I always like a good spy movie. The kind where you get so angry over the treachery and deceit that you want to jump through the movie or TV screen. We love to hate the bad guys. Oops, we're not supposed to hate. You know what I mean. The best stories are ones where someone is a double-agent or traitor and they finally get what is coming to them. I think we like those so much because we can all relate to being betrayed. Being stabbed in the back. Tricked. Played for a fool. You’ve probably got someone or some time in your life playing in your head right now.
The most effective enemies come from within, don’t they? The saboteurs that inflict the most damage are ones you would never expect. The kind that build your trust only to turn on you when you least expect it. Is your blood boiling yet? Has that ever happened to you? Still even harder to think about; have you ever done that to someone? Paul challenges the Philippians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel. The primary characteristic of living worthy of the Gospel seems to be how unified you are with other Christians. That’s a sobering thought, isn’t it?
Unfortunately, the church can be a place where people argue, gossip, and complain more than any other. The number one reason, I believe, is because it’s made up of people. We are imperfect and changing our location doesn’t make us perfect. The person that gossips and complains at work 5 days a week won’t suddenly stop their favorite past time one day a week because they dress up a little. There has to be a change of heart that takes place. To go a little deeper, I believe we have to acknowledge that their are people among us that aren’t redeemed. I don’t mean the visitors that just haven’t obeyed the Gospel yet. I mean the veterans that probably walked the aisle a long time ago but may have never truly surrendered their hearts and minds. Or quite possibly some time after following Jesus, they turned their back on Him slowly but surely. Paul said in Acts 20:29, “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” FROM YOUR OWN NUMBER!
Regardless, when we fight or pull in different directions, we do not live worthy of the Gospel. If we want to be what Christ has called and made us to be, we must learn to live in unity. If you are a gossip, stop it. Zip your lip. Shut it. If you are a complainer, close your pie hole. The great majority of complainers never talk to the one or two people who can actually address and change the issue they are upset about. You know why? They are afraid that something might get done and they will be out of a job. Complainers and gossips would not know what to do if they didn’t use their greatest talent. So if that is you, repent! All hope is not lost. Try praying before you ever say a negative word to someone else. When you hear that bit of juicy gossip, stop right then and pray for the people mentioned. See if you still feel like spreading the news then. If the good news can change a murderer like Paul, he can change a character murderer like you!
Know this. If you continue to keep division alive and well in the church you are hurting it and maybe even killing it. The greatest sign of the truth of the Gospel is when Christians stand together in unity, fighting FOR the faith of the Gospel. Paul said it right there in Philippians 1. Make it your ambition to be the kind of person that people are glad to see coming, not glad to see going. Don’t make people lie at your funeral. Live a life of love just as Christ did. Stand together with your brothers and sisters, not against them.
Read Philippians 1:27-30
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