Philippians 2:1-1Therefore 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,
In his opening comments in chapter 2, Paul isn’t suggesting it was possible to not have received encouragement from Christ or that it was possible to not have been comforted by his love, or to have not shared something special together in the midst of the Holy Spirit. He was simply saying, “We have all received so much from Christ, and in light of the encouragement, in light of the comfort from His love, because of the fact that the Spirit has dwelt among us, we are to live in a way that acknowledges that being impacted by Jesus’ life, death, burial and resurrection and being filled with the Spirit of God means something to us and has done something to us and has given us something to impart to other people.
Has there ever been someone you have poured into, someone you have sacrificed for, someone you have gone the extra mile for, that you have been disappointed in when they could have helped someone else and didn’t or could have helped you when you were in need? And have you ever thought, “After all I have done for them, the least they could have done was to pay it forward or share with me when it was needed.” Am I the only one that has ever had that carnal thought before?
Paul is trying to say, “After all we have received from Christ, can we not adopt His mindset, His spirit, His attitude toward each other?” He says it this way in verse 2: 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
What Paul is seeking to communicate is that being united with Jesus involves thinking and behaving like He did. In other words, the encouragement we receive from being yoked to Jesus should be passed on to the people around us. The love we have experienced should emanate from us. The compassion that has been extended to us should flow through us. We are to have the same love for others that God through Christ has had for us. We are to be one in spirit and one in mind with Jesus. We are to possess Jesus’ attitude.
Maybe you are nothing like your earthly best friends. Maybe you are polar-opposites, and there is nothing you would seek to emulate, nothing about their heart or habits that you would want to copy. But Church, Jesus is worth imitating! He did life and relationships perfectly. So, Paul says, we are to have the same attitude Jesus possessed. We are to literally copy His life as we live ours out.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
The first “Jesus-attitude” we see here in Philippians 2 is an attitude of humility. Paul contrasts humility with selfish ambition, with vain conceit and with the looking to our own interests to the exclusion of other people’s interests.
Now, ambition, in and of itself isn’t a bad thing, and I would argue it is a necessary attitude to possess. Every one of us needs to aspire to use the gifts and talents God has given to us. Each of us needs to strive to develop and mature. Goal setting is profitable and spurs us to excel. Ambition is most certainly essential to growth. What becomes problematic with ambition is when the word “selfish” appears in front of it.
The word “selfish” speaks to our motive and what is really at the center of our hearts. Our attitude is going to be cultivated by what is in our hearts. The invitation to develop the attitudes of Jesus is really an invitation to let the Holy Spirit fully have our hearts. If we have an attitude problem, we most likely have a heart problem. Paul says, if your ambition is selfish, you need to check it. How do we know if our ambition is selfish?
Selfish ambition involves the pursing of our own glory rather than the glory of God.
How does that show up? Those of you who are athletes are regularly faced with the pressures of competition. When competition isn’t about iron sharpening iron and developing into the best a person can be and the experience of working together as a team, but becomes about personal glory, about going down in history, about making a name for yourself, whether in athletics or in any facet of life, you need to check your heart.
I made the point last week that we were made to glorify God. A person with selfish ambition will wind up attempting to steal the glory, the credit, the admiration that is meant for God. Paul warned the Corinthians in II Corinthians 10 about the dangers of comparing ourselves to others, of trying to “one-up” other people, of trying to get ahead through the comparison game. I like how it is worded in the contemporary Message translation.
II Corinthians 10:12 and 17-18 12 We’re not, understand, putting ourselves in a league with those who boast that they’re our superiors. We wouldn’t dare do that. But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point.
“If you want to claim credit, claim it for God.” What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference.
Any success you have is because God has enabled it. Earthly success doesn’t make you better than someone else. None of us becomes superior to others because of a win or a promotion or an achievement, but our culture has conditioned us to think so. At the end of the day, all glory is to go to God, and His opinion is what should drive us and is what should matter to us. I want to say that again. At the end of the day, all glory is to go to God, and His opinion is what should drive us and is what should matter to us. I love when athletes or musicians or actors take time to give thanks to God for an achievement or award. That is where the glory belongs. Listen, your success is your platform to point other people to Christ, to show them that you have relied on God as you have worked to achieve something. If you are a believer, who you glorify isn’t optional. We live for the approval of One. When we start elevating the opinion of people above God’s, when we start craving the applause of people over the approval of God, we are in danger of having an attitude of selfish ambition.
Here’s the thing, if comparing ourselves to others is how we perceive to get ahead, if it’s how we define our worth, what happens when we don’t win, when we don’t get the promotion, when we don’t get the affirmation that we think we deserve from people? Selfish ambition can lead to arrogance and pride, but it can also lead to anger, depression and despair, can’t it?
The cool thing about being a Child of God is that we can glorify God whether we win or lose. The way we handle earthly victories or earthly defeats both can reveal God’s glory. Rather than seek our own glory, which depends on our performance, or should I say depends on us outperforming someone else, we can be driven to glorify God which we can do no matter the outcome. You can glorify God whether you make the team or you don’t. You can glorify God whether you get the house you were hoping to buy or not. You can glorify God whether the promotion comes to you or someone else. Even if you think you deserved it above someone else, you can still choose to glorify God.
Satan wants you in the comparison game. He wants you focused on winning at all costs. He wants you self-absorbed and addicted to the approval of others. Self-absorption and a need for the approval of others leads to all kinds of compromise.
In John 12:42-43 we read about people in the religious ranks, who even though they believed in Jesus, they didn’t openly confess it because they were more interested in receiving praise from men than in glorifying God. They thought their faith in Jesus, if they made it public, would cost them their religious status. Look at it: 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
That is pretty black and white. There had to be enough evidence to the claim for John to write it down. If you were to evaluate yourself in this area, in the area of loving the praise of men, wanting the praise and glory of men and women versus wanting to glorify God in all of your ways, how would you say you would rate? Are you someone who believes in Jesus, but you don’t openly confess it because of fear that it might knock you down a few pegs in the eyes of a group of people? If so, you might be someone who is dealing with selfish ambition.
Selfish ambition is something we need to take seriously because it speaks to our motives which speaks about our hearts. Are we afraid to be witnesses for Christ because it could damage our reputation in the eyes of some? Would you rather blend in for the crowd’s approval than stand out for Jesus? If so, you may living with selfish ambition.
What happens when you put in the work, and you don’t make the cut? How do you handle that? Confession time. My junior year of high school, our theater department was doing, “The Sound of Music.” I just knew it was my time to shine. I believed 100% that the role of Maria Von Trap was made for me. I was ready for the spotlight. I had earned my turn, having played some lesser roles. I knew all of the songs backward and forward. We were moving after my junior year, and it would be the last chance for me to have an opportunity to have the lead role. I was convinced my name would appear on the bulletin board as the star of the show when the roles were posted.
Y’all, not only did I not get the part of Maria Von Trap, and not only was it given to a sophomore, and not only did I not get either of the two other leading female roles, but I was put in a non-speaking part as one of the nuns in the chorus. I was shocked and in disbelief and in a moment of total carnality and selfishness, I swore out loud in front of several of the people who had tried out for the musical. I think their gasp was deafening. No one had ever heard me speak like that. My witness for Christ had been clear, until it wasn’t. And that happened because I was selfishly wrapped up in my own desires and delusions about how amazing I was and would have been in the role. Not only did I not glorify God with the way I handled that situation, but I hurt the cause of Christ. That was 40 years ago, but it still stings a little when I think about it. Talk about selfish ambition!
Am I the only one who has ever dealt with failure in this area? Are you someone who constantly needs to be noticed, thanked, and praised, and when it doesn’t happen you deal with rejection or anger? And what about your motive for serving, whether in the church or in the community? While it might look like sacrifice or selflessness, if your motive is to be seen and praised because of it, a selfless act could indeed be selfish ambition. If you are fueled more by earthly fans than by seeking to make Christ known, you might need an attitude adjustment. Selfish ambition won’t go away on its own. It has to be acknowledged, confessed and dealt with, and it needs to be dealt with because it leads to worse problems. Unchecked, selfish ambition will lead to pride which will keep you from enjoying those God places in your life.
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
To choose the attitude of humility, you have to crucify pride. Pride will keep you from valuing others, from prioritizing others, from living an others-centered life. The wrong attitude can sabotage your relationships, can keep you from benefitting from what other people have to offer you, and can inhibit your ability to impact people for the Kingdom of God.
When you have a heart filled with selfish ambition and pride, you will seek to put yourself first. Before you would consider helping someone else, you’ll have to weigh what’s in it for you. When was the last time you did something for someone without expecting a payback or any acknowledgement?
How else might pride show up in our dealings with other people? When we have an opportunity to catch up with someone, do we do most of the talking? Do we ask questions of the other person? Do we express congratulations for their success or compassion for their trial or is it all about us?
You know the kind of people I love to be around? People who know how to encourage others, people who care about other people’s success and well-being. Jesus demonstrated what it means to live an others-centered life. He went out of His way for other people. Think about the Woman at the Well, that woman in Samaria, an outcast, someone who had made a mess of her life. He didn’t have the attitude, “Well, she made her bed. She can just lie in it.” He didn’t see her as less than, as not being worthy of His time. He didn’t require her to be different before He would spend time with her. He was driven by her need to engage with her. What was in her best interest? That’s what He talked with her about. That’s what He pointed her to.
Pride keeps us from being aware of and concerned about what is in the best interest of others. What matters to you should matter to me. What you need should concern me. What you lack should be something I pay attention to. What you are striving for should be something I champion, as long as it is a good and godly goal. Helping each other have victory in Jesus should be important to us as Christ-followers.
Humble people will have a profound interest in other people. I think one of the many reasons the Apostle Paul was so successful in winning people to Jesus and in establishing churches was because he was concerned with God’s glory and with what was best for other people.
I love his words in I Corinthians 10:31-33 31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.
It would have been easy for Paul to be enthralled with himself because of the numbers of people he was winning to Christ. He could have gotten puffed up because of the churches that saw him as their founder and spiritual father. He could have been glad that his name was spreading as he spread the name of Jesus. In the ancient world, he was a big deal, but he wasn’t seeking an advantage over people because of his relationship with Jesus or his ability to speak well or because of the miracles God helped him to perform. His concern was that others would find Christ and live their best life in Him.
One of Pastor Thom and I’s favorite show is a cop show where the commanding officer often says to his team, “Keep your head on a swivel.” What he means by that, of course, is that as you go into a dangerous situation, keep your eye out for the enemy. Watch your six. Watch your back. Be aware of potential threats so that you can respond. I would like us to adopt the motto, “Keep your head on a swivel” for a different reason. I’d like us to always be aware of who is around us, of what the needs are, so that we can extend the help, mercy, and compassion of Christ to those people at any time.
Opportunities for Jesus are missed when we are ultimately preoccupied with ourselves and our needs and our agendas. Paul’s words about not looking to our own interests but looking to the interests of others don’t mean we aren’t to have any interests. They don’t mean we shouldn’t have any pursuits. Of course, we have personal goals and responsibilities and assignments to fulfill, but as we go about fulfilling them, we need to keep our head on a swivel because part of our responsibility and part of our assignment is to meet the needs of the people around us.
Perhaps the NKJV says it best as it says, “4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
There will be times when what is on your plate is pressing, and you will have to focus on your immediate situation, but that shouldn’t characterize the majority of a Christian’s life.
I happened to be in an ER this week with a family from our church and another church member was also there to support this particular family. While we were talking amongst ourselves, a lady in the waiting room began coughing and choking and was having difficulty catching her breath. It was an attention-getter for sure. I started praying out loud for her, and the church member who was there to support our church family went over to the woman to see if she was alone or if there was a way he could get her some immediate help. He put his hand on her back and bent over to talk to her, and about that time, it was obvious that the person who had brought her to the ER was getting the attention of one of the nurses and oxygen was brought to her in the waiting room.
I loved that even though our church member wasn’t a medical professional and even though he didn’t know the woman from the man in the moon, he didn’t let that stop him from seeing the situation as an opportunity to show the compassion of Christ. A true Christ-follower will never see someone in distress and conclude, “That’s not my problem.”
There were people in that waiting room that had seen us huddle up and pray. They knew we were Christians, and what was beautiful is that they saw Christianity in action as this church member wasn’t only looking out for the person he came to support, but also another person God put in his path. Your availability for other people is one of your main Kingdom purposes, and being available for others will require humility, and a willingness to be interrupted.
We’re going to look at some more attitudes of Christ as we move toward Easter. To conclude, I want to read our text again from Philippians 2 and take it all the way to verse 5. Will you read it with me?
1Therefore 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, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude as Christ Jesus.
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