Oh When The Saints Walk In Unity

Sean Peyton and Rob Ryan.  Wow.  This is a good example of two people supposing to be on the same team, with the same goals, and yet how many times do we see them at each other’s throats yelling and such. No wonder they are having a hard time winning games.

Jesus would say “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” I would add a team or church against itself will not stand.

If you think back a few seasons ago when we had Greg Williams you did not see the arguing that you do now. In fact you see the very opposite, Sean Payton would take a pay cut of 250,000 so that Greg Williams can come on to his staff.  What was the result? Super Bowl victory.  What is the result of dis-unity with the coaching staff? 1-4 start.

Paul begins to exhort the church at Philippi to walk in unity. He would also point us to the perfect example who carried this out.

Philippians 2:1-3
2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

If you were to go a restaurant, and the waitress did nothing but complain about her fellow co-workers, would you feel like “Man that was the greatest eating experience in my life.”
On the Contrary you might make a mental note to self to never go there again.  If these principles are true with a football team and a restaurant, how much more so do these principles apply in a church.

Nothing can frustrate the advance of the gospel more, both in a community of believers and in individual lives than internal unrest among believers.  The gospel is all about reconciliation, and unreconciled people do not advertise it well.

The first part of this passage Paul is reminding them of the greatness they have experienced through a life that is in Christ. I would like to use these as a reminder of the life we have in Christ.  Encouragement in Christ- Think about a time when you have been down and out. Did you experience the encouragement of Christ through another brother or sister in Christ?
Comfort from His love-Have you experienced comfort from His love in any way?  Participation in His spirit-Have you sensed His presence with an engaging heart?  Sympathy-Has he shown you compassion or empathy toward your situation?  Christ sets the example for Philippian believers as well as modern day believers so that we may live likewise.

1.  Unity Happens When Great Minds Think Alike
How many married couples are out there? Of those who are married would you agree that men and women think totally different?  Women tend to be very talkative and very emotional beings, while men tend to be more task driven and less talkative and have a hard time understanding emotions that are not spoken.  This is even evident in the types of movies we watch-Woman like romance movies and love stories, while men enjoy war movies, action movies, movies with blood, sweat, courage.  If one married couple thinks so differently, how in the world can a church made up of men and woman come to have a like mind?

Like minded-To be of the same mind, agreed together, cherish the same views, be harmonious

I think of an orchestra when I think of like mindedness. Their goal is to produce one masterpiece with one sound that memorizes the audience and gives you the freesons. Though there are many instruments, each with unique sounds, and unique parts to play they strive to make it sound as one piece. This can only be done by following the leading of the conductor.

If the percussion section of the orchestra decides they want to be heard and just started doing their own thing, they would no longer have unity through like-mindedness. They would have noise and chaos. It would disrupt the whole.

In a similar way, all it takes is one person to stir up discord or disunity in the church.  One brother or sister to talk about another, one person to have a negative attitude towards the leadership.

That is why it is vital that everyone does their part. By putting aside our differences, keeping our eyes on the conductor, holding on to those essentials to our faith (Such as The trinity, The Cross, The Resurrection, fellowship with other believers, Salvation, Baptism, Worship, Prayer, Personal Relationship with Christ) We can achieve unity through like mindedness!

To be like minded does not mean that we will always see things the same way, But that we do all have one thing in common Jesus Christ.

2.  Unity Happens Through Humility

Being like-minded and having the same love calls for us to walk in humility.  Humility- consider one another better than yourselves.  Humility is a virtue which makes Christians unique or different from the world. In the Greco-Roman world, humility was not considered a virtue but a shortcoming, very much like today!

We tend to have it backwards by putting ourselves above others. It is about our needs, our wants, and our desires. We want it our way right away! We have the Burger King Mentality “Have it your way”  But as Christians we are to be different from the world. We are instructed to walk in humility.

Humility is not to be confused with false modesty ("I'm no good") (think back to Genesis)
Rather it has to do with a proper estimation of oneself, the stance of the creature before the Creator, utterly dependent and trusting. Here one is well aware both of one's weaknesses and of one's glory (we are in God's image, after all) but makes neither too much nor too little of either.
True humility is therefore not self-focused at all but rather, as further defined by Paul, considers others better than yourselves.

Others are not necessarily "better" than I am, but their needs and concerns "surpass" my own.
It also means being severe upon our own faults and charitable in our judgments of others, be quick in observing our own defects and infirmities, but ready to overlook and forgive the defects of others.  This is how he describes those whose behavior is genuinely Christian; they do not seek their own good, but the good of others.  By walking in humility we can attain unity!

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus gave us the perfect example of what it means to walk in unity through humility. Jesus, though He was royalty took on the form of a servant, by being born in the likeness of men. He even laid His life down so that we can live.

In a way Jesus considered our need for a Savior better than His need to be rescued from crucifixion.  "Love begins when someone else's needs are more important than my own,"

Lets be unified and watch the Saints of God win.