This is to be the same team where the businesswoman invites a housewife to coffee, where a homeschooling mom develops a friendship with the wife of a public school principal, where the childless pray for parents, where the CEO serves as an usher, where PhDers attend an adult Bible fellowship class taught by a college dropout. See, the church is a living demonstration of grace.
We don't live perfectly, but we should live differently. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, uses the image of a team, urging believers to work together with one spirit and one goal. It's like a bundle of pencils.
On their own, they break easily, but together, they're strong. Just like in any team, if we focus on ourselves instead of the mission, things fall apart. So, what does it look like for a church to stand firm as one? In today's episode, you'll explore what Paul says about unity and how it impacts our faith. Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey.
Today's message is called, No Room for Superstars. Now, in the final paragraph of this chapter, we're in Philippians chapter 1, he drives home the main point of his entire letter. In fact, we began to unpack that main idea in our last study together. Let's go back to verse 27 of chapter 1, where Paul writes only, that is, keep this in mind now, this one thing, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear, that is, he's saying, I may hear this about you.
Now, stop for a moment. Here's where Paul is about to deliver several aspects of good conduct worthy of the gospel. And the first one we covered last Lord's Day in our study, and that is this, he says, I wanna hear about you that you are committed to repairing a disunifying spirit. Notice, he says, that I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit. Standing firm is a word that Paul uses, it provides a word picture, it's a metaphor for an army, unified as one's source, strength in unified numbers. There's strength in numbers, especially in unified numbers, which is why, of course, the enemy attempts to deceive and distract and ultimately divide and conquer, discourage, derail, but the church, unified, advances the gospel. So first, Paul writes, we are to stand firm in one spirit, which, by the way, means that you stay alert for any form of disunity and you seek to repair it. Now, that's the first aspect of living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ, worthy of your citizenship belonging to the kingdom of God.
Now, there are two more aspects in this final paragraph, we're going to cover one more today. Paul effectively writes, I not only wanna hear that you are repairing a disunifying spirit, I also wanna hear, secondly, that you are rejecting a disengaging attitude. In other words, you're gonna refuse to live and act and worship in isolation, that it's just gonna be about you. Notice the last part of verse 27, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. I find it interesting, Paul uses, again, another word picture. For us, he changes his metaphor from that of an army standing firm, to that of a team, an athletic team, specifically, working together. It's the word striving together there in the text, we'll look at that more in a moment. In this last phrase, here, Paul is effectively describing his defining teamwork, and the teamwork of a local church. Now, if we look closely at, not only the word picture, but this phrase, we can break it down, and in so doing, break down his definition of what it means to be a good teammate.
Let me give them to you. First of all, Paul emphasizes that a team is committed to the same desire. Paul emphasizes the church is moving forward, notice, with one mind, that's the word suke, you can translate it soul, one suke.
One linguist writes that this word here in this context indicates the mind, or the soul, is the seat of sensation, passion, desire. So a team that works together as good teammates with good teamwork is literally one suke, one sensation, one desire. They are one psyche.
Of course, the team that works well together is exactly this. We think about it even today, we use the expression that team is psyched up for the game. They have one mind, they have one passion. Before the football game, perhaps this afternoon, if you're gonna watch it, you're gonna find men jumping up and down on the sidelines, the captain's yelling out this cheer and they're yelling it back to him, men 300 pounds and more holding hands like little school children as they cheer together. They are psyched up for the game. As they play together, by the way, pros that compete in individual sporting events will tell you that one of the most difficult parts of their game is that very fact.
They are acting as individuals, they're playing alone. What an incredible advantage to play in partnership with other teammates who have the same psyche, that is the same desire. In our culture today, we might look at a team as a team dedicated to one desire. That one desire is gonna be scoring a goal or putting that puck in the net or a soccer ball in the net. It might be bringing one more player than the opposing team across home plate. Everything about that team, its management, its budget, its strategy is designed ultimately to get one more player than the other team to touch home plate.
Or one desire which would be to score a touchdown. Everything is concentrated to see that happen. And Paul, by the way, pulls from that world and says, here you go church, here's your passion, here's a demonstration of your desire.
How excited do we get about that? I love, I love coming together with you and being excited about the rehearsal of what we believe about the gospel. Paul says that's the church. One mind. Now imagine for just a moment what this is gonna mean in impacting their lives individually before it ever impacts anybody else's life.
Different accents, different nations of origin, different backgrounds, different education. The church, as Paul puts it, is living in a manner that reveals we belong to the same king, the same kingdom, and this little outpost, this particular one here, the same local church. We belong to each other. But being a Christian doesn't mean that we're gonna live perfectly. But it should mean that we live differently.
Differently. And imagine how the original charter members of the church of Philippi acted differently. If I can just for a moment take you back to that introduction of this letter where Paul and Silas go to Philippi, first time the gospel reaches there and they ultimately plant a church and you may remember that the first convert is a successful businesswoman named Lydia who immediately opens up her palatial home which is the place where the church will meet for their worship services. It isn't long after that that a slave girl who has been demonized, controlled by demons that Paul will deliver her from, but she's become a new believer and because this little demonized young lady is no longer any benefit to her fortune telling masters, her masters accuse Paul and Silas of spreading revolutionary truths and has them arrested. You may know, of course, what happens in that jail cell at midnight. Paul and Silas are singing, right? And God shakes that prison and all their chains fall off. Ultimately, the prison warden and his family who hears and believes the gospel are saved.
Now, think about this. How in the world is a polished, wealthy businesswoman ever gonna relate to a former demonized young lady? And how are either one of these women gonna relate to a prison warden who with his family lives at the city jail? There's your church plant. It couldn't be any different, but they demonstrate the fact that they have not only joined the same family, but they're playing on the same team with the same love and desire for the gospel.
That's how it happens. Any team in the athletic world is made up of all sorts of talent and skill and background and size and weight and training and focus, but they have the same suke, the same desire, the same passion to advance the glory and gospel of Christ. This is the local church with so many people committed to one mind. So how do we get along? How are we doing? This is to be the same team where a white collar guy and a blue collar guy can sacrificially give and pray toward the same goal, where the Mexican and the Portuguese can serve together, where the white man and the black man can pray together in the same Bible study, where the businesswoman invites a housewife to coffee, where a homeschooling mom develops a friendship with the wife of a public school principal, where an old man determines to understand the young man, where the young man decides to place value in the old man, where the single adult appreciates the church's ministries to couples, where the childless pray for parents, where the widow volunteers in the nursery, where the CEO serves as an usher, where the drummer thanks God for the violinist.
That's a stretch. Where the violinist thanks God for the drummer, where PhDers attend an adult Bible fellowship class taught by a college dropout. See the church is a living demonstration of grace.
We don't live perfectly, but we should live differently because of the grace we've received. This is being of one suke, one devotion, one desire. That's a team. Secondly, a team is not only committed to the same desire, but a team is moving in the same direction. Now this is where Paul specifically uses this metaphor of athletics for this phrase, which set my mind racing along this path. Notice as he writes, with one mind striving together. That word, those words striving together is one compound original word, sunathleo, sun, the prefix, with, side by side, athleo, which gives us our word, athletics, athlete. Compound word provides then the word picture in the mind of Paul of a team of athletes working together, and this gives us the concept then of teamwork.
In fact, one linguist in his wonderful language work published this year by the name of Stephen Runge. He translates this, doing something side by side. Good picture of teamwork. Paul is encouraging the church to act as a team, moving with the same desire in the same direction, which is good for a team to do, right? Be moving toward the same goal. One commentator called it selfless solidarity.
I love that term. It's what the church ought to be, selfless solidarity, demonstrating team effort, teamwork. Now let's not forget team spirit. When I thought about this metaphor, I kind of just propped my legs up on my desk at home and began to think through ways Paul would have viewed first century athletic teams and what would relate across the centuries, and really it's timeless relationships, analogies. I began to think, what does it mean to be a good teammate?
Several things came to my mind. First, a good teammate offers ongoing encouragement, even when you're not doing all that well. I mean, on the basketball court, that guy puts up a three-pointer and it swishes. His opponent is not going to stop and go, man, that was a great shot.
Wow, give me a high five. No. Opponents don't do that. Teammates do. It even struck me secondly that a good teammate is willing to cheer from the bench. He might not be the starter. He might be the backup quarterback, and those guys, by the way, if I ever watch a game, impress me because they got the headphones on, they're by the coach, and they call a timeout, the starting quarterback comes out, and this guy's right there, encouraging him.
That's tough to do though, isn't it? Cheer somebody on. I can remember in middle school playing on the school basketball team, I wasn't a starter too short.
I was what you would call the sixth man. What that meant was as soon as the point guard got tired, needed a break, or if he wasn't doing all that well, the coach would yell, Davey, get in there. So what do you think I was thinking on the bench about that starting guard? He put up a shot, swish. Yay. Way to go. And he's on fire.
I'll never get in there. A good teammate cheers from the bench. Another thought came to my mind. A good teammate understands, as I've said earlier, I'll say it this way, that the word us is more important than the word me. You ever played on a team and you knew one of those guys or gals? It was all about them. Further, a good teammate recognizes that every position on the team is critical. It isn't just their position. Defense is as critical as offense.
They usually don't get to spike the football in the end zone in that glorious moment, but without them the offense would never get the chance to do that. Here's another. A good teammate sacrifices his comfort for the advancement of the team. He's going to slug it out, sweat it out, play his role.
He'll give everything he's got. Many of you are going to do that today. For the sake of this team, sacrifice your own comfort and convenience and serve in some way.
Many of you already have. One more. A good teammate is willing to accept the assignment of his coach. Warren Wiersbe writes, not everyone can be a captain or a quarterback.
Every player can't be a wide receiver or a three-pointer or the striker on the soccer team. Someone has coached them, trained them, evaluated them, and assigned them to the position they play. They willingly play the role. In this analogy, God trains, equips, and assigns. He has designs and makes assignments so that we play a role on the team. He's equipped us. He's trained us. He's prepared us.
He continues to work in us and wants to use us, and he assigns us on the playing field. So if it's God's assignment, then there's no such thing as promotions in the church. The church is not a ladder.
I'm going to climb my way up wherever up happens to be. That's the world out there, not the church. In fact, Paul will use the analogy of the human body to stress this point as he tells the Corinthian church that every part of the body is an assignment from God that helps the body to function.
Some parts are out of sight, some visible. He writes it this way. Let me take time just to read a few verses.
He says it this way. For the body is not one part or member, but many. If the foot shall say, well, because I'm not the hand, I'm not a part of the body, is it not any less a part of the body? And if the ear should say, I'm not an eye, I'm not a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?
And if the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? In other words, nobody is volunteering to be a nose. Who wants to be a nose? I want to be an eye. I want to see all the action. I want to be a hand. I want to be in the action.
I want to be a foot that's covered up. I want to be there in the middle of it. Here's the point to keep in mind. Paul writes to the Corinthians this, but now God has placed the members, each one of them in the body just as he desired. That's why you're serving where you're serving. Ultimately, it's God's desire. So stop vying to be a hand if God's made you an ear. Stop trying to be an eye if God has prepared you and assigned you to be a foot. Come to terms with what God has been and is doing in your life. As I thought about those middle school years, I couldn't help but remember, in fact, I remember, frankly, being upset with God's design. Short and skinny.
I'm still skinny but I'm not short. Frankie, the neighborhood bully, would pummel me. In fact, one time my mother had to rescue me as he pummeled me in front of all the neighborhood kids.
That took years to grow out of, to get over counseling, seminary, the whole thing so that I could go into the pastorate. I remember not long after getting pummeled by Frankie, I saw an advertisement about bodybuilding powder. You added that to whatever you were drinking. I know some of you guys have done that too.
You want to admit it. The big canister had a picture on it with a guy flexing his biceps. And I knew as a middle schooler that was what my life was missing. And so my sweet mother went along every night for several months, made me a milkshake, and added this powder to it so that I could put on weight. It looked like sawdust. It felt like sawdust. And it tasted like sawdust.
I never gained one pound. And I finally gave it up. As a child, part of maturing and part of growing up is coming to terms with how God made you. And for some of us, it's a tough time. The same is true spiritually. Spiritual growth is coming to terms with the way God equipped you and gifted you and assigned you.
But may I remind you, here's the good news. God did the equipping. God did the planning.
God does the assigning. And every assignment is critical to the team as we move together in the same direction, side by side, with the same desire to advance the gospel and glory of Christ. So a team and teamwork, in the words of Paul's mentor, athletes together, number one, were committed to the same desire.
That's one mind, one sukkah. We're moving in the same direction, striving together. Thirdly, a team is delivering the same declaration. Look at the last part of verse 27, striving together for the faith of the gospel. This phrase, for the faith of the gospel, appears only here in this form in the New Testament. And it's difficult to nail exactly down what Paul has in mind. He probably has everything in mind that I'm about to give you. But Paul might have in mind the idea of striving together as we have placed our faith in the gospel or striving together for the faith which is the gospel or our faith generates or is generated by the gospel.
He might have all of these in mind. So in other words, as a church, we are committed to the same desire. We are moving together in the same direction to declare and deliver to our world the same gospel which is by faith alone, a gospel which produces faith, a gospel which is the result of faith, a gospel that reinforces our faith.
And by the way, in so doing, this is where we get into trouble because the world may not necessarily appreciate our declaration of one gospel. And by the way, I get a little queasy when I hear church leaders out there and I read statements by church leaders talking about many faiths. Beloved, there are not many faiths. There is one faith.
Everything else is tragic speculation. There are not many lords. There's one true and living Lord and that's going to lead us next Lord's Day, Lord willing, into this third aspect of what it means to live in a manner worthy of the gospel. Paul called it the gospel of Christ in Galatians 1.7. To Timothy, he said, we have been entrusted by this glorious gospel of God, 1 Timothy 1.11. So the church is effectively a team effort to deliver and declare to our world the saving gospel of faith in Jesus Christ. We don't hedge that.
We don't compromise that. We've been told to deliver that. Paul has already, in fact, told the Philippian church that they are going to share in his reward, his gospel ministry.
They're in a different location but they're praying for him and they're supporting him. Paul views himself along with the Philippian church as effectively being on a team together, delivering the gospel of grace. Let's refuse the temptation to disengage.
Don't buy into the insanity of our world that living for yourself in the church, serving yourself in the church, focusing on yourself in the church will ever accomplish anything. Let's engage. You have an appointment to fill.
Where is it? As we as a church demonstrate teamwork, which is commitment, we are committing to the same desire, one mind, moving in the same direction, striving together, delivering to our world the same declaration, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Stephen's challenge today is not always easy, is it? But with God's help, let's commit to biblical teamwork. This is Wisdom for the Heart, the Bible teaching ministry of Stephen Davy.
Stephen's currently working his way through a series from Philippians 1 entitled Moving Forward, and the lesson you just heard is called No Room for Superstars. If you joined us late today or if you'd like to listen to this lesson again, we posted it to our website, which is wisdomonline.org. I also want to make sure you know about our smartphone app. Each broadcast is there, as well as the complete archive, and I encourage you to install that. Remember, when you're in the app store for your device, search for Wisdom International. That's the name of our ministry and the name of our app. We'll be back tomorrow with more wisdom for the heart.
