We’re living through the last dying breaths of the war in Afghanistan. American forces are retreating as we hand this poor country over to the tender mercies of the Taliban. Most agree the war was necessary to rid the country of Al-Qaeda. Most also agree that the war went on too long, with many terrible consequences, not least the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding before our eyes.

Although these horrific and horrifying scenes are imprinted on our minds forever, that’s a good thing, because we need to see the full consequences of war now if we are to avoid unnecessary wars in the future. Although not intended, the pictures and sounds of the suffering at the airport, have helped answer the question many have asked through the centuries: “How do we stop war?” Show the catastrophic consequences.

Similarly, in Philippians 2:14-16, the Apostle Paul uses the horrendous results of war and the happy results of peace to answer the question, “How do we stop church fights?”

Listen here.

“My work out isn’t working out.” A few months ago, one of my friends started working out again. He really went hard at it, working out at the gym five days a week. Lots of effort, pain, sweat, blood, and tears.

But, two months in, his weight had hardly dropped, and his muscles had hardly grown. He was discouraged. “All that work and nothing to show for it,” he moaned. I tried to encourage him, that if he kept working at it, he would eventually see some change. But, I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure. Some people just can’t seem to lose weight. Others can’t seem to put on muscle, (I’m one of them).

Sometimes we feel the same about holiness. We’re working hard at putting off bad habits and putting on new habits, but we still don’t seem to be making any progress. “All that work and nothing to show for it. How do we keep working on holiness, when holiness isn’t working? When it comes to holiness, we can be sure our work will pay off, because God’s Word is sure in Philippians 2:12-13.

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We’re living in days of disunity, Christian disunity. It’s not just the historic inter-church disunity that flows from denominational divisions and splits.  It’s the present inner-church disunity being caused by COVID-19. Christians are painfully divided over politics, masks, vaccines, social distancing, Dr Fauci, and so on.

We will probably never agree on these matters. So do we just give up and accept the disunity. How can Christians unite while disagreeing about COVID-19? Is that possible? Yes, if we can find something far more important to agree on, that will vaporize these squabbles. That’s what Paul does in Philippians 2:9-11.

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Think about the humblest person you’ve ever known. Don’t you want to be like that? While the world boasts about pride, the Christian glories in humility. Humility is so beautiful. Pride is so ugly. But how do I get humility? Thankfully Paul answers that for us in Philippians 2:6-8.

Paul has called First Church of Philippi to unity through humility. Their next question though is, How do I get humility? Paul’s points the Philippians to Christ’s mind. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus (5). Think like Jesus did. A Jesus outlook would produce a Jesus outcome, a Jesus attitude would result in Jesus actions. A Jesus mind would be seen in Jesus manners. So, what did Jesus think about all the time? Look at Philippians 2:6-8.

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I lived through a terrible church split in Scotland. My historic presbyterian denomination was gradually torn apart over a period of ten years until it ruptured completely in the January 2000 over theological and moral issues.

It was a terrible time with disastrous consequences that continued to devastate individual lives, marriages, families, and churches for years to come. I remember visiting with a counselor a few years after the split, who told me that his practice had been overwhelmed with depressed and anxious Christians from both sides of the divide.

Sometimes church division is inevitable, but, I’m sure you’ll agree, unity is preferable if possible. So, how can we promote church unity? The Apostle’s Paul’s one word answer is ‘humility.’ Unity is sourced in humility and humility serves unity. But he used more than one word to persuade First Church of Philippi of this in Philippians 2:1-4.

Listen to more here.

When I opened Facebook this morning, I came across a message from a UK family whose parents have been missionaries in Afghanistan for the last ten years and are presently hiding for their lives. The family wrote: “They have led countless people to Jesus. Most of whom will meet him in the coming days.”

“Just Facetimed with my parents” wrote one of the family members. “They are hiding, surrounded by gunfire and bombs. Everyone is hiding in their homes. The Taliban are taking women, and slaughtering anyone who resists them. They will kill all foreigners and anyone who has worked with foreigners over the past 20 years. Yet my mum and dad are full of peace and joy.”

What? Full of peace and joy while surrounded by bombs and bullets? Full of peace and joy, knowing that they are about to be killed?

How were they suffering for Christ without fear? How can I suffer for Christ without fear? Philippians 1:28-30 explains how. It starts with not frightened in anything by your opponents (29). How’s that possible? Paul reframes suffering to remove fear.

Listen to the rest of the episode here.