Preparing this week, this phrase kept popping into my head: THE WORLD IS WATCHING. It’s not just that we say we follow Jesus, but HOW WE FOLLOW JESUS - The church in the US has taken a huge hit in our culture because we are not generally known for love, joy, peace and hope, but rather hate, anger, self-righteousness, judgment, compromise and scandal – cultural norms are every bit as present inside the church as out - divorce is rampant, pornography is rampant, body image issues are rampant, alcohol and drug abuse are rampant – followers of Jesus tend to look just like the world in the way we medicate our brokenness, and it has rendered us largely ineffective to the world we are called to reach - And I want you to know, I have contributed to the narrative, but here is the good news: We have never had a greater opportunity to change the way people think about Jesus and the church – and Paul will continue the theme we have seen throughout chapter one – How you respond to suffering shows what you believe about Jesus – St. Francis of Assisi is often credited with saying, “Preach the gospel always, and when necessary use words.” - And here is the thought behind that phrase: The product of your life should match your rhetoric – put another way: Practice what you preach, but even more pointed, practice what you preach WHEN THINGS DON’T GO YOUR WAY – Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 4:20: “The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power”- talk is cheap, but the POWER of GOD in your life tells the story of who you’re following - let’s dig into the passage – Philippians 1:27-2:4

The passage will be broken into two general thoughts: Stand firm in your faith against external forces (V27-30) and internal forces (V1-4)

V27 – “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” – Remember, the early church is under heavy persecution from both the Jews and the Romans – they were a fledgling but growing cross-section of society at that time – and Paul was reminding them that it was crucial to stay true to the way of Jesus, NO MATTER WHAT – remember, last week he told them (V12)that his chains were being used to promote the gospel – the world was watching, and Paul’s response to his pain showed the size of his God – he loved, pursued, and shared the love of Jesus NO MATTER WHAT –

Think about our culture today – in our current political climate, you were either distraught from 2016-2020, or you are currently frustrated – How do you conduct yourself? Do you soap box? Name call? Get into arguments, either in person or online? Does everyone around you know exactly where you stand politically, how you feel about COVID and mask mandates? It’s not that you can’t have opinions as a follower of Jesus, but it does mean that your opinions can’t overshadow Jesus – in your conversations, people should feel loved, honored, respected, encouraged even in disagreement – the fruit of your life, what you say and how you live should look like Jesus – YOU WON’T ARGUE PEOPLE INTO THE KINGDOM, in fact, just the opposite

“stand firm in ONE Spirit, striving together AS ONE for the faith of the gospel” – Paul was telling them to form a united front, not watering down the gospel with compromise, not just making it up as they went along – ONE SPIRIT, ONE CAUSE – We have what they didn’t: The WORD of GOD – they had maybe one copy of these early writings in their city – we have IN PRINT the WAY to live a life in JESUS, and we know the end of the story: WE WIN! – so, you don’t have to just make it up as you go along, or live “your truth” – 2 Peter 1:3, you have been given everything you need for a Godly life

V28 – “Don’t live in fear, but in confidence, because it shows the opposition that you are confident in the power of God” – Fear is a moniker of our culture today – but as a follower of Jesus, what are you afraid of? Do you believe in his power to overcome, that in his power, NOTHING CAN TOUCH YOU? It shows by your response to suffering and persecution – again, we don’t fully understand persecution in the US, but if you follow Jesus today, it will cost you something – but you certainly get suffering, because life is hard – and it’s not IF hard things happen, but how you respond WHEN they happen – 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul reminds Timothy that God doesn’t give a Spirit of FEAR but of POWER, LOVE and SOUND MIND – This means in EVERY SITUATION, I respond with FAITH OVER FEAR, and when I do, THE ENEMY IS REMINDED OF HIS DEFEAT –

V29-30 – Paul reminds them that suffering has “been granted to you on behalf of Christ” – again, you are called to share in suffering with Jesus (Galatians 2:20) – Paul will get into this in more detail in chapter 3, but the concept here is that the gospel is lived out in your life largely by the way you suffer well – The heresy to the American Gospel is that following Jesus is the prosperous life, that health and wealth is the promise of Jesus to all who follow him – the problem with that is that the context and backdrop of the Bible is suffering, and our only examples of how to follow Jesus are the early believers, and they all died for their faith – so again, Paul is reminding the Philippians, and you and me, that you are in need of a perspective change – Paul is writing IN CHAINS, and saying that the proof of your faith is the fruit of your life, and the fruit of your life is revealed by how you respond to pain and suffering - in fact, the path to your Ephesians 2:10 calling will likely be through the middle of your deepest hurt – God has granted hardship to reveal himself as good

So, Paul is telling them to stand strong against the external culture – now as we move into chapter 2, he shifts toward the inner culture of the church

V1-2 - Paul makes an “if/then” proposition in the first two verses – “If these things are true of Christ, then these things should be true of you” – one commentator says this list of rhetorical questions are actually akin to saying, “water is wet, fire is hot, rocks are hard” – In Christ, you should feel encouraged by him, comforted by his love, his Spirit should render tenderness and compassion in your life – this is what you receive FROM JESUS – AND, this should be what you LIVE FROM – You should live encouraged and be an encouragement, you should live loved and be loving, you should live having been given grace and mercy and be tender and compassionate to others – “Because we have received the DNA of Jesus…” – Key word is RECEIVED – you can’t give what you don’t have –

“Be like-minded, same love, one in Spirit and mind” – call to a unified church – so, look at it this way: you will never advance the gospel OUT THERE, if it’s not first lived out IN HERE – again, THE WORLD IS WATCHING, and often the church is seen as irrelevant because of all the fighting from within – Paul is saying persecution can gather or scatter – it’s all about what you are living FROM, so GET ON THE SAME PAGE

Ariel Durant once said, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.” Jesus put it this way in Matthew 12:25: “A Kingdom divided or a house divided cannot stand” - This should be a wake-up call to the church to get on the same page and focus more on commonalities and less on distinctives – and LOVE EACH OTHER – we should be known for the way we LOVE, the way we PROMOTE PEACE, the way we don’t promote FEAR, but HOPE -

V3-4 – The enemy of oneness is selfishness – Paul is likely taking a shot at the people he was referencing in chapter 1 who were using the gospel to advance their own name – but he knew what we all know: we gravitate toward selfishness, vanity and pride – and Paul says, “value others above yourselves”, and “look to the interest of others” – a life in Jesus is an others-centered life – and, by the way, impossible without him –

So, think about the flow of the passage: NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, CONDUCT YOURSELF AS A FOLLOWER OF JESUS

1. In the face of persecution and suffering, show the world how big Jesus is in your life by your response. We are not a Christian nation, the culture has anti-Jesus values. So, knowing that means you have opportunity to show them Jesus by responding in counter-cultural way – James 1:2-4

2. Don’t respond with FEAR, but exhibit FAITH. You show the world the size of your God by how you respond to suffering.

3. We change the world by showing them a focused, united church, that is unified by the LOVE and COMPASSION of Jesus. The local church is the hope of the world, and we will never change the world until we get this right in here – again, it is living FROM and not FOR – RECEIVE and then LIVE