Philippians 1:22-30
MATURING AS CHRISTIANS
When we watch little kids, we tend to notice how cute and beautiful they are. We’re also fascinated by how quickly they grow. It gives us joy to see some of the young children in our church grow up. For the parents, it’s especially a great joy and a reason to be thankful.
As Christians, we also need to grow and mature in faith. When we first came to faith, we may have only looked to receive the love and help of others. But as we mature we need to be the ones helping others. We need to pray for others and not just for ourselves. We need to pray for our neighbours, our church, and the rest of the world. Our faith needs to grow accordingly.
Ephesians 4:13 states, “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Also consider the example of Moses. We can read from Exodus 2: 11-14 that he was a quick tempered man in his younger days. However, later in Numbers 12:3, we see that he matured into a humble man.
When I think about myself, I also remember being quick tempered during my teenage years. I sometimes got in to fights. Even as a young missionary in Kenya, I remember once getting in to a fight during a soccer match. But now I can say I’ve matured somewhat into a calmer and more patient person.
For Paul, whether he lived or died wasn’t important to him. For him, being with Christ was the only important thing. In verse 23, he even states that he wants to depart from his body and be with Christ. But he knew that being alive and doing God’s work was more beneficial for the Philippian Church.
By contrast we need to consider where we stand in our lives. How do we choose where we work or live? How do we choose our schools? We need to make these decisions based on what is most beneficial for the work of Christ, not based on what’s merely good for us.
For Paul, death was simply a step of going from this life to the eternal life. All Christians need to adopt this mindset. Death is not the end, but rather the beginning of our eternal life. The life that we live on this earth is to fulfill our life’s mission that God has given each of us. Our lives are not for the purpose of building a fortune, or for relationships, or to get the best job. Our lives are to fulfill God’s mission.
Verse 27 calls on us to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. I recall an old math teacher that I had in middle school. He was a teacher who physically hit his students. One day he brought in and played a video about the Bible which urged everyone to believe in Jesus. As one might imagine, the message had little impact on the students given the actions of the teacher. The presentation of the gospel must have life behind it and we should also live in accordance with the gospel. Faith must be testified and backed up by the lives that we live.
We see some Christian immigrant business owners who run their businesses in a way that is not in accordance with the gospel. They take tips away from servers and shortchange the wage of their workers. They run something similar to a slave labour force. Yet, those same business owners attend church and call themselves Christians.
Consider Philippians 4:12 where Paul says, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
The Church is the body of Jesus and we are its components (see 1 Corinthians 12:27).
We each need to play our roles for the greater good. For every church, there are pastors, pastors’ wives, ministers, deacons, leaders, worship team members, and teachers.
When we try to live a mature life of faith and do the work of God, we come across those who oppose it. However, we need to ensure that we do not fear such people.
Romans 12:14 states, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.”
Romans 12:21 states, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Matthew 5:11-12 also tells us that we are blessed when people insult and persecute us. It also tells us that we should rejoice because of our reward in heaven.
The New Testament tells us to be victorious. Consider Revelations 21:7 which states, “Those who are victorious will inherit all this (heaven), and I will be their God and they will be my children.”
If we are to live as mature Christians, we also need to willingly accept the suffering that comes with it, in the name of Jesus Christ. We should not think that the discomfort or difficulty that we may face while living a life of faith is strange. We need to overcome this and build our reward in heaven.
We need to overcome our false ways of thinking, the persecution that we may suffer at the hands of others, and any other difficulty.
When we were in the mission field, we came across all sorts of difficulty. There were areas that didn’t have water or electricity. There were other dangers that we normally wouldn’t come across. But through it all we overcame them for the gospel and our mission. When we overcome such difficulties, we receive a great blessing from God.