Complete Joy in Unity
“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” (Philippians 2:1-2)
Here is a fine example of rhetorical statements, i.e. when the response is obvious. ‘Can fish swim….’ or ‘If the Pope is Catholic….’
‘If there is any encouragement in Christ….’ Well of course there is!
‘If there is any consolation of love….’ Of course there is!
‘If there is any fellowship of the Spirit….’ Yes, of course there is!
‘If there is any affection and compassion….’ You guessed it. There is!
If the reply to all these ‘If’ statements is, ‘Of course there is,’ then what are the Philippians to do? They are to make Paul’s joy complete by
1) being of the same mind,
2) maintaining the same love,
3) united in spirit and
4) intent on one purpose.
This is what you could call a common problem to all believers, all churches, everywhere and in any century. This is a command to us, not a wish list or a timely suggestion. If the above statements are true then this unity is required.
The passage doesn’t stop with this. We are told to do nothing from selfishness and to regard others as more important than ourselves. In fact, we are to have the same attitude in ourselves that was in Christ Jesus when He left heaven to come and die for us.
This is where all the Christians say in unison, ‘But we are only human.’ But if we go back to the first verse of chapter 2, we agreed that there is encouragement in Christ, and the fellowship of the Spirit, etc. Therefore we are able (but unwilling) to be obedient to verse 2.
Many of us (all of us) would be more than willing to be of the same mind, as long as it was our mind, not another’s.
What is particularly sad about this is that many would not rejoice as Paul says he would, if all the Christians we knew were of the same mind.
This unity of mind is attached to 2:5-11, which is all about Christ emptying Himself, humbling Himself, dying for us, and then being exalted above every name. And in the end, we will all bow our knees and all will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to God’s glory!
This is the encouragement of Christ; this is the consolation of love; this is the fellowship of the Spirit. All Christians, if they are Christians have already bowed their knees to Christ and His Father. We can then be of the same mind, we can maintain the same love, and we can be united in spirit and intent on one purpose.
And what joy that would follow from our leaders! Well, maybe not so much if they are intent on being ‘more right’ on secondary or tertiary doctrines. But Paul would have been joyful and we know that unity of the believers is what Jesus prayed for. (John 17:22-23)
Heather Jean Torosyan