How Important Is Unity? (Philippians 4:2-3): Pastor Peter Yi December 30 th, 2007 Introduction: ESV Philippians 4:2-3 2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. How important is unity? Is it like most appliances/gadgets we own it s nice to have but it s not absolutely necessary. Or is it an absolutely indispensable part of our faith as Christians? I don t think we give enough thought to the subject, so I d like to speak about it today. But before I get on to the subject of unity, I think it would be helpful for us to look at the ugly opposite, disunity When we see why disunity is so bad, we ll equally understand why unity is so good and so important. Disunity insults our triune God, the Trinity. When Christians live in disunity it totally doesn t reflect the nature of God. God exists in perfect harmony and unity between the three persons of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But that s what we re called to do. We are the bearers of God s image, especially as God redeemed people. We are to radiate God s glory. But if we live in disunity we cannot do any of those things. Disunity minimizes the work of the Cross in our lives. (Phi 2:1-2). We looked at Philippinas 2:1-2 a while back and it reads like this. 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. And what we discovered in that passage was that these incredible blessings are the experience of every Christian and because every single Christian has experiences these things, we should therefore be of the same mind, have the same love, be in full accord and of one mind. In other words we should be united. But when we refuse to live in unity, what we are essentially doing is minimizing the incredible work of the cross that brought Jew, Greek, man, woman, old, young, rich, poor, free, slave, all together as one. That s what disunity does. Disunity prevents worship. There s a real familiar teaching in Matthew and it shows us how important unity is. The unity that we maintain is a prerequisite for giving worship to God. Think about it. Worship is one of the most noble and loftiest things a Christian can do, yet without unity, worship doesn t happen. Listen to the verses spoken by Jesus himself. 650 McNicoll Avenue, North York, Ontario, M2H 2E1 Page 1 of 5
Matthew 5:23-24 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar [worship] and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother [unity], and then come and offer your gift [worship]. Disunity disrespects our brother or sister in Christ. Often times disunity takes on a real personal and nasty side. Not only do I not like her idea, I don t like her. And that kind of attitude comes from the darkest recesses of our heart and the pit of hell. We can disagree, but we must do so with respect and love. Whichever side you re on, we must try our best not to take things to personally and see the bigger picture, and see the person across from you as a brother and sister in Christ. Disunity impedes the work of the Gospel. Just see how well you work for God when you re living in disunity with your fellow church members, or with others on your ministry team. It doesn t work like that. But when we re all united in Christ, to a common goal, then we are the most efficient and effective. And so those are just a few things that happen when we are disunited. But still, disunity occurs. It occurs when we are at our worst, that s a given. But it also can occur when we are at our best. As much as the Apostle Paul believed in unity, worked on unity, taught on unity and did everything in his power to maintain and promote unity; even for him, there was a time when there was disunity. It was in Acts 15, right before they were to embark on the second missionary journey. The feud was between Paul and Barnabas over whether or not they should take Mark along on their next missionary journey. You couldn t find a more noble cause. It was for the work and expansion of the glorious gospel and there s this disagreement about the makeup of the team. It was a very significant issue. Paul thought Mark would be a liability and Barnabas wanted to give Mark a chance. But what you see at the end of this episode is that they resolved the issue. They moved toward a solution. Their solution was to agree to disagree. Sometimes that s the best we humans can do. So Paul went one way and Barnabas went another way. Listen to the account. 39 And there arose a sharp disagreement, so that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus, 40 but Paul chose Silas and departed, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41 And he went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. So those are some of the truths about disunity. Now let s move on to the subject of unity. ESV Philippians 4:2-3 2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. The issue of unity is so important that Paul brought it out into the public. Can you picture the setting? Epaphroditus, having been sent by the Philippian church to go to Paul, who s in a Roman prison, in order to bring him care and comfort. And then Paul sends him back with this letter to be read when the church gathers. So I can imagine, the pastor getting up on a Sunday morning and saying, Today, we don t have a sermon, but something even better. Epaphroditus 650 McNicoll Avenue, North York, Ontario, M2H 2E1 Page 2 of 5
has come back from Rome and has brought with him a letter, written by our founder and spiritual father in the faith, the Apostle Paul. Everyone, please take a seat. And so the letter is being read. --There s the warm greeting. --Paul s prayer of thanksgiving for them. --He shares of his imprisonment and the spread of the gospel even there. --And he speaks from his heart that his future is a bit uncertain and there s always the possibility that he might be executed. So should he remain living or should he die? And he says, that s a tough one. It s a win-win, and I d rather die, but I ll remain for your sake. --And then as the church leader continues to read, he comes to this incredible part about Christ, how he emptied and lowered himself from the heights of heaven to the depths of earth, in becoming a man and dying on a cross. --And so he encourages and challenges the Philippians to live a life in a manner that s worthy of the God who saved you. --And then he begins to write about two of his wonderful partners in ministry Timothy and Epaphroditus, and he praises their character, commitment, and sacrifice, implying that all of us should follow in their footsteps. And I bet the scene is just electric. Correspondence wasn t as frequent as it is today. It was special to get a letter, let alone a letter from the Apostle. --But there s more to this letter. The emotional crescendo is reaching it s peak as Paul begins to give his personal pedigree and resume, of all the things he could have banked on and gloried in, and he lays down the hammer when he says that all of it is loss, and again loss. And finally rubbish. Because his life s goal is only to know Christ. And he asks the Philippians to share this mindset. --The crescendo has been reached and now the letter is coming to a close. All of the members, the listeners are deep in thought, perhaps tears streaming down their faces, you can see the Spirit is moving, they re being renewed and recommitting to live for Jesus, like they ve never done before. And the leader continues reading ESV Philippians 4:2-3 2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Can you imagine the look on Euodia and Syntyche s faces as their names are being read, in front of everyone? What effect would that have had? Rebuke, embarrassment, shame, brokenness. Probably all of that. Paul had never done this in any of his letters. He never went public by naming names like he did with these two women. And this is from a guy who has seen some crazy stuff in the church. Just look to 1 Corinthians. That was one messed up church. There were lawsuits between church members, incestuous relationships just to name a couple, but he never mentions names. So why does Paul do what he does here? We never get to know what the exact issue was and perhaps it s not that important. But there has been a lot of speculation by scholars and the one 650 McNicoll Avenue, North York, Ontario, M2H 2E1 Page 3 of 5
that seemed most convincing to me is that the issue was ministry related. It wasn t just two women squabbling over some petty matter, but it was likely an issue related to something very important in the church. I think we know that from the context, because of the description that s given. Paul writes that they have labored at his side in the work of the gospel. Another reason it might have been brought to the public was because they were leaders in the church. If they were ministry partners with Paul, it s not a far stretch to think they were also in some sort of leadership position in the church and given they are leaders, the rebuke is public. Because if they are leaders, then their disagreement will have a public, a wide impact, perhaps on the whole church community. Isn t that true? It s disruptive enough when two regular members live in disunity now imagine the impact when two elders, deacons, pastors, teachers, missionaries are living in that type of disunity. And Paul has publicly rebuked leaders before. He even tackled the highest leader of the church in the apostle Peter. If you peek over to Galatians you can read about how Paul, personally and publicly confronted Peter for hypocrisy. Maybe you re in the middle of something right now. You may be one of the disagreeing members. Or you may be caught in the middle, torn between two sides, not knowing how to go about bringing a resolution. You may have to bring the two folks together and force them to work it out. And if you are one of the two disagreeing members, you have to seek out resolution. You can t just wish it away. You can t ignore it either. You have to face the problem and the person and work out a solution. Another step that s often needed to bring about unity is the help of a third party. In verse 2, Paul asks the help of a third party. In one sense he s the third party, but he can t be there in person, so he asks the help of an unnamed leader in the church to help Euodia and Syntyche. Usually, it s nothing more than our shame or pride that prevents us from seeking the advice and help of a third party. I don t want to believe that I might be wrong or that I might have a problem or that I need help. I can figure this out on my own. In our church we have about 5-10 weddings every year and all of these couples are required to take premarital class. And during these classes we talk about all the potential problems that can arise in marriage, that can stem from our family backgrounds, the way we were raised, our personalities, our views about various issues, and the list goes on and on. And with all these differences, there s always the potential of misunderstanding and communication breakdown. And so one piece of advice I give to all the couples in all the premarital classes is this. Before things get really bad and you re ready to throw in the towel or separate or before the relationship starts turning really sour seek out the help of a Christian marriage counselor. And of course I m speaking to both man and woman, but I m speaking to people who have in their minds a stigma when in comes to counseling. A stigma that says only really messed up people go into counseling. People with mental problems go into counseling. I don t want people to find out we need counseling, etc, etc. But I m also especially speaking to the men. Because usually it s the man who s too prideful to seek out help. It s men who can t stop to ask for directions. It s men 650 McNicoll Avenue, North York, Ontario, M2H 2E1 Page 4 of 5
who don t read books. It s men who can t assemble a simple table from Ikea because they won t look at the illustrations. So I say to these couples, before it gets too late, seek the help of a third party. Your marriage is worth it. And the same is true within the church. The church, you can say is just as, if not more important than a human marriage. And if that s true, then the unity of the church is just as, if not more important than unity in a marriage. And if that s true, then we should seek the advice and counsel of a third party. Folks, it s always pride, always pride, that makes us dig our trenches, and draw our lines in the sand, and make rash statements that we live to regret. We need to humble ourselves for unity s sake. And that often requires the intervention of a third party. Seek out help when disagreements arise, for the sake of the unity of Christ s church. Agree in the Lord For Jesus sake. Unity is behaviour befitting of those whose names are written in the book of life. Conclusion: Friends, the church is a tight community. It s supposed to be. When you live in tight quarters disagreements will happen. And of all the different things people can be doing in the world, you name it, the church, is doing THE MOST IMPORTANT THING the work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the farthest corners of the globe. And when you re working on stuff with stakes that are that high, you are bound to have disagreements. It s not having disagreements that bring disgrace to God. He knows we ll have disagreements. Rather, it s how we handle these disagreements that will determine whether the name of God is brought down or lifted up, whether the mission is impeded or accelerated. Folks, let s do all in our power, with the mighty help of the Spirit within us, to live in Unity. 650 McNicoll Avenue, North York, Ontario, M2H 2E1 Page 5 of 5