almost as though Paul has the following words of Jesus in mind as he writes this letter. Jesus said, in Mark 10:43-44, “...whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.”

Was this the way the Philippians were seeing themselves when Paul wrote this letter? Were they viewing Christ’s interests as most important to their lives? Were they seeing themselves as slaves to His purposes, and fellow servants to each other, so as to help each other fulfill Christ’s purposes in Philippi? Definitely not.

As we study this letter, we will see that it was personal squabbles, personal preferences and personal rights that had become preeminent to these believers. Learning that Jesus was their Master, and as such, His purpose was to be first over everything, is the lesson Paul was trying to teach them. Furthermore, once this was explained to them, Paul had confidence they would choose to apply this lesson to their lives. 

Up to this point, I have deliberately skipped over any mention of Timothy because I wanted you to see the relationship between Paul viewing himself as a bond-servant, and his humbly presenting himself as an equal or fellow worker with Timothy.

“Timothy” was a junior member of Paul’s original four-member missionary team to Philippi. According to Acts 16, along with Paul, three other members helped him established the church at Philippi. They were Timothy, Silas and Luke. Timothy, who was presently visiting Paul in jail at Rome, was also in Philippi with Paul when he preached at the place of prayer by the river. He was there when Paul cast the spirit of divination out of the slave girl. And he had been there to comfort the foundling church in Philippi when Paul and Silas were hauled off by the authorities to be beaten and imprisoned. 

Paul mentions Timothy not because he coauthored the letter, but by enjoining Timothy with himself in this introduction, Paul, not too subtly was teaching the Philippian believers that among believers in Christ, there is no superiority or inferiority between one another. Instead, there is a stature of equal humility before one another, servants together of Christ and of one another. In other words, Paul is demonstrating to these Christians that he sees himself as an equal servant to his fellow worker Timothy.

Yes, there are those called to leadership, like apostles and “overseers and deacons,” as he mentions later in this verse. But these roles of leadership are not a sign of superiority versus inferiority. Leadership is a calling to responsibility. Yet, even in leadership, Paul, humbly never forgot that he was a slave to Christ and his sole purpose was not to satisfy himself. His purpose was not to lord it over his followers, but to build them up in the faith. 

After identifying himself and Timothy, he reveals to whom it is that he writes this letter. He states, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons:” Take note of Paul’s use of “all” as in “all of you.” This word “all” is used very significantly in this epistle—in a way not found anywhere else in the writings of the Apostle Paul. In the interest of time, just note the following verses from chapter one and chapter two in which Paul repeatedly uses this word “all” for a reason. Verses 4, 7, 8, 25 and in 2:26. It is plain from Paul’s use of this word “all” that he desired to bind them all together in one bundle of love. In this way, Paul was refusing to even recognize any incipient divisions among them.

 He greeted them all.

He thought well of them all.

He prayed for them all. 

He knew it would, in the end, be well with them all. 

And so he exhorted them all to stand fast in one spirit. 

Paul loved them all. And likewise, although he doesn’t mention it here, but he does throughout this letter, Paul held all of them equally responsible for the church’s disunity, from the leadership down. Hence, he addresses “all the saints.”

The word “saint” is sometimes translated as “holy”. It is a word that means “to be set apart for a specific purpose.” Here, “saint” means one who is set apart for God and for His purposes. Like in the tabernacle, even the old pots and pans were called “holy (or set apart) vessels.” Like our lives, those pots and pans were to be used for God’s purposes as an act of worship. 

Also like us, those old pots and pans used in the tabernacle and temple were probably beaten and battered after years of service. Sometimes they may not have looked holy or felt holy, but as long as they were being used for God’s purposes, they were holy. The same is true of you, as a saint. As one who has put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you are a saint or one set apart for God’s service and purposes.  As long as your primary desire is to submit all you have and are to Him, as a saint, then your life is deemed as holy, whether you look, act or feel like it.

By the way, don’t miss the logical order of Paul’s use of the terms “bond-slave,” then “saints.” I don’t believe Paul’s order in the use of these terms is an accident. This very order of first “bond-servant” then “saint” reminds us that: To become a saint, one must become a bond-servant first. Only as we first submit ourselves as slaves to Christ, do we become His saints, in the true sense of the word.

Some of us, when we hear or read words like this, we want to make an excuse for our divisive or factional behavior, by saying things like, “If you only understood how hard it is to fellowship with the Christians at my church....” Or, “If you only understood how hard it is to live like a slave of Christ in my town or within my home...then you would excuse my behavior.” However, let me remind you of the conditions under which these Christians at Philippi were called to be saints, in and outside of the church. 

Philippi, as most Roman colonies, enjoyed a pretty free, independent, self-serving and sordid lifestyle. And yet, they were still expected to live as Christ’s slaves, humbly serving one another. Therefore, if they had to live as slaves of Christ under those conditions, we cannot say that following Christ doesn’t work for us here, in free, independent, self-serving sordid America, or in our shop, or in my neighborhood or at my office. Living as slaves and saints of Christ will work anywhere. You can be a set-apart one, a saint, a holy one, Godlike in any situation God puts you in. Furthermore, your life is not meant to be lived in isolation but as one among other saints, rubbing shoulders together oftentimes through longsuffering, actively serving of our master, Jesus Christ.

As we come to the end of verse 1, we realize that Paul identifies two groups of readers at Philippi. First, there were “all the saints” who made up the church at large, and now at the end of the verse, Paul points to special persons within the congregation known as “overseers” and “deacons.”

Isn’t it interesting that Paul, in the beginning, shows equality between himself, Timothy and all the saints, and then points to the leadership using the preposition “together with” or “alongside” the other believers! The leaders are not “over” the church or outside it as being superior to others. They are simply a distinguishable part of the whole. However, the reality that even among equals, God still appoints leaders remains. God has always appointed some to be leaders and others to be followers.  Moses, for instance, was called to be a leader, but he was never above or considered superior to any other Israelite.

Throughout the New Testament, there are three terms which are used interchangeably, but refer to the same role of leadership in the church. They are “overseer” (sometimes translated “Bishop”) shepherd and elder. They are simply different terms highlighting different facets of the role of this leader. The elder is deemed older and thus wiser, even though he is not perfect and his decisions are not without flaws. This term not only refers to his position but the respect due him. 

The term bishop or overseer points more to the administrative work that an “elder” does. He makes sure the widows and orphans are cared for. He makes sure that missions monies are sent to the right place. He makes sure that proper care and discipline are exercised over the church family. That’s the role of the overseer.

The term shepherd describes the heart behind the work of an overseer and elder. The shepherds lead, feed and protect the flock from spiritual wolves that would tear apart the flock. As to this position, the Scriptures clearly teach that only men were appointed to the position of an overseer, elder or shepherd.

Note also the plural use of “overseers.” No evidence exists for a single leader as the “head” or “senior pastor” of the local assembly in the Pauline churches. Keep in mind, that if there was ever going to be a church small enough to be run by a senior pastor, this one at Philippi would have been one. In addition, if there had been a senior pastor, Paul would have certainly addressed him in light of the issues taking place at Philippi. Yet, the text clearly states that this church had multiple elders, overseers, shepherding the church.

The “deacons” or “deaconesses,” on the other hand, relieve the elders of lesser responsibilities so that the elders might be able to devote their time and energy to prayer, study and teaching the Word of God (Acts 6:4). For instance: the elders may be responsible to see that the widows and orphans are cared for; however, they may assign specific details of this ministry to deacons or deaconesses.

Interesting, in no other letter does Paul address the “overseers and deacons” in his greeting. So, why here?  One possibility has to do with the conflict between two women that needed to be addressed and he wanted right up front to make sure these leaders heard what he had written and that they would make sure steps were taken to shut down the conflict that threatened to divide the church. A second possibility is that even the overseers were caught up in this conflict. Either way, by mentioning these leaders up front, Paul is signaling them that they have not fulfilled their roles as leaders to do what was necessary to preserve the unity in the body.

After his formal introduction, Paul finishes his salutation with a blessing. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The term “grace” comes from the Greek word for “gift.” As this verse clearly states, this gift’s origin is God alone. Furthermore, peace always follows grace. It never precedes it. “Peace” is the resultant work of God’s grace in one’s life. “Grace” provided for and secured for the believer the “peace of God” as well as “peace with God.” 

As Paul alludes to here, from the outset in his letter to the Philippians, as well as throughout this letter, when God is at work within a person, and that person lives as a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, there is peace or well-being within that person. And the degree to which people personally know this peace, they will pursue peace in their relationships with others. Or to put it in the form of a principle: Experiencing peace with God, Christ’s bond-servants pursue peace in their relationships with others.  Obviously, the church at Philippi, and likewise today, the church in America has much to learn about God’s peace that comes to us as we live as His bond-servants, fulfilling His purposes.

I John 4:7-8, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and every one who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

When divisions, selfishness, factions arise within the church, as they had at Philippi, it signals that we have lost sight of our role, before Christ: That is that we are to live as His slaves, seeking to fulfill His purposes, whether it is pleasant going for us or not. When we don’t, disunity will be the result.  That’s why from the very opening salutation to this letter, Paul illustrates the key to unity in the body of Christ. The key to unity in the body of Christ is for all the saints to remember we are His slaves and to live like it.

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