One Church - Philippians 2:1-4

“Why can’t we all get along? Because we can’t.” 

That’s the headline for writer Steve Tobak’s article on Entrepreneur.com. I used to read Steve Tobak with some regularity because I appreciated his perspective on things. 

Obviously he writes about business practices but most of the things he writes about have a broader application. He’s a bit of contrarian and I find myself often sharing his point of view.

In this particular article, he makes the case that conflict is often beneficial. In fact, better decisions are often made as a result of some sort of debate. 

He concludes his article with, “Why can’t we all just get along? Because conflict is critical to smart decisions and positive outcomes. And we’re all the better for it.”

Honestly, what he says makes sense to me. But I also know that too much conflict and debate can create deep division, which is exactly what God’s Word tells the church to avoid. 

The church of Christ must stand together spiritually. The church must be united.

Church Unity Requires Consistency 

There are certain qualities that a unified church exhibits. 

Look at verse one with me. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,” 

Notice in the first verse he repeats the word “any” four times. “Any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy.”

He’s setting up his argument by stating IF there are ANY of these things among you THEN…

But notice that the first one is “any encouragement in Christ.” 

Paul lists several things here but he begins his list with “any encouragement in Christ.”

That’s sort of the guiding light for the other things in the list; the others follow after the encouragement or comfort found in Christ. 

If there is any encouragement in Christ, well there should also be “comfort from love, participation or fellowship in the Spirit, affection and sympathy”

Love, fellowship, affection, and sympathy are all qualities that a unified church should bear. Paul says if there are any of these things in the church at Philippi to “complete his joy” “by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

It’s remarkable that he finds joy in the unity of the church. For Paul, the church unified can more easily carry out the great commission which is a source of joy for him.

Paul’s joy isn’t complete in the church simply bearing the qualities of unity, but in bearing the qualities of unified church because they truly are unified.

Isn’t it true that people often present themselves in a particular way but as you get to know them you realize they’re really not that way at all? They have a persona they’re trying to project.

I recently read this is the case with Ellen DeGeneres. Many of the folks that work for her on her TV show say she’s rude and mean-spirited despite the fact that she portrays herself on TV as a friendly, kind, goofy person.

It’s shocking because what they’re accusing her of is the exact opposite of the personality she portrays on her show.

What you see isn’t necessarily what you get. Unfortunately, this also happens in the church. What you see isn’t necessarily what you get.

A church can appear to be doing well, but on the inside there is major division. Outwardly they display qualities of a unified church, but there's conflict within the body.

That’s why Paul reminds the Philippians not to simply exhibit the qualities of a unified church, but to actually be a unified church.

If a church portrays the traits of a unified body but isn’t really unified, doesn’t that fuel what so many people already believe about the church? It’s full of hypocrites. 

But if you’ve experienced the grace of God in Christ you know it’s not a hypocritical facade. 

A bad church and hypocritical people do not negate the truth found in Christ. So how do we avoid being a hypocritical church? How do we avoid simply bearing the marks of unity but not truly being united?

Living consistent lives begins on the individual level. Paul says in 1 Corinthians we are the church and individually members of it! You don’t just sound or look like Christian; you’re actively trusting Christ and living like a Christian. You practice what you preach. It starts with you and me. 

No one can force you to be a man or woman of integrity. And if they could, it would just be behavior modification, which isn’t true change. Real change is something that the Spirit has to work into your heart. 

But look at verse 2, “be of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

Your mind and how you love are functions of an individual, and yet, Paul tells us to be of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” 

Paul isn’t saying you have to give up your personality or individuality; rather he’s saying that we need to have the same vision for the church. We’re all different but we need to have the same mind, love, spirit and purpose for the church - to glorify God.

Obviously, Paul is writing to the church at Philippi but this can be applied to the universal church. ALl churches need to have the same mind, love, spirit and purpose.

So what about churches throughout the centuries splitting over the finer points of doctrine? Isn’t that what’s going on with all these different denominations? 

I’ll be the first to admit that denominationalism is sad. After all, Jesus didn’t tell Peter in Matthew 16, “and on this rock I will build all my denominations!” No! He said, “on this rock I will build my church.” 

Not a Presbyterian church. Not a Baptist church. Not a nondenominational church. Not a Roman Catholic church. Jesus said, “my church,” a singular church, one church. There’s only one word in front of church, and it’s a possessive word “my.”

But where we are as Christians today seems to be a major deviation from Christ’s intent. Christ never said, hey if you have a problem with your current church situation just break off and form a brand new denomination. 

Pastor and theologian John Frame is accurate when he writes, “The rise of denominations is caused by sin, either sin of those who left the original church or sin of those who forced them to leave - or, most likely, both.”

Sin is at the root of denominationalism.

But does disagreement automatically mean disunity? I think it’s entirely possible to unite and have fellowship with other believers and denominations around the core doctrines of the Christian faith. Things like justification by grace through faith. Or the exclusivity of Christ, that faith in Christ is the only way to heaven. There are a lot of churches that agree on those things while disagreeing on secondary issues like spiritual gifts and baptism.

I think this is very similar to our personal church experience. I’d be willing to bet that you’ve gone to or, maybe you’re at a church that you didn’t agree with everything that went on, but you know they preached the gospel and you experienced great fellowship in the Spirit there. You felt a deep bond with that body even though you knew it was deeply flawed. 

The bottom line is, the church, the bride of Christ, is deeply flawed because it consists of sinners. She’s an ugly bride, but she’s Christ’s bride. And you better believe that if Christ can redeem you and redeem me, he can redeem his church.

You, me, and the church all exist to glorify God.

Church Unity Requires Humility

And just as the church isn’t perfect we know we’re not perfect either. Paul says in 1 Corinthians whether you eat or drink do it all to God’s glory! And we all say amen, Paul! But you know as well as I do that doing everything for God’s glory is tough. 

I find Paul’s words in Romans 7 extremely relatable. “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”

The truth is if I put any of us under a microscope it wouldn’t take long to see that you and I live inconsistent lives. The truth is, we all fall short of the glory of God. We’re all sinners. So how do we reconcile what Paul says here? 

On the one hand Paul is telling the church to participate or have fellowship in the Spirit with other believers, and to have affection and sympathy, to have the same love and mind for one another. But elsewhere in Scripture Paul is quick to remind us of our fallen sinful nature!

Paul is telling us to be united despite the reality of conflict.

Even more than that, think about Paul’s conflict with Barnabas! Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them on their missionary journey but Paul didn’t want him to come. 

And speaking of this conflict, Acts 15:39 says, “And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other.”

Doesn’t it seem like Paul is speaking out of both sides of his mouth? Steve Tobak’s words from Entrepreneur.com are sounding more and more accurate! 

But how do we reconcile it? How do we reconcile Paul’s exhortation for unity in the church with the reality of conflict? 

You see, Paul mentions the secret ingredient to living a consistent life and maintaining a unified church: Humility. 

Look at verses 3 and 4. 

“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.”

We’ve been taught that life is a zero sum game and other people are competition. Either I’ll be successful or he’ll be successful but both of us can’t be successful. It’s him or me. It’s a me versus you mentality. 

That mentality has crept into the church as well. Because we all have things we’d like to see get done. And sometimes we might steamroll someone to make it happen.

But this is exactly what Paul warns against: Selfish-ambition and conceit, which is excessive pride.   

You have to be willing to lay down your ambition and pride for the unity of the church. You might have to let go of your agenda. You might have to even lay down your desires, even if they’re good desires, for the unity of the church.

There’s often a major disconnect in how we view people. Too often people we think of people as simply a means to an end. 

We frequently fail to view people, especially brothers and sisters in the church, the way God sees them. 

If they’re believers, then God sees them as worthy recipients of the blood of Christ. Christ may be preparing a place in heaven for someone in the church that you’re in an open conflict with. 

What does that say about you? What does that say about me? 

It means that we don’t see people the way that God does. Christ deemed them worthy to sacrifice himself on the cross for. 

When you're able to see people the way that God sees them, suddenly they’re worthy of your encouragement. They’re worthy of your love. They’re worthy as objects of your prayer. 

If someone is worthy to be redeemed by God, then they’re every bit as significant as you. In fact, if you see yourself as an object of God’s undeserved grace, mercy, and love, then you should see others in the church every bit as significant, if not more significant, than you! And the same goes for their interests!

Can you serve someone that you have a hard time getting along with? Can you love someone that isn’t kind to you? Are you willing to encourage someone that’s never encouraged you?

In order to do that, you must see yourself as a sinner redeemed by the Savior. And that requires humility.

Like I said earlier, I’m a bit of a contrarian. I normally don’t accept the status quo. I like to know the reasons why we do what we do, so naturally, I’m always asking “why?” It’s cute when kids ask ‘why,’ but when you're a 31 year old man people tend to have less patience with all the questions. 

So, as I was preparing this sermon, I asked that question: Why does unity in the church matter? Isn’t there a certain level of honesty to what Steve Tobak was saying in his Entrepreneur article? Conflict is a part of life, so we just need to accept the fact that we can’t please everyone. 

But Paul wrote under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that the church needs to be of “one mind.” No doubt he’s exhorting unity within the church. But I have to say, the Lord really answered the question, “Why does church unity matter?”

Somehow, probably through the guidance of the Spirit, I ended up in John chapter 17, which is Jesus’ high priestly prayer. 

And in his high priestly prayer, Jesus prays for the church. And in that prayer he draws an amazing analogy between the church being one as he is one with God the Father. And he goes on to answer directly why church unity matters. 

Jesus says,“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” 

There’s our reason! The church needs to be unified so that the world may believe in Jesus Christ. 

We long for unity not so that our fellowship is better or so that we can link arms and sing kumbaya. Unity isn’t about keeping everyone happy.

Church unity is a Christian witness.

When you agree on the important things, like the saving work of Christ, everything else is trivial. When you agree on the big things it’s easy to agree on the small things.

A house divided cannot stand. Jesus said that. If we’re bickering over petty things, doesn’t that essentially undo our witness? How can we say Christ has overcome the world if we can’t agree on anything?  

Church unity is an incredible witness to a world that is in such short supply of peace and unity. Can we come together and rise above the madness of the world in order to point people to Christ? Because ultimately that’s what really matters! Unity in the local church is a testimony to the power of the gospel. 

Do you believe the church united in Christ is stronger than the divisiveness of this world?

Let’s pray together.