Circumstances are a powerful force in uniting people. There is an immediate connection when we realize that someone is experiencing the same thing we are. There is a sense of community. When someone in that community needs help, the rest of the group will rally around them.
It was more than a decade ago when Brian Wood was killed in a car accident. He was hit in an almost head-on collision with another car. There were four people in the other car. The two in the backseat also died in the accident. The driver of this other car, Jordyn Weichert (21), was driving under the influence of drugs and allowed her passenger to hold the wheel while she took off her sweater.
Brian was driving along the road with his pregnant wife. He saw the other car swerving in and out of his lane and then eventually begin tumbling towards him. His immediate reaction was to slam on the breaks and swerve the car to the right so that the oncoming car would slam into his side protecting his wife on the other side. Because of his actions, his wife survived and the baby was okay.
The reason I tell you this story is not because of Brian’s sacrifice, but to tell you about what happened afterward. Brian worked for a video game company. He was a programmer who helped make some of the most popular games out at the time. I’m not a gamer. And if I’m honest, I would have to say that I have always thought of gamers as the kind of people who don’t have much of a community. They sit in front of their screen and play online against opponents whom they have never met in person.
I was surprised to learn that this gaming community started a memorial fund in his honor. Complete strangers donated money, wrote letters of prayers and encouragement, and rallied around this widow to care for her.
The first chapter of Philippians, Paul speaks about how the work that God began will be completed. He prays that their love would abound in discernment and that they might be filled with the fruit of righteousness. But all of this is leading us to his exhortation for unity. Paul longs to see them with one mind and one spirit striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. Trials will come. Suffering is sure to increase. Will they be united in order to endure?
Unfortunately, we are all too often content to take the path of least resistance. Stress remains low, energy remains full, and nothing significant ever happens. Quietly going about their lives, believers often cower before a hostile culture, because standing firm for the gospel is inconvenient.
Although Christians might suffer alongside one another, that isn’t what unites them. Their circumstances are always secondary. What truly unites them is their gospel faith. The community we enjoy because of our union with Christ is essential to our perseverance in suffering.
Read https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Php1.27-30 (Philippians 1:27-30).
United for the Gospel (27) Paul’s focus on unity begins here and continues until https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Php2.18 (Phil 2:18). “Let your manner of life” literally means “to live as a citizen”. Philippi was a Roman colony. Thus, it’s inhabitants were Roman citizens. This came with certain privileges. Paul wants them to think the same about their heavenly citizenship (https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Php3.20 (Phil 3:20)) and to live according to the privileges and responsibilities of belonging to it.
To live in a manner worthy of the gospel is to possess a lifestyle that compliments the faith you proclaim and the community to which you belong.
Paul desires to know that the Philippians are standing firm in one Spirit and one mind whether or not he is able to see them again. I think “Spirit” should be capitalized. Some commentaries note it would be difficult to distinguish “the human spirit” from “the human psyche [inner desires/thoughts—soul].” Others suggest that it is a reference to the human spirit...
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