A CHURCH IN MID-LIFE CRISIS

Philippians 2:12-13
Bob Bonner
June 8, 2008

One of my all time favorite movies is City Slickers. It’s about three friends who decide to go on a two-week cattle drive in Colorado. Two of the main characters are Mitch, played by Billy Crystal, who is 39 years old and in the thick of midlife crisis; and Curly, played by Jack Palance, who is the wizened, old, tough-as-nails trail boss.

One afternoon when Mitch and Curly were riding by themselves, Mitch, who has been impressed with the sense of peace, confidence, and direction with which the old trail boss, Curly, lives, decided to risk asking Curly what his secret to a satisfied life was. Curly smiled, took a slow drag on his cowboy-rolled cigarette, and said something along the line of, “You’ve got to know what’s really important and keep after that one thing,” raising up his index finger. Mitch quickly asked, “What’s that one thing?” The wise old trail boss broke out with a grin and replied, “You’ll have to figure that out for yourself.”

Today the church in America and Christians in general are living in somewhat of a spiritual midlife crisis, in which we either have never known or we have forgotten what that one thing is for which we have been saved. As a result, the witness and the life of the church have lacked vibrancy and effectiveness in our world, and Christians have lost that sense of living a deeply satisfied life. When this country was founded, the church and its commitment to Christ and the gospel was the spiritual and moral backbone or rudder of the community. Today, our country has been set morally adrift because its rudder, the church and its message of the gospel, has been disregarded. We the believers have forgotten the main thing, that one purpose for which everything else in life is secondary. That one thing is the gospel.

In place of the gospel, we have made the one thing our own personal comfort or the accomplishment of our personal agendas. Sometimes our agendas are our families, our careers, our retirement, our marriage, our hobbies, or our studies. Although those things can be good and important, they were never meant to be the main thing for one who calls himself “a follower of Christ.” In addition, other pursuits can take priority. When we desire to be recognized for our performance or accomplishments, become caught up in political agendas, or are determined to protect what we believe to be our inalienable rights, we have truly forgotten the fact that we are “slaves of Christ.” As Christians, our focus is to be on Christ, depending upon Him and His power to transform our lives. Christ and His power to save and transform lives is the heart of the message of the gospel and is to be that one thing.  

When we take our eyes off the one thing, we get caught up in the whirlpool of these lesser pursuits. One of the first results is tension and strife with other Christians, because most often our personal pursuits clash. When I as a believer or when we as a group of believers fail to keep Jesus and His agenda, the gospel, number one, we the church family become less effective and less helpful to those around us who are living lives of quiet desperation.

As it concerns the church, this phenomenon of losing sight of the main thing is nothing new. Historically, local churches have always started off strong, excited about Jesus and His power to save and transform lives through the power of the gospel. But typically, it is only a matter of time, usually ten years, before individuals in the church begin losing sight of what is the main thing, replacing it with something less important. 

This was the problem in the church at Philippi. The Philippian the church was being torn apart because individual Christians were motivated by a party spirit, selfishness, conceit, pride, and arrogance. But hoping to heal the breach, Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians, charging them to live in a manner worthy of the gospel, to stand together, to work together, to think together, to serve one another, to pay attention to the concerns of one another, and to humbly consider one another better than themselves. Paul appealed to them to do so on the basis of Christ’s own humble attitude and self-effacing action. In contrast to Christ’s example, and in a major section of 2:4-21, there is a repeated phrase, “the interests of yourselves,” that highlights for the Philippians what Paul saw as their problem. When these verses in this relatively short section were read out loud, the force of this phrase “the interests of yourselves” would have sent his readers a very clear message. “You are more concerned about your rights, your personal interests or ideas, than what’s most important, the gospel.”

From an even larger section of these first two chapters, 1:27-2:18, the overall theme has been Paul’s challenge to them to get back to striving together for the sake of the gospel, instead of focusing on self interests which leads to disunity. The Apostle Paul knew that sometimes, when confronted about this losing sight of one’s purpose or what the main thing is, churches could be turned around and once again become effective for Christ. But he also knew that if someone didn’t take the responsibility to point the way to correction, the church would not right itself alone. Hence Paul wrote this letter to his dear friends, the Philippians, hoping that they would once again begin to live like a healthy family of believers focused on the main thing, the life changing power of the gospel, rather than as a dysfunctional family of believers who have forgotten what the main thing is.

With the beginning of Philippians 2:1-4, Paul strongly corrected his friends for their selfish and prideful ways. Then in verses 5-11, he contrasted their arrogance with the example of Christ’s humility, His putting aside His rightful position as God, and lowering Himself to come to earth to rescue those who would put their trust in Him. Now, in this next passage which we want to begin looking at this morning, verses 12-18, the Apostle Paul returned to exhorting them by showing them practically what is necessary to turn this thing around, to become a healthy church, once again focused on the main thing, the gospel.

As I look at this passage, I see three points to these verses. First, in verses 12-13, Paul called them to devote themselves to becoming a healthy church family. Then, in verses 14-16, he pointed to that which should characterize a church family committed to their own spiritual health so that they could reach their world with the gospel. And finally, in verses 17-18, Paul invited them to participate with him in his personal joy concerning the ministry of the gospel.

Having just painted the humility with which Christ came to save us in verses 5-11, and the fact that He was willing to suffer abuse from us in order to reach us, Paul’s next sentence, verses 12-13, is the logical command for the Philippians and the local church today to get our corporate life together by following Christ’s example of humility in caring for one another. 

Before we read these two verses, we must grasp the weightiness of Paul’s previous reminder of Christ’s example and its connectedness to Paul’s exhortation in verses 12-13. In order to do that, allow me to remind you of what another apostle, the most beloved disciple of Jesus, the Apostle John, wrote. I believe John’s words paint a perfect backdrop to our study this morning.  He wrote in 1 John 2:6, 9-11: “The one who says he abides in Christ ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked...The one who says he is in the light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. The one who loves his brother   abides in the light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

If we say that Jesus Christ is our Lord but we don’t seek to follow after His example in sacrificially loving our brothers and learning to suffer along with each other even when others hurt us, then we have to seriously ask ourselves, “Is Jesus Christ truly my master and savior? Or, am I simply a moral person who attends a church on a regular basis?”

With that as a backdrop to our study, let’s look closely at our two verses for this morning. “So then, [or in light of Christ’s example] my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” 

Some who read these instructions to “work out your own salvation” think Paul was speaking to the individual believer at Philippi. But in fact, Paul was addressing his words to the church collectively. In other words, Paul was saying, “Together, I want all of you to work out your own salvation as a church family,” not as separate individuals. Yes, Paul understood that each person is responsible for himself, but here his emphasis was the collective church family working together in harmony, for that will be the most effective way for the gospel to touch the lives of others. Keep in mind the backdrop of this letter. It was the health of the church which was sorely distressed by rivalries and party squabbles. This was the reason for Paul’s writing this letter. If Paul wanted to speak to individuals about their individual problems, he would have written to them as individuals. But he didn’t. 

There are at least five reasons for understanding that “your salvation” refers to the church family as a whole over “your” referring to the individual. 1. The term “salvation” can legitimately be taken to mean wholeness of a group as well as of an individual. 2. After Christ’s example of coming to earth to save the human race in 2:5-11, it would be inappropriate to stress an individual’s salvation over the general salvation of the church. The bride of Christ is not the Christian as the individual, but the corporate body of believers. 3. “Your own” is in the plural form and cannot be taken to mean each individual church member’s salvation. Furthermore, this plural pronoun matches the plural form of the verb “work out.” In other words, the Greek grammar itself demands this interpretation. 4. The state of the factious Philippian church needed just this call to come together. 5. And finally, the expression that we will look at in a moment, that of “fear and trembling”, is only used by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament to point to manward attitudes involving a healthy respect of one human being for another human being. The expression “fear and trembling” is never used by Paul to refer to what our attitude should be toward God. Hence this expression, “your salvation”, has to be taken as a command directed at the corporate church, not the individual. 

Why am I making such a big deal about this “your” referring to the church family as a whole rather than to you the individual? Because we independent, born-and-bred-to-be-individualist Americans often miss the point that becoming a follower of Christ means making the health of the group a higher priority than one’s own personal interests. If Christ, our example, were only concerned about His own safety, His own personal interests rather than our need for forgiveness, He would have never stooped so low as to come to earth and to allow us to put Him to death. He came to serve us, not as an individual to be served. And that is something hard for all of us to not only understand but to practice. 

When it comes to church, rarely do we American Christians ask, “How can I serve, encourage, and make the church family healthier, so that the gospel will be lived out among us and shared with those who don’t know Christ?” More typically, our consumer mentality focuses on what we can get out of it. Typically, if a church doesn’t preach the way we want to hear the word of God preached, if the church service is not as long as we think it should be, if the music is not to our liking, if the youth group is not as exciting to us as another youth group, if...if...if..., then we go elsewhere. Choosing a church or staying at a church has become more about the individual’s wishes or self interests than it is about considering first what’s most important for the whole church family. To combat this “self interest” syndrome, Paul said, “You as a church body, work out your salvation.”

And that’s another expression that has not been understood correctly by all. What does this “work out your salvation” command mean? To understand this, we must first get a proper understanding of what the expression “salvation” means here.

First, let’s be absolutely clear of what it does not mean. This expression “work out your salvation” is not a prescription for self-help salvation. The verse does not say “work for your salvation” or “work toward your salvation” or “work at your salvation.” There is absolutely nothing any one of us can to do to work at and earn or maintain or improve upon our salvation, in the sense that we have been forgiven and approved of by God. If you have any doubt of that, then note what Paul demonstrated by his own example in 3:4-14, that to work for, toward, or at your own salvation is absolutely impossible.  My approval, my forgiveness by God, and my acceptance before Him is based solely on the humble work of Jesus Christ on my behalf. That’s what Philippians 2:5-11 is all about. This verse says “work out your salvation.” Furthermore, these words are written to those believers who have already been saved. They are not words written to people needing individual salvation.

So, if this verse isn’t pointing to our need to earn or work at our own salvation, then to what does it refer? I used to think this “work out your own salvation” referred to the meaning that the word “salvation” takes on elsewhere in scripture. Elsewhere, as in Romans 1:16, “salvation” refers to the maturing process or growing up in Christ. Theologians have another religious sounding term that points to this aspect of salvation. They call it “sanctification.” But after studying a host of outstanding exegetical scholars, such as Drs. Ralph Martin, Gerald Hawthorne, Gordon Fee, and Richard Melick, just to name a few, I have been convinced that the immediate as well as the surrounding context of this passage points to another entirely different understanding of the word “salvation” than the idea of sanctification.

Drs. Martin and Hawthorne prove in their commentaries beyond argument that Paul was not concerned in this context with the eternal welfare of the soul of the individual, as though he were addressing issues of “the perseverance of the saint.” But rather, the context shows Paul was concerned with the welfare of the church at Philippi as a whole. Both these theologians point to the context of 2:1-4 and its command aimed not at the individual but the church as a whole as supportive evidence. The entire church, which had grown spiritually ill, according to this context, is now charged with taking whatever steps are necessary to restore itself to health, integrity, and wholeness.

Hence, Drs. Martin, Hawthorne, and Fee state that the expression, “work out your salvation” can and should in this case be translated, “work at achieving [spiritual] health of the family.” Dr. Gordon Fee specifically points out that if you go back to Philippians 1:27-28 and look at Paul’s use of the term “salvation” there, you will see that his intended use is the same as it is here in 2:12, and that is to urge the Philippians to flesh out their living together as a healthy community, so that the world around them will be convinced of the truth of the gospel by the way they, as a faith community, live in harmony. Allow me to quote Dr. Fee. He states: “The context makes it clear that this [use of the term salvation] is not a soteriological text per se, dealing with ‘people getting saved’ or ‘saved people persevering’ [meaning growing up and holding on to their individual faith].” Rather it is an ethical text, dealing with “how saved people live out their salvation in the context of the believing community and the world.”

So the concern in this passage is not that of the individual being saved or even growing up as a mature believer, but it is that of the church family stopping whatever squabbling is going on among them and returning to live as God’s people. (He later in verse 15 used the words “God’s blameless children” within the pagan culture of Philippi.) To summarize the proper meaning of the expression “to work out your salvation” in this context, it means that they are to work at achieving or maintaining the spiritual unity and health of the church family.

And if you look back at the beginning of verse 12, you can see what Paul used as positive reinforcement to motivate them to return to living as a healthy family. He said, “Just as you have always obeyed.” What is the proof of undeniable salvation and transformation in people’s lives? Obedience. In other words, the proof that together they have been a believing church has been their past obedience in such things. However, something had happened over the years. Differences and personal interests had caused them to take their eyes off Christ and the gospel, and in doing so they had become ineffective for Jesus Christ. Hence the Apostle Paul challenged this church to solve their problems as an act of obedience to God, which in turn would confirm the fact that they were truly saved.

Finally, at the end of this verse Paul added that they are to do this with “fear and trembling.” As mentioned earlier, Paul is the only New Testament writer to use this phrase, and never does he use it to describe the attitude people are to have toward God—only the attitude Christians are to have toward one another or toward their leaders (1 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 7:15; cf. Ephesians 6.5; LXX Exodus 15:16). Therefore this phrase refers to an attitude within the community of “respect and reverence” toward one another.  Dr. J. A. Motyer, a British Biblical scholar adds, “This points to a sensitive awareness of the preciousness and the importance of the health of the body, resulting in a trembling concern lest we fail to live up to our privileges.” Dr. MacArthur states that this “fear” to which Paul refers, “necessitates opposing pride, and being constantly aware of the deceitfulness of one’s heart.” This fear represents a dread that seeks to avoid anything that would harm or bring disunity to the body of Christ. 

At this point we move to verse 13. In verse 12 we see what we are supposed to do. But left to ourselves, we selfish, self-deceived individuals could not pull it off. What the Spirit of God is challenging the Philippians and us to do requires the supernatural work of God among us. And it is just to such a work of God, His divine initiative, that Paul points to next in verse 13. For he tells us, “For it is God who is at work in you [plural, meaning you the church, not the individual], both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

God is doing two things here. First, He is calling us to obey His will. It begins with God informing us of what His will is and then moving to work on our hearts, changing our hearts about obeying Him rather than going our own selfish way. 

But just because God has won my heart and convinced me that I need to love somebody that I don’t like doesn’t mean that I am going to be able to do so. That’s where this second action of God comes in. This is where He supernaturally enables us to do things we don’t typically find easy to do or even want to do. For instance: to love someone you don’t even like, to suffer long with those whose personality quirks rub you the wrong way, to reach out and help someone who has wronged you, to grant others a lifetime to grow up, if that is what God’s time table is for them. Those things take supernatural patience, kindness, and gentleness toward others that is foreign to us self-centered sinners left to our own devices.

And again, why does He do this? Paul says it is for “His own good pleasure.” Some believe that this means that God is at work in you because it makes Him feel good or brings Him great enjoyment. And I have no doubt that our changed lives bring God satisfaction. However, in the original language the words “His own” are absent from the Greek text. And by adding those two words the meaning of the verse appears to be unnecessarily changed. In addition, the words “good pleasure” could also be translated “good purpose.”  If the translators had just left the verse alone, without adding words, as Dr. Gordon Fee, Dr. Gerald Hawthorne, and Dr. Ralph Martin suggest, the sense of the passage would have been better served. For without including those two words, one possible meaning of the verse would be that God is at work in us, ultimately so that the “good purpose” or “goodwill” between believers would better enable the getting out of the gospel. This interpretation makes sense in light of the context which is Paul’s call to harmony, selflessness, and goodwill among the brothers and sisters in Christ at Philippi. Hence, the “goodwill” that Paul desires the Philippians to attain to toward one another should be the hallmark of any Christian community.

Dr. Fee suggests a second way this can be taken is that God wants to make this goodwill happen in the church because it pleases Him to do so. Somehow, I think the ambiguity is purposeful, in that both are meant to be true. For God’s own pleasure and for the health of the body that the gospel might go out, Paul wishes that in-fighting would cease.

So where does this study of God’s word bring us this morning? It brings us back to the main thing, that one thing that should be the focal point of our relationships with other Christians, whether they be family members, spouses, churches, or youth groups. All relationships move through seasons and cycles. And just as individuals get older and face mid-life course corrections or crises, so do relationships. Marriages, families, churches, and ministries go through seasons where God is trying to bring about course corrections to make sure that we keep the main thing the main thing. And what is that main thing? It all revolves around the gospel. Not just the gospel that leads people to heaven when they die, but the power of the gospel to grow each of us up, the power of the gospel to transform our lives right here and now. That which thwarts the power of the gospel in your life and my life today is the way we relate to one another, the way we focus on our own pride and self interest rather than our ongoing commitment to seek after obedience to God’s will. Instead of seeking after and obeying God, which more often than not is very difficult and sometimes personally painful, we look for that which is comfortable, less stressful, easier, more popular, or less embarrassing--that which gives us rather than Him glory and honor.

To this tendency, God says, “So then, [or in light of Christ’s example] my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Work at building and rebuilding those relationships with one another, as hard as it may be, with the sense that these relationships that God has brought our way are privileged and precious, and are never to be treated as anything but. Why? “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” It is all part of His will for you and those with whom you worship to have a greater effective outreach ministry of the gospel in your world. To ignore God’s instruction in this verse might bring you short-lived, immediate relief from the unpleasantries that come with living and working with people; but in the long run, it will not only cause the breakdown of the fellowship of believers, but it will stunt your spiritual growth.

Inside each of us is a rebellious drive that the Bible calls the “flesh.” By remaining obedient to the leading of the Spirit of God, we can control this flesh, rather than it controlling us. But if we are not determined to deal with it when it raises its ugly head, to obey God rather than our own desires, our obeying the flesh can upset our Christian equilibrium and harm the community of faith, our local church. The flesh will grouse, dispute, pout, shout, and do whatever it takes to convince us that we can live for ourselves, and that the relationships we have with others in the church really don’t matter. This is nothing but our own fleshly pride speaking. Proverbs 16:18 states, “Pride goes before destruction (ours and the community’s), and a haughty spirit before stumbling.” Understanding this, how has the “flesh” revealed itself in your life recently? Have you found yourself or others grousing, disputing, and pouting, and as a result bringing harm to the community of faith around you? If so, what would the Lord have you do about it? On the other hand, what can you point to recently that is an example of your choosing to obey God and do what is encouraging, bringing spiritual health and goodwill to your local church family?

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