Directions: Persecution = Comfort

Philippians 1:27-30

²⁷Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, ³⁰engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

This was a passage that i preached through in my Pulpit Speech class and it has really stuck with me. I thought I'd share with you my thoughts from this passage. First, Paul is writing to the church in Philippi, a well known Roman port city that had mixed Greek and Roman culture. This fact will help us understand the different images Paul uses to convey his message in these verses. Paul was very close to the Philippians from the time he founded the church. We see Paul's instructions to his dear friends to "let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ." the verb Paul uses "be worthy" used in the context means to live in a way that is honoring of your citizenship. Later on in the book Paul will tell the church that their citizenship is in heaven. Citizenship is a thing that a Roman colony would understand quite well. Roman citizenship was either given by birth, earned by service in the military, or bought; no matter how one received Roman citizenship it was expected of them to act in a way that would be honoring to the emperor. However, in this passage Paul is saying that believers must act in a way that is honoring and consistent with the gospel of Christ. How does one live a life worthy of the Gospel? Paul gives us 2 ways that we can live lives worthy of the gospel.

1. Living a life worthy of the gospel requires being unified.

" you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, "

a. the first part to being unified is standing firm in one spirit.

This is not some ecumenical command for all people who call themselves Christians regardless of biblical beliefs. Instead this is a call to all those who seek to follow Christ to stand fast. This is a Roman military reference. Soldiers would dig in their feet to not be pushed backwards. In more modern terms it'd be similar to an offensive line in football. Their job is to work together to make sure their opponents do not push past them. Standing firm so they are not moved backwards. Applied spiritually this means that we cannot budge on the things that are mandatory to the gospel. If we are willing to be pushed aside on things about the gospel how can our lives be honoring to the gospel? 

b. the second part to being unified is striving side by side.

This is a Greek games term for wrestling. The idea is to be struggling, to be pushing forward. Again similar to a running play in football, an offensive line must not just simply stand firm but must push forward acting as one person to accomplish a goal. In our lives we must not be satisfied with "being doctrinally sound" but we MUST put those beliefs into action! We have been called to tell the world about the gospel of Christ. we must stand together push together until everyone has heard.

This is the first part to living a life honorable of the gospel; however, this is not the end.

2. living a life worthy of the gospel requires persecution

This is a really popular topic on Bible campuses and those who explore other cultures. So often we worship people who go through persecution for their beliefs and sit back in our Lazyboy chairs and thank God that we live in a country where we do not have to suffer persecution. Unfortunately I see no room for that type of attitude when we consider what Paul has to say about persecution.

"and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, ³⁰engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have."

Paul says that when Christians suffer for the gospel that those who persecute them will see it as a sign of destruction for them, but as Christians suffer it is a sign to them that they are saved. Paul says that persecution is a gift for Christians. Paul seems to not think twice about Christians not suffering. Yes, in his time period it would have been almost impossible to claim Christ and not suffer in the religious system in Rome. But Paul knew the world and that claiming Christ would never be viewed by pagans as good thing. Persecution is a gift given to Christians to be assured of their salvation. In America though the worst persecution is a slammed door or expletives thrown at us. We never face persecution as severe as other Christians across the globe. Am i thankful i live in America? Yeah! Unfortunately though American Christians tend to lack the fervor to spread the gospel like we ought. Now i think that following Paul's logic in this passage he says in effect, "If you live a life worthy of the gospel; you will be persecuted" So what would the logical conclusion to American Christians NOT being persecuted? that the American church is NOT LIVING a life worthy of the gospel....why would anyone persecute Christians that aren't doing anything worth trying to stop. I am convinced that we do not suffer persecution simply because of our geographical location, but our lack of living a life worthy of the Gospel. I believe if the American church would start standing firm together striving forward together, that we will be persecuted. That is not a bad thing! it actually assures us that we believe something worthy of suffering for. so the directions are to view Persecution (no matter how small or large) as Comfort (a gift from God) SO START DOING SOMETHING WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL