Scripture
(by Dave, 10 min)
Philippians 2:1-11
Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross!
Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
United with Christ
Paul tells the Philippians to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. They are to be united with Him. In so doing they may experience His encouragement, comfort, love, Spirit, tenderness and compassion. But experiencing these things is not the same as adopting the mindset of their source.
Paul recognizes this by describing that his own joy is dependent on the Philippians conforming their mindset to that of Jesus. Clearly, the apostle does not believe that faith alone, even accompanied by exposure to the wonderful attributes of Christ, guarantees a person will have the mindset of Jesus. One must choose that mindset.
Where we are
Paul goes on to tell us where our mindset may be, where it should be, and how to move from the former to the latter. Do nothing the apostle says out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Such motivations are anathema to the spirit of Christ, and are exclusively human attributes reflecting two related but distinct sins.
Most of us might equate selfish ambition to the business world. Someone who is ambitious will want to rise to higher levels of power and reward. For example, when I entered academics, I did not want to stay an instructor. Instead, I desired to rise through the academic ranks to the highest level I could achieve. Because this desire concerned me alone, it fits the definition of selfish ambition.
Yet in the human world, and perhaps particularly so in the Western world, seeking warranted promotion is salutary. My parents taught me to work hard with the expectation that I would “get ahead”. I pursued my professional goals vigorously feeling good about it. To me there was nothing evil about trying to be successful through the labor of my own hands. However, Paul is quite explicit: Do nothing out of selfish ambition.
His second admonition is to do nothing out of vain conceit. As soon one walks through the door of being successful through personal effort pride is patiently waiting on the other side. It’s not just waiting. Vain conceit anticipates our entry and climbs aboard with the first step through the threshold. I was proud when I was promoted. I accepted the congratulations of friends willingly, and if I am honest, that praise became part of my motivation for future efforts.
Importantly, selfish ambition and vain conceit extend far beyond our behavior in the professional realm. How many times when we are engaged in a discussion do we cling to an opinion or position simply to avoid being wrong. There is no finding the truth when selfish ambition and vain conceit are part of our mindset. Living in this mindset is like putting on dark sunglasses in an unlit house at night. God’s truth hides in the shadows as we walk right past it unaware of its call to the holy soul within.
It is no mistake that Paul chose both human attributes as the starting point for where our human mindsets may be. At the root of them both is a focus on the self. Jesus upends this human thinking by living and dying as the perfect, selfless servant. Focus on the self is anathema to the God of love and the Son He sent to live among us. Paul is right, and unequivocally so. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit for if we do, we step willingly into the darkness and deprive ourselves of the far deeper life and future that comes from oneness with God.
Where we should be
The apostle continues on telling the Philippians where their mindset should be: have the same mindset as Christ Jesus. How to get there is a matter of remembering what that mindset is. Paul says make yourself nothing by taking on the very nature of being a servant. Like Jesus, humble yourself and be obedient to God above all.
We can have faith that Paul’s words are true because the attributes he describes are present in full within Jesus and He is honored above all. Paul says the one human who humbled himself perfectly in obedience to God rules above even the heavenly host. Every being in existence should be on their knees before Him confessing that He is Lord of all. If all of existence is to praise our Savior, then there is no other pathway for God’s people but to follow Him.
The tried-and-true Western good work ethic that results in personal success does not comport with Christianity. But it is only the second part of this sentence that is antithetical to the Christian heart. Paul challenges our motivation for hard work, rather than the work itself. If we labor in humility valuing others above ourselves, our work will be valued by God. If we work hard for the interest of others rather than our own, the work will again be favored by God.
But there is an additional outcome that living with the mindset of Jesus gives. When work is done in humility for the sake of others, we will be transformed by it. The best example I can give you from my life is the personal transformation that occurred in me when I was pursuing selfish ambition and was challenged by my wife.
In the college environment, after six years you are either promoted and given tenure or fired. I worked constantly during my six years to achieve this personal goal. In so doing, I abandoned my family over the weekends. Three years in, my wife challenged me asking which was more important to me, my career or my family. I continued to work hard, but her challenge sobered me. I stopped working on the weekends for the sake of my family and was promoted anyhow. Moreover, putting them above my ambition eased the pressure I was experiencing and put my job into the proper place in my life.
Final words
Holy week is upon us, and we may conclude from the events of that week that sacrificing your life for the sake of others is extremely counterintuitive. One need only look at the bloodied Jesus hanging from a cross as He wondered why God had forsaken Him to conclude His mindset is insane. But that conclusion follows from the mindset of selfishness that cannot see beyond the darkness of the room into which the mindset leads. The unity with Christ that Paul wants us desperately to embrace banishes the darkness of selfish ambition and vain conceit with the bright light of love and compassion for others.
Rather than insanity resulting in a meaningless death, the Lord’s sacrifice righted our relationship with God forever and placed Him highest in the kingdom of heaven. This is where Paul tries to bring our eyes in his letter to the Philippians and we would be wise to look hard upon what our Savior endured for us. We would be wiser still if we then looked at the way heaven greeted Him after His suffering was done.
I hope Paul’s words will bring you to your knees during the upcoming holy week and have you joining the heavenly host in singing praise to the one who has saved us. May the result of such reflections bring us to the mindset of Christ and inspire us to live valuing others above ourselves and looking after their interests before our own. Holy week is a time to recognize the sacrifice Jesus made and to grieve His pain, but it is also a time of celebration for His selfless act. An act that gives us a window into the mindset of the one divine human and a vivid picture of God we can emulate in our lives.
May you feel the spirit of God richly moving in you during this upcoming holy week and feel it calling you to be in unity with Christ always. Many blessings to you all,
Dave
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