August 11, 2025 • 28 mins
What truly sets Christian community apart from other social groups? In this episode of our Philippians series, we dive deep into chapter 2:1-4, uncovering Paul's four distinctive markers of authentic church life: encouragement in Christ, comfort of God's love, fellowship of the Spirit, and affection and mercy.
The original Greek structure reveals something profound—these virtues aren't self-manufactured but flow naturally from divine sources. When we're rooted in Christ, walking in love, filled with the Spirit, and practicing mercy, the expressions of encouragement, comfort, fellowship, and compassion naturally overflow. This challenges our Western tendency to focus on manufacturing these qualities rather than nurturing them.
My hope is that this podcast helps grow your faith and equips you to accomplish your dreams and goals!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome to another part of my Philippians study
that I have been doing with ourstaff at Staff Chapel.
If you haven't listened to theother parts, you might want to
go back deeper into my podcast,check out those episodes and
catch yourself up to join wherewe're at today.
We're continuing Philippianswe're in chapter two.
(00:30):
We're in chapter two,philippians, chapter two.
And, to sum up, the whole Biblewe have.
The whole Bible is basicallythis it's God's law, then we go
into God's people, then it'sGod's wisdom and then we move
into God's prophets, which isGod calling back his people,
god's son, then we see God'schurch and then God coming back,
(00:53):
and so that's a summary of theBible I really do love.
On first Wednesday I shared thatthe two rabbis that got
together and like how can welike summarize the whole
scripture?
And it's basically renouncingidolatry, and I was like man, if
you have that on the forefrontof your mind, you think about
how easy it is um to build idols.
(01:14):
Like in our hearts really areum idol manufacturers, like the
little idol factories, and soit's whether or not we're aware,
and that's what Paul's dealingwith here in the church, and you
see that there is this disunityAgain.
Going back to last week.
You have people with all thesedifferent backgrounds, all these
different perspectives, andthen they come together and God
(01:36):
calls them to be a part of thebody of Christ.
And used to, back in the day,when you got offended at a
pastor or a leader or somebodyin a church, you didn't get to
just go down to another church,like you had to stay there and
figure it out.
And, honestly, the more I studyabout the Reformation and all
the negative impacts that it hadon the church, I think the
(01:57):
biggest impact it had is that wejust continue to split the
church and if I don't like you,if I disagree with you, then I'm
just going to go somewhere elsechurch and if I don't like you,
if I disagree with you, thenI'm just going to go somewhere
else.
And it actually perpetuatedconsumerism and used to people
had to be like the church atPhilippi, didn't get to just go
be a part of the church ofCorinth, like they had to like
figure it out and and I thinkthere's beauty in that and I
(02:19):
think we've lost that, um, butthat has nothing to do with it,
but it does.
It is good to keep in theforefront of our mind.
So we're going to go into versechapter two.
We're going to try to getthrough verse four today.
And he says, therefore, ifthere is any consolation in
Christ, if any comfort of love,if any fellowship of the spirit,
(02:40):
if any affection and mercy, inverse two he says fulfill my joy
being like-minded, having thesame love and being of one
accord, of one mind.
So, paul, um for you to know,like he always he's very
intentional in how he lays outhis um, his ideologies, so, like
(03:02):
when he's writing a letter tothe church, no word is wasted.
Like he's very intentional andso he's always going to lay a
theological groundwork before hetalks about practical
application.
And so, in your mind, whenyou're reading Pauline epistles,
a flag in your brain is when hesays, therefore, he's
transitioning thought now andhe's taking you with with you
(03:24):
into the next idea.
And so when we see, therefore,in our mind, we should know that
he's like laid this groundworkand he's now like almost like
changing gears into the nextthing that he's about to say.
So, as you're reading Paulletters just Pauline letters
like have that in the backgroundof your mind.
So, therefore, so he's lettingus know I'm transitioning
(03:46):
thought from where I was.
So he's been talking aboutsuffering.
He's talking about what ourlife looks like in Christ, and
so all of these are theologicalthings.
Remember how we talked about?
He's laying out an eschatology.
A lot of those verses are veryapocalyptic in nature.
I'm talking about comingjudgment, not just for them, but
for people who he's like hey,don't worry about the people
(04:07):
that are rejecting you, peoplethat are doing things wrong,
don't worry.
Like it's going to be their ownperdition, like it's the God's
going to take care of them inthe end.
But so very apocalyptic innature, not apocalyptic like we
think about it, but apocalypticof what's going to happen in the
last days, like their last days, the judgment seat of Christ.
And so now he's transitioningthat thought and he goes into
(04:28):
this next mindset.
So in um in my school, one ofmy classes, um, I had to break
down Paul's arguments and breakthem where to lay out his
argument best.
And in the Greek, the way it'swritten, it kind of helps us see
it if you see this first verselike this, because with the way
(04:49):
it's written he's saying if anyencouragement in Christ, if any
comfort of love, if anyfellowship of spirit, if any
compassion and mercy.
So what he's doing, the waythat it's written in the Greek,
is literally these words thatare indented and dropped down
(05:09):
are fueling what is saidpreviously.
So if any encouragement inChrist, christ is the fuel of
the encouragement, love is thefuel of the comfort, spirit is
the fuel of the fellowship,mercy is the fuel of compassion.
And a lot of times when we readit in our English syntax, the
way that our words are laid out,we miss what actually is being
(05:31):
said.
But in the Greek, the original,the way it's written, the way
they say it, it's basically theemphasis would be on the in
Christ, the outcome isencouragement, and so when I
read it that way, I think a lotof times what we do in our
Western mindset is I need to bemore encouraging, I need to be
more in comforting, I need tobuild up a fellowship, I need to
(05:52):
have more compassion.
But in the Greek mindset, whenthey read this, they would have
said no, I need to be found inChrist, and the view of that is
I live an encouraging life.
Does that make sense?
The more I'm in Christ, themore encouragement I'm receiving
, the more I'm walking in love,the more comfort I have, the
more of the spirit is moving,the more fellowship is amongst
(06:14):
the believers and the more mercyI walk in, the more compassion
I have.
And I think in our Westernmindset it's flipped.
We make this the predominantline and we almost minor on the
indention.
Where in the Greek mindset it'sflipped we make this the
predominant line and we almostminor on the indention.
Where in the Greek mindset, theway it's written, an appalling
argument.
When you break it down that way, it changes the way we see the
(06:35):
verses.
Thus, in turn, it changes theway the application is in our
life.
So with it, four things that hemakes the appeal of the
Christian community.
He says this is what makes theChristian community unique.
The first one is encouragement,the next one is that we receive
comfort from his love and thethird one is fellowship of the
(06:56):
spirit.
The fourth is affection andmercy.
No-transcript, like what makesone church different than
CrossFit?
There's lots of organizations,there's lots of communities.
If you will right, you can godown to the Y and be a part of a
community.
(07:16):
You can be a planet fitnessperson.
You can be like there's allthese different a Mason's group,
Rotary group, like we can justkeep going down the line.
There's all kinds of like, evenlike you think about, in soccer
.
They've got a whole communityaround soccer.
There's like baseballcommunities, there's things
around activities like runningthings like that.
So what makes us different?
(07:37):
These are the things that makeus different and unique, and
Paul's letting them know likethis is, I'm assuming that,
because you're part of thechurch, these four are marking
your life, these four aremarking your community.
This should be the way thatwe're described.
So, encouragement this istranslated as the word
consolation, consolation.
(07:59):
So whenever you're reading inthe New King James, it says if
there's any consolation, itwould be paraklesis, and so is
the word there.
Consolation Um, it would beparaklesis, and so is the word
there.
And so he's letting us knowthat we should be an encouraging
people.
Like consolation and new KingJames, I would say it'd be
better translated encouragement,but it's okay.
Um, I'm fine with it, we'refine, everybody's fine.
Um, but I would say we shouldbe the most encouraging body,
(08:24):
like we should actually be themost encouraging body.
Like if people, when peoplecome in on a Sunday morning,
there should be life that'sbeing imparted into them,
encouragement into who they are,encouragement into the
God-given design on their lifeLike we should be the most up,
like uplifting, hopeful, likeimparting courage into who they
(08:44):
are and the God call on theirlife.
Number two he says we're goingto receive comfort of his love.
A mark of Christianity is welove people with Christ's love
versus worldly love.
Christ's love versus worldlylove because it's comfort from
his love.
And the worldly love says thatI love you the way that you love
me, like I match you tit fortat, like I I'm, I'm always like
(09:08):
I'm, almost like I'm.
I'm never going to exceed, I'mnever going to put more in than
what you put in.
But Christ's love says I put ineverything on the table, no
matter if you do or not, becausewhile we were sinners Christ
loved us and died for us andthat's the kind of comfort right
In his love.
So the more I grow in his love,the more I am rooted in that
(09:31):
mindset of he loved me.
How can I not now comfortothers with the love that I've
been received?
But if I haven't yet receivedChrist's love, how can I impart
what I do not have?
Does this make sense?
And I think a lot of timeswe're.
We're shaping our love for forothers in the worldly love
(09:51):
instead of God's love, and it'swhen I'm rooted in God's love
I'm able to comfort others, I'mable to meet them where they're
at.
The next one is the fellowshipof the spirit, and I think that
for us Paul saying there's afellowship of the spirit there
are times when we are marked bythe presence and the spirit of
God.
I think there's something thathappens I'm just like old school
(10:13):
like that.
I think that there's justsomething that happens when you
are crying your face off ataltar with somebody.
It's just never the same, likeyou're just bonded to that.
Why are camps so special?
Why are retreats so special?
You go up a mountain togetherand you experience something in
the spirit together that you'relike we're knit together, like
(10:35):
we're never going to be the same.
And I'll just say that whatmakes us unique as a church is
that we have those experiences,that there's moments, there's
times, there's spaces where wecome into the presence of God
and where there's a fellowshipof spirit.
It's not setting up more pockluck dinners or like
manufacturing a faux or pseudosense of connection you all know
(10:57):
what I'm talking about but it'sfellowship of the spirit, like
there's a moment when I'mpraying for you, that our
spirits get linked together in away that I can't foster by
doing secret sisters or like adrawing of names.
You all know what I'm talkingabout All the things that old
school churches would do to tryto foster this sense of
(11:17):
community.
I remember when we first gotstarted we were like, ok, we're
going to do, we want to makesure that every person always
gets a meal.
And then we realized that, likewhenever they go in the
hospital or something like that,and all of a sudden we realized
that you're either a fellowshipin the spirit or you're not
like, and when you're connectedto other people in the spirit,
meals are the outflow of theconnection we have in the spirit
(11:39):
.
Does that make sense?
And so I'm not trying to fostersomething that isn't a genuine
connection.
But he's like, there's afellowship of the spirit, so
he's like hey guys, I'm assumingthat the spirit of God is
moving in your, in your midst,and in that it's knitting
together, um, your hearts.
Uh, this made me want to rantreally hard, but I'll just show
(12:00):
it.
Uh, carrie Newhoff, uh, postedthis the other day.
It's so good, right.
Posted this the other day.
It's so good, right?
Just reflect on it.
What did you get Anybody anyreflection?
Riley says she sees herself.
That's great.
Okay, he says let's be honest,we as Christians can be a little
(12:22):
weird.
He says a little weird.
He says it's true.
He said I once had somebodytell me amen, brother,
hallelujah for the blood.
And while I totally understoodwhat he was saying, I couldn't
help but think what would peoplethink?
That had no context to thesituation or the Christianese
culture.
Why don't we just talk topeople at church like we would
(12:43):
at lunch or at the mall?
Would at lunch or at the mall?
If someone has to learn code tojoin your church, you likely
won't have many people joiningyour church.
Drop the funniest churchlanguage you hear in the
comments and let's have a laughtoday.
Okay, this like lit me upreally hard and I'm about to
(13:05):
unpack why.
Okay, so I have several problemswith this Number one.
The biggest consequence that hehas the repercussion is that we
won't have people joining ourchurch, as though the litmus
test when we get to heaven isgoing to be how big was your
church Like?
What about?
Eternal consequence?
Like we are measuring again.
(13:27):
It's like it's uh, pointing tothat the success and the fruit
of our life is how big ourministries are, and it's missing
the whole point.
And so he's going.
He's concerned about the, thenatural metrics that we've set
up of how good you're doing, andI'll just say that your church
(13:47):
might be big but it might bevoid of the spirit of God, like
bigness I just say one churchthe more we grow numerically.
If we're not growingspiritually, then what are we
doing?
Like that's not.
My goal is not that we're justgrowing in numbers, that we're
like, year upon year, that we'vegrown and we have grown.
That's great.
But I'm measuring more.
(14:08):
How are we discipling thepeople that are here?
Like that's the metric.
And so, and here's the thing isthat we're not called to go and
make big churches.
We're called to bring disciples, to make disciples.
And here he is.
He's like hey guys, like bewarned, if you use this
Christian language, you mightnot grow a big church.
Guys, let me just say that thenew test you cannot sanitize the
(14:29):
creeds.
The creeds weren't afraid ofusing Christian language.
I know that's probably notpopular, but here's the thing is
that there is, there is a.
It's called the language ofZion, and whenever I first
joined a gym, I had to look atthe little outlines of how to do
(14:51):
a squat, how to use thismachine.
I had to have somebody teach me.
I thought I had right form andsomebody came over to me and
said no, actually, like, yourknees are going over your toes,
you have to drop it back and notdrop it forward.
And I had to learn all thesethings.
I learned what it was to carbload.
I learned what my protein countwas.
I learned what it was towhenever I need to do a
(15:12):
pre-workout, I had all thislanguage that I had to learn.
You know why?
Because every community has alanguage.
Can you imagine with soccer, ifthey're like hey, we're going
to remove some of our languagebecause it's making people feel
like outsiders.
Can you imagine in football oflike, hey, guys, it's probably
confusing for people to heartouchdown and first down and all
(15:34):
these different fouls.
So we're going to take all thatlanguage out because we want to
sanitize it.
Where everybody feels no, whenyou walk in, part of what makes
you feel like you're a part andknit in with the community is
you learn the language.
And I'll say that the I thinkthe biggest flaw of the Western
church is we have sanitized thechurch and we want it to look
exactly like the world.
(15:55):
And I will just say if theconversation of the church is
the same as what's happening atthe mall, then what are we doing
?
Like, the goal of the church isnot to look like the world.
The goal of the church is thatthe world begins to look like
the church.
And what we're doing in anattempt to reach the world,
we're saying we'll look like youinstead of looking like Christ.
The I'll just say that, the Ijust want to go off on this so
(16:18):
freaking hard is that the earlychurch, when they were getting
established, they weren't likehey guys, it's kind of weird
that we're all speaking intongues, so let's not do that.
Like, that might be kind ofstrange.
No, thousands were added to thechurch as they look different
than the rest of the world.
The rest of the world said wewant what you have.
(16:38):
Like, we want to learn, and soI'll say that our house, our
church, there is a nomenclatureof being here, there is a
language of Zion, there arethings that, yes, it sounds
weird to talk about prophecy.
People don't know what it is,and that's why modern
songwriters have sanitizedsongwriting and we've taken out
the blood.
And we've taken out the bloodand we've taken out
(16:58):
sanctification and we've takenout holiness and we've taken out
all consecration.
And we wonder why the church ishaving leadership fail after
leadership, fail afterleadership fail.
And it's because the songs thatwe sing sound like the same
love songs that we sing to ourboo and they're not that
different than what we sing toGod.
There should be a fellowship ofthe spirit, there should be
(17:20):
something that when they walk in, it's tangibly different and
they go I'm getting from thechurch something that I can't
get from my running group, thatI'm not getting from CrossFit,
that I'm not getting from mysoccer team.
I'm not getting anywhere else.
There's something tangible,there's a fellowship of the
spirit.
There's something that happenswhen the spirit of God comes in
and moves in Acts, chapter two,and they all get baptized in the
(17:44):
Holy ghost, that they can'thelp but begin to go from house
to house, to church to church,that they're breaking bread
together, that they're giving upeverything they have.
Why?
Because there was a fellowshipof the spirit that unlocked a
discipleship in their life.
And I just want to ask you havewe so sanitized our language?
And we wonder why we're notmaking disciples?
(18:05):
But it's because, like CarrieNewhoff said, we're having the
same conversation that theywould have at the mall we're
having at the church.
Are we okay and I just I would.
Church, are we okay and I justI would.
I would push back on this sohard because I think, without
knowing it, paul's saying it.
It makes sense to me that youhave a fellowship of the spirit.
(18:26):
I'm assuming that that's whoyou are and I would say that in
our churches today, could Paulmake that same assumption?
Is there a fellowship of thespirit?
Is there something?
That's why, as group leaders,when you get together, it's
great that you guys knittogether or you do whatever and
you're making crafts or you'rerunning or you're doing bikes or
(18:48):
whatever but there should be amoment where there's a
fellowship of the spirit andGod's presence tangibly comes,
because that is what knits yourhearts together.
That is the secret sauce, likeliterally.
I remember when I first startedin ministry, I would go to all
these great leaders and I wouldask them okay, like, what is it
that makes your like church sogreat?
(19:09):
What is it that makes yourmessages so powerful?
What is it like?
What commentary do you use towrite your content?
Like I got it.
I'm trying to find the code.
And every single one of them,the secret sauce, is prayer.
That's the secret sauce.
It's the more time I spend inhis presence, the more that
overflow begins to come intoeverything I do and in it there
(19:31):
becomes this fellowship of thespirit that begins to knit
people's hearts together.
But we want to, we want thefruit, but we don't want
presence.
We want, we want ministrygrowth, but we don't want to
have a devotion.
And there's a fellowship of thespirit that we got to get to.
(19:53):
And and that's what Paul'ssaying you want to know what
makes our community different.
This is what makes us differentis that we're encouraging, that
we get comfort from his love,that there's a fellowship of the
spirit.
But then finally, he says thisthat affection and mercy.
There's affection and mercy.
So the more merciful I am, themore affection I display.
(20:17):
My affection to Brian will stopwhen I'm counting offenses.
I literally want to do a messageso bad called who's counting,
and I want to talk about thepeople in the Bible that counted
(20:38):
.
One of them is the olderbrother he says in Luke 15, he
says I've served you this manyyears and you've never given me
a fatty calf, the way it soundslike today.
I've served on the roster thismany times, counting how many
things you've done for God.
Counting how many things you'vedone for God.
Counting how many things you'vedone for your spouse.
(21:01):
Counting keeping score of howmany gifts you bought for
somebody else and what they gotfor you.
Come on, Like who's counting?
The other person that countedwas Absalom.
Absalom counted how many dayshis father didn't talk to him in
2 Samuel 14.
Like, are we keeping score?
(21:21):
Are you keeping score on whotexts who last?
Who greeted who?
Well, they didn't say hi to mefirst.
What are you doing?
Like?
The only people that countaren't the people you want to be
associated with in the Bible?
I can just promise you that,because love keeps no record of
wrongs and I think if we're notcareful, we've lost our
(21:41):
affection because we're notwalking in mercy, and mercy
fuels affection.
It says I'm going to believethe best of first.
Corinthians 13 says lovebelieves the best.
And I'm just like.
I'm not going to be.
I'm not going to be ascorekeeper, I'm not going to be
a counter, and so I think Ineed to make sure in my heart,
my life, whenever I find thatmyself that I no longer have
(22:03):
affection towards the people I'mserving beside, or my family
members or the people around me.
Have I been a good scorekeeper?
And I'll just say this Christis not a good, so he doesn't
keep score, like his mercies arenew every morning.
Can it be the same of us?
Can somebody who failed you onyour team last quarter come back
(22:24):
onto your team as though theynever failed, or are they?
Do you have like a runningcount in your head of how many
times they were late, how manytimes they let you down?
How many times?
Let me just ask you this howmany times have you let Christ
(22:45):
down?
It's hard to walk in a fencewhen you look at the cross and
realize that I walk.
I do the same thing.
I do the same thing.
Here's the thing Is that everystrong marriage has two people
who forgive well, and whenyou're both forgiving well, you
don't have to worry about howstrong your marriage is, because
neither one are scorekeepers.
(23:05):
I don't keep score of whenBrian did laundry last, or when
did he do this last, or when didno, it's just it needs to be
done.
I'm happy to do it.
It's my honor to serve, andwhen you have a household that's
built on people that serveequally, and it's not well.
I took out the trash at theoffice the last five weeks and
nobody even cared.
And blah, blah, blah.
(23:26):
Who keeps score?
You want to be with the olderbrother and with Absalom.
He says listen, I'm assumingthat your Christian community
has affection because you'rewalking in mercy, that, listen,
I'm assuming that your Christiancommunity has affection because
you're walking in mercy, thatany strong community is going to
be full of people that forgivea lot.
Our staff is great because weforgive a lot.
I fail, I fall short a lot.
(23:46):
Cassie never fails.
She doesn't fall short, but Ido, and she forgives me and I'm
grateful for that, and so.
But I'll just say, like all ofus, look around this room, how
many of us here we've all had toforgive somebody in this room
at some point.
And I'll just promise you thisagain you're going to have to
forgive them tomorrow.
You're going to have to forgivethem next year.
(24:07):
You know why.
I know that is because I fail,I fall short, and I know that
you will too.
And Paul's saying listen, ifyou're going to be in a
community together, these fourthings I'm assuming they're just
part of who you are, becauseany strong community is going to
have those things.
Are we doing okay?
So in 2.2, he says fulfill myjoy, joy, count number five.
(24:29):
Got another joy, and I lovethis.
He says fulfill my joy by beinglike-minded, having the same
love and being of one accord andof one mind.
Christostom says this if youtake comfort in Christ and if
you take any account of me, ifyou have any thought for me
personally, if you have receivedany good from me, listen to
(24:52):
this carefully.
So he's literally saying heyguys, like listen up to what I'm
about to say, like everythingI'm about to say.
So what he's about to drop onus is going to be really
important.
In fact, um, these next versesare so beautiful, dropping three
all the way through 11.
Uh, paul begins to really giveus a Christology um, that is so
(25:14):
beautiful of Christ and what itmeans to us in the community of
Christ.
And so he says like-minded.
He says be like-minded, or thesame mind, and this terminology
he uses 10 times in Philippians,and Philippians 1, 7, 2, 2, 2,
5, 3, 15, 16.
(25:35):
And then again in verse 19, andthen 4, 2, and then again in 4,
10, and in several of theseverses.
He says it multiple times toarrive us at our 10, and the
word there is phileos, and sowhat he's saying is there is a
like-mindedness that God'scalling us to be so more than
(25:55):
anything.
That's this point of agreement.
And what is the point ofagreement?
It's on those four things.
The point of agreement isaround those four things and
because our point of agreementis around those four things,
that we're going to be acommunity that comforts, we
encourage, we're merciful andwhat was the last one I just
blacked out Merciful and we havefellowship in the spirit.
(26:20):
Praise the Lord.
Sorry, my brain's been in a lotof content this week.
Sometimes I'm like who am I?
Am I first Wednesday or am Inext Sunday?
Where am I?
Who am I right now?
But this like-mindedness, andhe's going to go into the
overflow of that, of whathappens.
And so, whenever we're readingthe Bible, it's so important for
us to recognize repetition andI say this in the college often
(26:42):
but repetition reveals theauthor's concerns and values,
his concerns and values.
And so, like in Luke, I've beendoing this on my stories on
Instagram, just showing therepetition in the story, the
repetition of characters, therepetition of theme and so
whenever you're reading and yougo, wait, he's saying
like-minded again, this must beimportant, like there, there
(27:04):
must be something here.
And so we see that joy is atheme, but we see
like-mindedness in a theme.
Could I just make us considerthis that the joy I have in my
church is the more like-minded Iam inside the church, the more
I'm uniting myself with thepeople that I'm connected with,
that I'm walking in unity, themore the overflow of that is
(27:26):
going to be joy, like I'm goingto begin.
The expression of it is joy,and so I have more, but I think
we've gotten far enough.
We did two verses in 30 minutesCongratulations, but I think
we've gotten far enough.
We did two verses in 30 minutes,congratulations.
Next time we'll pick up andwe'll keep going on three and
four.
But did y'all get something outof that?
Is that good?
I love y'all so much.
(27:46):
Thanks so much for hanging outhere on my podcast.
Do me a favor and hit thesubscribe button if you haven't
done so already, so you nevermiss out on anything here on my
podcast.
Also, one of the best ways forus to begin to reach other
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So if you do me a favor andshare this podcast with a friend
, family member or maybe on yoursocial media.
(28:07):
Help us get the word out so wecan help others you.
Welcome to another part of my Philippians study
that I have been doing with ourstaff at Staff Chapel.
If you haven't listened to theother parts, you might want to
go back deeper into my podcast,check out those episodes and
catch yourself up to join wherewe're at today.
We're continuing Philippianswe're in chapter two.
(00:30):
We're in chapter two,philippians, chapter two.
And, to sum up, the whole Biblewe have.
The whole Bible is basicallythis it's God's law, then we go
into God's people, then it'sGod's wisdom and then we move
into God's prophets, which isGod calling back his people,
god's son, then we see God'schurch and then God coming back,
(00:53):
and so that's a summary of theBible I really do love.
On first Wednesday I shared thatthe two rabbis that got
together and like how can welike summarize the whole
scripture?
And it's basically renouncingidolatry, and I was like man, if
you have that on the forefrontof your mind, you think about
how easy it is um to build idols.
(01:14):
Like in our hearts really areum idol manufacturers, like the
little idol factories, and soit's whether or not we're aware,
and that's what Paul's dealingwith here in the church, and you
see that there is this disunityAgain.
Going back to last week.
You have people with all thesedifferent backgrounds, all these
different perspectives, andthen they come together and God
(01:36):
calls them to be a part of thebody of Christ.
And used to, back in the day,when you got offended at a
pastor or a leader or somebodyin a church, you didn't get to
just go down to another church,like you had to stay there and
figure it out.
And, honestly, the more I studyabout the Reformation and all
the negative impacts that it hadon the church, I think the
(01:57):
biggest impact it had is that wejust continue to split the
church and if I don't like you,if I disagree with you, then I'm
just going to go somewhere elsechurch and if I don't like you,
if I disagree with you, thenI'm just going to go somewhere
else.
And it actually perpetuatedconsumerism and used to people
had to be like the church atPhilippi, didn't get to just go
be a part of the church ofCorinth, like they had to like
figure it out and and I thinkthere's beauty in that and I
(02:19):
think we've lost that, um, butthat has nothing to do with it,
but it does.
It is good to keep in theforefront of our mind.
So we're going to go into versechapter two.
We're going to try to getthrough verse four today.
And he says, therefore, ifthere is any consolation in
Christ, if any comfort of love,if any fellowship of the spirit,
(02:40):
if any affection and mercy, inverse two he says fulfill my joy
being like-minded, having thesame love and being of one
accord, of one mind.
So, paul, um for you to know,like he always he's very
intentional in how he lays outhis um, his ideologies, so, like
(03:02):
when he's writing a letter tothe church, no word is wasted.
Like he's very intentional andso he's always going to lay a
theological groundwork before hetalks about practical
application.
And so, in your mind, whenyou're reading Pauline epistles,
a flag in your brain is when hesays, therefore, he's
transitioning thought now andhe's taking you with with you
(03:24):
into the next idea.
And so when we see, therefore,in our mind, we should know that
he's like laid this groundworkand he's now like almost like
changing gears into the nextthing that he's about to say.
So, as you're reading Paulletters just Pauline letters
like have that in the backgroundof your mind.
So, therefore, so he's lettingus know I'm transitioning
(03:46):
thought from where I was.
So he's been talking aboutsuffering.
He's talking about what ourlife looks like in Christ, and
so all of these are theologicalthings.
Remember how we talked about?
He's laying out an eschatology.
A lot of those verses are veryapocalyptic in nature.
I'm talking about comingjudgment, not just for them, but
for people who he's like hey,don't worry about the people
(04:07):
that are rejecting you, peoplethat are doing things wrong,
don't worry.
Like it's going to be their ownperdition, like it's the God's
going to take care of them inthe end.
But so very apocalyptic innature, not apocalyptic like we
think about it, but apocalypticof what's going to happen in the
last days, like their last days, the judgment seat of Christ.
And so now he's transitioningthat thought and he goes into
(04:28):
this next mindset.
So in um in my school, one ofmy classes, um, I had to break
down Paul's arguments and breakthem where to lay out his
argument best.
And in the Greek, the way it'swritten, it kind of helps us see
it if you see this first verselike this, because with the way
(04:49):
it's written he's saying if anyencouragement in Christ, if any
comfort of love, if anyfellowship of spirit, if any
compassion and mercy.
So what he's doing, the waythat it's written in the Greek,
is literally these words thatare indented and dropped down
(05:09):
are fueling what is saidpreviously.
So if any encouragement inChrist, christ is the fuel of
the encouragement, love is thefuel of the comfort, spirit is
the fuel of the fellowship,mercy is the fuel of compassion.
And a lot of times when we readit in our English syntax, the
way that our words are laid out,we miss what actually is being
(05:31):
said.
But in the Greek, the original,the way it's written, the way
they say it, it's basically theemphasis would be on the in
Christ, the outcome isencouragement, and so when I
read it that way, I think a lotof times what we do in our
Western mindset is I need to bemore encouraging, I need to be
more in comforting, I need tobuild up a fellowship, I need to
(05:52):
have more compassion.
But in the Greek mindset, whenthey read this, they would have
said no, I need to be found inChrist, and the view of that is
I live an encouraging life.
Does that make sense?
The more I'm in Christ, themore encouragement I'm receiving
, the more I'm walking in love,the more comfort I have, the
more of the spirit is moving,the more fellowship is amongst
(06:14):
the believers and the more mercyI walk in, the more compassion
I have.
And I think in our Westernmindset it's flipped.
We make this the predominantline and we almost minor on the
indention.
Where in the Greek mindset it'sflipped we make this the
predominant line and we almostminor on the indention.
Where in the Greek mindset, theway it's written, an appalling
argument.
When you break it down that way, it changes the way we see the
(06:35):
verses.
Thus, in turn, it changes theway the application is in our
life.
So with it, four things that hemakes the appeal of the
Christian community.
He says this is what makes theChristian community unique.
The first one is encouragement,the next one is that we receive
comfort from his love and thethird one is fellowship of the
(06:56):
spirit.
The fourth is affection andmercy.
No-transcript, like what makesone church different than
CrossFit?
There's lots of organizations,there's lots of communities.
If you will right, you can godown to the Y and be a part of a
community.
(07:16):
You can be a planet fitnessperson.
You can be like there's allthese different a Mason's group,
Rotary group, like we can justkeep going down the line.
There's all kinds of like, evenlike you think about, in soccer
.
They've got a whole communityaround soccer.
There's like baseballcommunities, there's things
around activities like runningthings like that.
So what makes us different?
(07:37):
These are the things that makeus different and unique, and
Paul's letting them know likethis is, I'm assuming that,
because you're part of thechurch, these four are marking
your life, these four aremarking your community.
This should be the way thatwe're described.
So, encouragement this istranslated as the word
consolation, consolation.
(07:59):
So whenever you're reading inthe New King James, it says if
there's any consolation, itwould be paraklesis, and so is
the word there.
Consolation Um, it would beparaklesis, and so is the word
there.
And so he's letting us knowthat we should be an encouraging
people.
Like consolation and new KingJames, I would say it'd be
better translated encouragement,but it's okay.
Um, I'm fine with it, we'refine, everybody's fine.
Um, but I would say we shouldbe the most encouraging body,
(08:24):
like we should actually be themost encouraging body.
Like if people, when peoplecome in on a Sunday morning,
there should be life that'sbeing imparted into them,
encouragement into who they are,encouragement into the
God-given design on their lifeLike we should be the most up,
like uplifting, hopeful, likeimparting courage into who they
(08:44):
are and the God call on theirlife.
Number two he says we're goingto receive comfort of his love.
A mark of Christianity is welove people with Christ's love
versus worldly love.
Christ's love versus worldlylove because it's comfort from
his love.
And the worldly love says thatI love you the way that you love
me, like I match you tit fortat, like I I'm, I'm always like
(09:08):
I'm, almost like I'm.
I'm never going to exceed, I'mnever going to put more in than
what you put in.
But Christ's love says I put ineverything on the table, no
matter if you do or not, becausewhile we were sinners Christ
loved us and died for us andthat's the kind of comfort right
In his love.
So the more I grow in his love,the more I am rooted in that
(09:31):
mindset of he loved me.
How can I not now comfortothers with the love that I've
been received?
But if I haven't yet receivedChrist's love, how can I impart
what I do not have?
Does this make sense?
And I think a lot of timeswe're.
We're shaping our love for forothers in the worldly love
(09:51):
instead of God's love, and it'swhen I'm rooted in God's love
I'm able to comfort others, I'mable to meet them where they're
at.
The next one is the fellowshipof the spirit, and I think that
for us Paul saying there's afellowship of the spirit there
are times when we are marked bythe presence and the spirit of
God.
I think there's something thathappens I'm just like old school
(10:13):
like that.
I think that there's justsomething that happens when you
are crying your face off ataltar with somebody.
It's just never the same, likeyou're just bonded to that.
Why are camps so special?
Why are retreats so special?
You go up a mountain togetherand you experience something in
the spirit together that you'relike we're knit together, like
(10:35):
we're never going to be the same.
And I'll just say that whatmakes us unique as a church is
that we have those experiences,that there's moments, there's
times, there's spaces where wecome into the presence of God
and where there's a fellowshipof spirit.
It's not setting up more pockluck dinners or like
manufacturing a faux or pseudosense of connection you all know
(10:57):
what I'm talking about but it'sfellowship of the spirit, like
there's a moment when I'mpraying for you, that our
spirits get linked together in away that I can't foster by
doing secret sisters or like adrawing of names.
You all know what I'm talkingabout All the things that old
school churches would do to tryto foster this sense of
(11:17):
community.
I remember when we first gotstarted we were like, ok, we're
going to do, we want to makesure that every person always
gets a meal.
And then we realized that, likewhenever they go in the
hospital or something like that,and all of a sudden we realized
that you're either a fellowshipin the spirit or you're not
like, and when you're connectedto other people in the spirit,
meals are the outflow of theconnection we have in the spirit
(11:39):
.
Does that make sense?
And so I'm not trying to fostersomething that isn't a genuine
connection.
But he's like, there's afellowship of the spirit, so
he's like hey guys, I'm assumingthat the spirit of God is
moving in your, in your midst,and in that it's knitting
together, um, your hearts.
Uh, this made me want to rantreally hard, but I'll just show
(12:00):
it.
Uh, carrie Newhoff, uh, postedthis the other day.
It's so good, right.
Posted this the other day.
It's so good, right?
Just reflect on it.
What did you get Anybody anyreflection?
Riley says she sees herself.
That's great.
Okay, he says let's be honest,we as Christians can be a little
(12:22):
weird.
He says a little weird.
He says it's true.
He said I once had somebodytell me amen, brother,
hallelujah for the blood.
And while I totally understoodwhat he was saying, I couldn't
help but think what would peoplethink?
That had no context to thesituation or the Christianese
culture.
Why don't we just talk topeople at church like we would
(12:43):
at lunch or at the mall?
Would at lunch or at the mall?
If someone has to learn code tojoin your church, you likely
won't have many people joiningyour church.
Drop the funniest churchlanguage you hear in the
comments and let's have a laughtoday.
Okay, this like lit me upreally hard and I'm about to
(13:05):
unpack why.
Okay, so I have several problemswith this Number one.
The biggest consequence that hehas the repercussion is that we
won't have people joining ourchurch, as though the litmus
test when we get to heaven isgoing to be how big was your
church Like?
What about?
Eternal consequence?
Like we are measuring again.
(13:27):
It's like it's uh, pointing tothat the success and the fruit
of our life is how big ourministries are, and it's missing
the whole point.
And so he's going.
He's concerned about the, thenatural metrics that we've set
up of how good you're doing, andI'll just say that your church
(13:47):
might be big but it might bevoid of the spirit of God, like
bigness I just say one churchthe more we grow numerically.
If we're not growingspiritually, then what are we
doing?
Like that's not.
My goal is not that we're justgrowing in numbers, that we're
like, year upon year, that we'vegrown and we have grown.
That's great.
But I'm measuring more.
(14:08):
How are we discipling thepeople that are here?
Like that's the metric.
And so, and here's the thing isthat we're not called to go and
make big churches.
We're called to bring disciples, to make disciples.
And here he is.
He's like hey guys, like bewarned, if you use this
Christian language, you mightnot grow a big church.
Guys, let me just say that thenew test you cannot sanitize the
(14:29):
creeds.
The creeds weren't afraid ofusing Christian language.
I know that's probably notpopular, but here's the thing is
that there is, there is a.
It's called the language ofZion, and whenever I first
joined a gym, I had to look atthe little outlines of how to do
(14:51):
a squat, how to use thismachine.
I had to have somebody teach me.
I thought I had right form andsomebody came over to me and
said no, actually, like, yourknees are going over your toes,
you have to drop it back and notdrop it forward.
And I had to learn all thesethings.
I learned what it was to carbload.
I learned what my protein countwas.
I learned what it was towhenever I need to do a
(15:12):
pre-workout, I had all thislanguage that I had to learn.
You know why?
Because every community has alanguage.
Can you imagine with soccer, ifthey're like hey, we're going
to remove some of our languagebecause it's making people feel
like outsiders.
Can you imagine in football oflike, hey, guys, it's probably
confusing for people to heartouchdown and first down and all
(15:34):
these different fouls.
So we're going to take all thatlanguage out because we want to
sanitize it.
Where everybody feels no, whenyou walk in, part of what makes
you feel like you're a part andknit in with the community is
you learn the language.
And I'll say that the I thinkthe biggest flaw of the Western
church is we have sanitized thechurch and we want it to look
exactly like the world.
(15:55):
And I will just say if theconversation of the church is
the same as what's happening atthe mall, then what are we doing
?
Like, the goal of the church isnot to look like the world.
The goal of the church is thatthe world begins to look like
the church.
And what we're doing in anattempt to reach the world,
we're saying we'll look like youinstead of looking like Christ.
The I'll just say that, the Ijust want to go off on this so
(16:18):
freaking hard is that the earlychurch, when they were getting
established, they weren't likehey guys, it's kind of weird
that we're all speaking intongues, so let's not do that.
Like, that might be kind ofstrange.
No, thousands were added to thechurch as they look different
than the rest of the world.
The rest of the world said wewant what you have.
(16:38):
Like, we want to learn, and soI'll say that our house, our
church, there is a nomenclatureof being here, there is a
language of Zion, there arethings that, yes, it sounds
weird to talk about prophecy.
People don't know what it is,and that's why modern
songwriters have sanitizedsongwriting and we've taken out
the blood.
And we've taken out the bloodand we've taken out
(16:58):
sanctification and we've takenout holiness and we've taken out
all consecration.
And we wonder why the church ishaving leadership fail after
leadership, fail afterleadership fail.
And it's because the songs thatwe sing sound like the same
love songs that we sing to ourboo and they're not that
different than what we sing toGod.
There should be a fellowship ofthe spirit, there should be
(17:20):
something that when they walk in, it's tangibly different and
they go I'm getting from thechurch something that I can't
get from my running group, thatI'm not getting from CrossFit,
that I'm not getting from mysoccer team.
I'm not getting anywhere else.
There's something tangible,there's a fellowship of the
spirit.
There's something that happenswhen the spirit of God comes in
and moves in Acts, chapter two,and they all get baptized in the
(17:44):
Holy ghost, that they can'thelp but begin to go from house
to house, to church to church,that they're breaking bread
together, that they're giving upeverything they have.
Why?
Because there was a fellowshipof the spirit that unlocked a
discipleship in their life.
And I just want to ask you havewe so sanitized our language?
And we wonder why we're notmaking disciples?
(18:05):
But it's because, like CarrieNewhoff said, we're having the
same conversation that theywould have at the mall we're
having at the church.
Are we okay and I just I would.
Church, are we okay and I justI would.
I would push back on this sohard because I think, without
knowing it, paul's saying it.
It makes sense to me that youhave a fellowship of the spirit.
(18:26):
I'm assuming that that's whoyou are and I would say that in
our churches today, could Paulmake that same assumption?
Is there a fellowship of thespirit?
Is there something?
That's why, as group leaders,when you get together, it's
great that you guys knittogether or you do whatever and
you're making crafts or you'rerunning or you're doing bikes or
(18:48):
whatever but there should be amoment where there's a
fellowship of the spirit andGod's presence tangibly comes,
because that is what knits yourhearts together.
That is the secret sauce, likeliterally.
I remember when I first startedin ministry, I would go to all
these great leaders and I wouldask them okay, like, what is it
that makes your like church sogreat?
(19:09):
What is it that makes yourmessages so powerful?
What is it like?
What commentary do you use towrite your content?
Like I got it.
I'm trying to find the code.
And every single one of them,the secret sauce, is prayer.
That's the secret sauce.
It's the more time I spend inhis presence, the more that
overflow begins to come intoeverything I do and in it there
(19:31):
becomes this fellowship of thespirit that begins to knit
people's hearts together.
But we want to, we want thefruit, but we don't want
presence.
We want, we want ministrygrowth, but we don't want to
have a devotion.
And there's a fellowship of thespirit that we got to get to.
(19:53):
And and that's what Paul'ssaying you want to know what
makes our community different.
This is what makes us differentis that we're encouraging, that
we get comfort from his love,that there's a fellowship of the
spirit.
But then finally, he says thisthat affection and mercy.
There's affection and mercy.
So the more merciful I am, themore affection I display.
(20:17):
My affection to Brian will stopwhen I'm counting offenses.
I literally want to do a messageso bad called who's counting,
and I want to talk about thepeople in the Bible that counted
(20:38):
.
One of them is the olderbrother he says in Luke 15, he
says I've served you this manyyears and you've never given me
a fatty calf, the way it soundslike today.
I've served on the roster thismany times, counting how many
things you've done for God.
Counting how many things you'vedone for God.
Counting how many things you'vedone for your spouse.
(21:01):
Counting keeping score of howmany gifts you bought for
somebody else and what they gotfor you.
Come on, Like who's counting?
The other person that countedwas Absalom.
Absalom counted how many dayshis father didn't talk to him in
2 Samuel 14.
Like, are we keeping score?
(21:21):
Are you keeping score on whotexts who last?
Who greeted who?
Well, they didn't say hi to mefirst.
What are you doing?
Like?
The only people that countaren't the people you want to be
associated with in the Bible?
I can just promise you that,because love keeps no record of
wrongs and I think if we're notcareful, we've lost our
(21:41):
affection because we're notwalking in mercy, and mercy
fuels affection.
It says I'm going to believethe best of first.
Corinthians 13 says lovebelieves the best.
And I'm just like.
I'm not going to be.
I'm not going to be ascorekeeper, I'm not going to be
a counter, and so I think Ineed to make sure in my heart,
my life, whenever I find thatmyself that I no longer have
(22:03):
affection towards the people I'mserving beside, or my family
members or the people around me.
Have I been a good scorekeeper?
And I'll just say this Christis not a good, so he doesn't
keep score, like his mercies arenew every morning.
Can it be the same of us?
Can somebody who failed you onyour team last quarter come back
(22:24):
onto your team as though theynever failed, or are they?
Do you have like a runningcount in your head of how many
times they were late, how manytimes they let you down?
How many times?
Let me just ask you this howmany times have you let Christ
(22:45):
down?
It's hard to walk in a fencewhen you look at the cross and
realize that I walk.
I do the same thing.
I do the same thing.
Here's the thing Is that everystrong marriage has two people
who forgive well, and whenyou're both forgiving well, you
don't have to worry about howstrong your marriage is, because
neither one are scorekeepers.
(23:05):
I don't keep score of whenBrian did laundry last, or when
did he do this last, or when didno, it's just it needs to be
done.
I'm happy to do it.
It's my honor to serve, andwhen you have a household that's
built on people that serveequally, and it's not well.
I took out the trash at theoffice the last five weeks and
nobody even cared.
And blah, blah, blah.
(23:26):
Who keeps score?
You want to be with the olderbrother and with Absalom.
He says listen, I'm assumingthat your Christian community
has affection because you'rewalking in mercy, that, listen,
I'm assuming that your Christiancommunity has affection because
you're walking in mercy, thatany strong community is going to
be full of people that forgivea lot.
Our staff is great because weforgive a lot.
I fail, I fall short a lot.
(23:46):
Cassie never fails.
She doesn't fall short, but Ido, and she forgives me and I'm
grateful for that, and so.
But I'll just say, like all ofus, look around this room, how
many of us here we've all had toforgive somebody in this room
at some point.
And I'll just promise you thisagain you're going to have to
forgive them tomorrow.
You're going to have to forgivethem next year.
(24:07):
You know why.
I know that is because I fail,I fall short, and I know that
you will too.
And Paul's saying listen, ifyou're going to be in a
community together, these fourthings I'm assuming they're just
part of who you are, becauseany strong community is going to
have those things.
Are we doing okay?
So in 2.2, he says fulfill myjoy, joy, count number five.
(24:29):
Got another joy, and I lovethis.
He says fulfill my joy by beinglike-minded, having the same
love and being of one accord andof one mind.
Christostom says this if youtake comfort in Christ and if
you take any account of me, ifyou have any thought for me
personally, if you have receivedany good from me, listen to
(24:52):
this carefully.
So he's literally saying heyguys, like listen up to what I'm
about to say, like everythingI'm about to say.
So what he's about to drop onus is going to be really
important.
In fact, um, these next versesare so beautiful, dropping three
all the way through 11.
Uh, paul begins to really giveus a Christology um, that is so
(25:14):
beautiful of Christ and what itmeans to us in the community of
Christ.
And so he says like-minded.
He says be like-minded, or thesame mind, and this terminology
he uses 10 times in Philippians,and Philippians 1, 7, 2, 2, 2,
5, 3, 15, 16.
(25:35):
And then again in verse 19, andthen 4, 2, and then again in 4,
10, and in several of theseverses.
He says it multiple times toarrive us at our 10, and the
word there is phileos, and sowhat he's saying is there is a
like-mindedness that God'scalling us to be so more than
(25:55):
anything.
That's this point of agreement.
And what is the point ofagreement?
It's on those four things.
The point of agreement isaround those four things and
because our point of agreementis around those four things,
that we're going to be acommunity that comforts, we
encourage, we're merciful andwhat was the last one I just
blacked out Merciful and we havefellowship in the spirit.
(26:20):
Praise the Lord.
Sorry, my brain's been in a lotof content this week.
Sometimes I'm like who am I?
Am I first Wednesday or am Inext Sunday?
Where am I?
Who am I right now?
But this like-mindedness, andhe's going to go into the
overflow of that, of whathappens.
And so, whenever we're readingthe Bible, it's so important for
us to recognize repetition andI say this in the college often
(26:42):
but repetition reveals theauthor's concerns and values,
his concerns and values.
And so, like in Luke, I've beendoing this on my stories on
Instagram, just showing therepetition in the story, the
repetition of characters, therepetition of theme and so
whenever you're reading and yougo, wait, he's saying
like-minded again, this must beimportant, like there, there
(27:04):
must be something here.
And so we see that joy is atheme, but we see
like-mindedness in a theme.
Could I just make us considerthis that the joy I have in my
church is the more like-minded Iam inside the church, the more
I'm uniting myself with thepeople that I'm connected with,
that I'm walking in unity, themore the overflow of that is
(27:26):
going to be joy, like I'm goingto begin.
The expression of it is joy,and so I have more, but I think
we've gotten far enough.
We did two verses in 30 minutesCongratulations, but I think
we've gotten far enough.
We did two verses in 30 minutes,congratulations.
Next time we'll pick up andwe'll keep going on three and
four.
But did y'all get something outof that?
Is that good?
I love y'all so much.
(27:46):
Thanks so much for hanging outhere on my podcast.
Do me a favor and hit thesubscribe button if you haven't
done so already, so you nevermiss out on anything here on my
podcast.
Also, one of the best ways forus to begin to reach other
people is by you sharing.
So if you do me a favor andshare this podcast with a friend
, family member or maybe on yoursocial media.
(28:07):
Help us get the word out so wecan help others you.
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