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IN THE PURSUIT OF PEACE III
Philippians 4:6-7
Bob Bonner
September 28, 2008
The book of Job is considered part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, along with Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. What I find interesting about Job and his story of hard times and his religious friends who turn against him is that even in their self righteous, condemning stance against Job, they use well-known truths about fallen human nature to sell their case against Job. One of those general truths about the human race is this, found in Job 5:7: “For man is born for trouble as sparks fly upward.” As individuals apart from God, if there is no trouble brewing around us, give us time, and we will create it. And usually, it will include friends, like Job’s, who ironically bring it on. Trouble in the form of conflict with others is as assured as sparks that fly upward.
Realizing that enjoying peace among Christians is as difficult a challenge as peace among non-Christians, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:9-18 these words. As we read them, notice the key words and themes that we have found in our past study of the book of Philippians.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one
another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted
to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with
those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind
toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the
lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for
evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible,
so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
That last line is the line I particularly want to draw your attention to.
In order for there to be a division between people, at least two are required. If there is ever going to be forgiveness, unity, or a working together, it requires you and someone else to be willing. You can never control what others think or do. You can only be responsible for yourself. Hence Paul’s words, “So far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”
For the past three messages, we have been looking at the subject of what it takes to bring about peace when tensions flare and disunity reigns, not only in the church but anywhere Christians work, dwell, or play. When people are wounded by others and feel like fighting back or flying away, how do we turn the situation around? How do we bring resolve? The answer is to pursue peace.
The overall point of our passage this morning will be this: When conflict happens among Christians, a conflict that leads to disunity, all of us are to pursue peace. But truthfully, you can only be responsible for whether or not you will obey God and pursue the peace that is necessary to work together for the cause of Christ. Even though the Apostle Paul understands that, he nevertheless addresses all of the Christians in Philippi, as an entire church family, to pursue peace among themselves so that unity can be restored, allowing them to return to being effective for the cause of Christ.
As far as what the specific problem was or problems were that brought about division and disharmony at the church in Philippi, we really don’t know. We can make a pretty good intelligent guess that the problems didn’t have to do with sin or theology, but rather with how some wanted to do ministry. When we come to Philippians 4, the Apostle Paul sums up what he wants them to do about their divisiveness. Up to this section, he has given them several pointers, but right now, he finishes with what is at the heart of the matter. He ends with the same instruction with which he began back in 1:26. He says, “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.”
As I summarized for you last time, Paul has clearly taught throughout this book that to stand firm meant that a Christian is to humble himself before God and other Christians so as to remain united and able to work together for the cause of Christ.
After giving them this overarching command, his final major point, Paul goes on to explain and drive this home. He does so, in verses 2-3, by first appealing to them to restore their unity.
Paul appears to pinpoint a major cause of the tension and division in the church with two of Paul’s former partners in ministry, women named Euodia and Syntyche. He calls upon two leaders, along with the rest of the church, to come along side these women to help them resolve whatever it is that is bothering them and upsetting the ministry of the church. Paul wants them to resolve the issue and realize peace so that they can return to the work of the Gospel.
Presuming that they can resolve this particular situation, Paul realizes that this won’t be the only time they will ever be at odds. Therefore he gives them four steps that must be continually followed if they are going to maintain the peace that is absolutely necessary to work together for the cause of Christ. Conflicts and tensions will arise whenever people, even good-willed and good-intentioned people, try to do something they agree is important. So when tensions arise, this is God’s method for defusing the situation, a method that if those concerned apply, promises to result in peace.
The first step is recorded in verse 4. It is Paul’s first command to “rejoice in the Lord,” a directive setting the foundation upon which the next three progressive commands build. It challenged them to keep the correct mindset, God’s mindset, which is one that places primary importance upon the advancement of the gospel, the salvation of the lost. The wrong mindset would be one focusing on selfish interests, past hurts, disappointments, or anything else that would be a distraction to the rest of the church family and to God’s greater and more important priority, the gospel.
The second command follows naturally, “Be gentle-spirited toward one another.” If you keep the God’s big picture in mind (that life is not all about your expectations, rights, or self interests), then when others offend you, you are more apt to be supernaturally gentle-spirited because of your correct mindset.
This unique word, “gentle-spirited,” is not the normal word for gentle or meek used in the New Testament. It is a word that is only used five times in the New Testament. There is no one word in English that fully captures or conveys the meaning of this word. I showed you this list last week of various Greek scholars’ best attempts at explaining the meaning of this word: gentleness, generosity, goodwill, friendliness, yielding, kindness, patience, magnanimity, charity toward the faults of others, mercy toward the failures of others, indulgence of the failures of others, leniency toward the faults of others, patience enduring injustice without retaliation, bigheartedness, lack of heavy handedness, and sweet reasonableness. The overriding idea behind this word has to do with how you deal with people who have made a mistake with you, have hurt or offended you, and maybe even sometimes have sinned against you. Rather than making a big deal out of a minor issue or even demanding that they forgive you, this word encourages taking one on the chin for the more important goal of the unity of the body and the advancement of the Gospel.
According to Paul’s use of this term to describe himself in II Corinthians 10:1, others can easily mistake someone who has this gentle-spiritedness to have no backbone, courage, or willingness to stand up for one’s rights. In reality, however, it is just the opposite. They have a very specific Christ-honoring reason for why they don’t push the issue or demand their rights. Not every sinful doing or wrongful act demands immediate discipline or correction. True wisdom knows when to longsuffer and forgive without taking action and when to take action. Hence, this is one of the characteristics of an elder, as listed in 1 Timothy 3:3. An elder is an experienced person who has learned and is still learning when an action will be helpful and filled with grace and when it would be heavy- handedness or overkill to correct a minor infraction.
In two of the other places this word “gentle-spirited” is used, this quality of a person stands in contrast to those who are always looking for a fight at the first sign of an insult or wrong doing. Look with me at James 3:13-18 and notice the relationship between this word and jealousy and self-centeredness. James writes:
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good
behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter
jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so
lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from
above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish
ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom
from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of
mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed
whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
But even though you may want to be gentle in spirit, when someone hurts you, it still is not easy to forgive or to look the other way or to not make an issue of it. So, how do we get past the hurts and frustrations caused by others in our lives? That’s where Paul’s next two commands take us this morning. As we continue to examine them, keep in mind the specific context of the problem which Paul has been addressing throughout this book. If you follow the progression of Paul’s commands correctly, you will see that verse 6 doesn’t necessarily mean what you may have thought it has meant all of your life. The way Paul applies it here is not the way that Christians typically apply verse 6 and verse 7 today. Your past understanding and application of verses 6 and 7 may not be entirely wrong, but I think you will see that what the Apostle Paul had in mind by way of specific application of this verse is completely different than how many typically apply it today.
Paul writes, “Be anxious for nothing, [or more literally, stop being anxious] but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
This word, “be anxious,” and the specific subject for which we are told not to be anxious is worthy of a closer look. Contrary to what some have said in the past, this word for anxiety does not necessarily refer to worries and fears that paralyze us. In fact, this same word is used in a positive sense by Paul in 2:20, where he commends Timothy for “being anxious” or as the New American Standard Bible translates this same word, being “genuinely concerned for the welfare of the Philippians.”
Here, in 4:6, he uses this same term negatively, telling us not to be, or more accurately to stop being, inappropriately anxious, fretful, concerned, or disturbed about anything. And the contextual “for nothing” that he was referring to were the slights, the hurts, the issues that bring up tensions between people, such as those of Euodia and Syntyche, causing them to lose their focus for the cause of the gospel. Negative anxiety is a selfish “me first” anxiety, disrupting fellowship with others rather than positively uniting them for the cause of the Gospel.
Let’s face it--when someone in the family hurts us, slights us, or maybe doesn’t agree with us, it hurts! And quite naturally we tend to focus on what hurts or disturbs us rather than on what unites us. When we become selfishly concerned or anxious about our hurts, our points of view, our rights, and our selfish interests, we want to call the other person who slighted us every name in the book. We start to question their spirituality and maybe even gossip about them or slander them to others, all because we are disturbed, anxious, or don’t think something is fair. Pretty soon our interest rather than the furtherance of the gospel becomes the most important issue. Paul says, “Stop doing that! Stop being anxious or fretting about this! Stop focusing on how you want to do things or what you think is best. Stop allowing your interests to become the overriding divisive concern of the church or its ministry.”
This now brings us to the fourth and final step that leads to peace. God never tells us to stop something without giving us something to do instead. And here, Paul tells us what God wants us to do, and that is to start praying. He writes, “But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ” “Let your requests be made known to God” is the fourth command, the fourth step in pursuing peace. Prayer is the key to turning personal hurt and tension around in one’s heart so that eventually peace will reign. Then this now peaceful individual can let his gentle spirit be known to others in the church rather than his or her former divisive spirit.
But pray about what? How are we to pray? What’s this “supplication” he refers to? Obviously, the focus of the prayer and supplication Paul has in mind here is prayer that will eventually result in personal and corporate “peace” among believers. This kind of prayer involves specific requests, called “supplications,” which are aimed at the issues that divide and those people with whom you feel distant or out of fellowship. They are prayers that concern your feelings and attitudes toward those who have slighted you or hurt you in some way. They are specific requests for God’s help to stop the divisive behavior and to return to focusing on the cause of the Gospel. They are requests that God will supernaturally enable you to be “gentle-spirited” toward those who have brought about the hurt or tension. In the end, the goal of these prayers is not vengeance, for God to strike down those who hurt you, or for your will to be done, but that harmony and healing would be brought about so that unity can be restored. These are prayers asking God to come and supernaturally put out the flames of personal hurt and anger and to help us refocus on what He says is most important.
Please note something extremely important that Paul adds in verse 6. He shows us where our emphasis in prayer should be. Our emphasis in prayer is to be one that demonstrates a thankful heart to God, not only for the brother or sister with whom you are in conflict, but even for the difficult situation you are in. Why do this? Because thankful prayers force us to humble ourselves before God’s purposes, especially when we don’t necessarily feel thankful. Thankful prayers acknowledge that you believe that God is near (verse 5), that He has seen the situation, and that He is quite capable of handling it and the people who need changing, including the one who is doing the praying. Thankful prayer is a way to humble ourselves before God, acknowledging that He is not only there and capable of dealing with the situation, but that He is also good, and that for some reason He has allowed this tension to be there.
So, once you rejoice in the Lord (verse 4) and get your perspective correct and see that God wants you to be gentle-spirited in such situations (verse 5), then pray to that end (verse 6).
And when we do that, God’s word, in verse 7, promises us something. He promises, “And the peace of God, [rather than your disturbed, anxious, or twisted thoughts] which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This “peace of God” is the peace that reflects His very nature. It points to God’s character as being one of tranquility in His eternal being--that calm serenity that characterizes God’s very nature. Furthermore, the source of this peace is God, and thus it is supernatural. It is not something that we can manufacture. In Paul’s own words, it is the peace “which surpasses all comprehension”.
In addition, according to Dr. Gerald Hawthorne, this Greek word for “peace” reflects the Hebrew word for peace, “shalom”, which points to “a state of harmony and good order, when all parts of life are working according to God’s plan and purpose.” In other words, this kind of peace is only experienced by a group of people when they submit themselves totally to God’s plan, His purposes, and His directions about how to do ministry as laid out for us in the word of God. Furthermore, when the individual or the church as a whole experiences release from the tension of conflict (that comes from following these four steps) and experiences this calm and working in harmony known as “shalom”, they can be confident, for the time being at least, that they are working in accord with God’s greater purpose.
Paul knows that the more each of the Philippian Christians take responsibility for their divisive role in the church (rather than pointing fingers at others) and begin to seek God over the matter, the quicker their unity will be restored, and they will effectively get back to the work of the Gospel.
Likewise, if you find yourself among Christians or around just one Christian who is being divisive or seeking his own self interests, I encourage you to follow these four steps, and God will deliver you from a world of tension and conflict and take you into his tranquility, His peace.
We will come back to verse 7 next week to cover a few more points we couldn’t get to this week, and then we will move on to what Paul says about turning around conflict and living in peace with other Christians. But first, let’s tie together each of these four steps.
Paul’s objective in these verses is to bring unity to the church body at Philippi. That really has been his entire objective from the first moment that he put ink to parchment. And if unity is going to be restored, each and every believer must continue to be on alert to the potential conflicts and hurts that normally occur when humans come together. And when these disturbances and distractions arise, do what is your part to follow these steps so that God’s supernatural peace may result. Pursue peace among the believers by first, “rejoicing in the Lord” or stepping back and getting God’s perspective on His purposes and praising Him for His purposes. Then, ask yourself, “Have I made my personal feelings, my perspectives concerning ministry, my expectations or rights more important than what Christ says is of primary importance, the cause of the gospel?”
Second, recognize that when slights or differences of opinions or the feelings of being disregarded or disrespected occur, God calls you to be “gentle-spirited.” In other words, learn to deny yourself, carry your cross, and follow Christ. Take one on the chin for the sake of the Gospel; forgive those in the church that have offended you, whether they have asked for forgiveness or not, and move on.
Third, admit that you can’t be gentle-spirited, but you would rather be anxious and fret about your hurts and what the other person has done to you. Determine before God that it is His will for you to stop being anxious or disturbed, and then obey the fourth command, the fourth step. Turn to God and pray for His supernatural enablement to become gentle-spirited toward those who have disturbed you. Thank God for who He is, that He is here, and that even though you don’t like the situation, you know He can rescue you, if you will let Him. And thank Him for the opportunity this situation has provided you to grow. Commit to praying with a thankful heart, not a whining or complaining or condemning heart, for those God has called you to work with. And that last part may sound strange, to thank God for that person who has hurt you, but that’s exactly what we are called to do. And I will show you how God wants us to do that next week when we return to our study.
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