Philippians 2:3 - Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
One of the most common flaws in humanity is our natural tendency to think about ourselves before we think of others. The root of pride is one that is hard to dig out and eliminate because it spreads throughout so many areas of our lives. We tend to compare ourselves to others and secretly hope that we come out on top. Let’s face it, humanity has a pride problem.
So when people are brought together into the church by the grace of Christ, suddenly they have to learn how to not see one another as lesser or better than the other. That tendency to look out for number one doesn’t really work all that well in Christian community, or any community for that matter.
Paul’s admonition here is to avoid two things when it comes to pride, namely, selfish ambition and conceit. Ambition is a good thing because it means you have goals and aspirations. Having a drive towards those goals is healthy and right. However, if those goals only matter because of what you get out of them, then you will do anything in order to reach them, even if it means harming others on your way there.
This selfishness destroys community because it comes from a place of conceit, or arrogance. How will you help your brother and sister in Christ if you are so focused on what you want that you can’t see their needs? How can you love others when at the end of the day you just want people to love you? Selfishness makes you blind to the world around you, and this is simply incompatible with how the church is meant to operate.
However, if we pursue humility, which is seeing yourself as no greater or lesser than anyone else, then Christian community can thrive. All the comparison goes out the window. All the need to see one person rise above the rest becomes unimportant. What matters most in a humble community is that everyone is healthy in Christ, growing in the gospel and satisfied in pursuing Christ with the individual giftings and purposes that God has given each person.
Counting others as more significant than yourself is not making them more valuable than you are. Really what it does is places everyone on a level playing field, because if everyone is trying to do this, then everyone will be significant in the life and mission of the church. No matter the background, the financial position, the career or the cultural importance of a person, God makes all people in the church equal in Christ.
Pride is the enemy of a loving community. Today, pray that God would reveal areas where you may be thinking or behaving in selfish ways towards others. Ask the Lord to help you fight that pride and replace it with humility. You don’t have to think less of yourself to accomplish this, you only need to think of yourself less. Be ambitious, but let the drive of that ambition be the good of others. You can still look after yourself, but don’t let that be all you do today.
