“I beseech Euodias and I beseech Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. 3. And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.”
We sometimes think that we should return to things like they were in the early church, when people got along and merrily served the Lord. It wouldn’t hurt us to return to some early church practices, but we need to also be reminded that the early church was made up of human beings who had opinions and ideas that occasionally clashed. Philippians 4:2-3 is a case in point. Two powerful and influential women in the Philippian church were, evidently, having a major fuss about something. Whatever the problem between them was it probably did not have anything to do with the gospel, for Paul admonished them to “agree in the Lord.” Paul was suggesting, or demanding, that they put their personal difficulties aside and remember that they both served the Lord. When Paul wrote that they be of the “same mind in the Lord,” he did not necessarily mean that they could come to agreement on the problem, but that they put the problem aside for the sake of the Lord’s work. We need to learn this lesson in churches today. I think that it is impossible for any organization made up of human beings to be in total agreement about everything. Obviously, the church is no exception. I think that Paul is reminding these two ladies that they will just have to learn to disagree like Christians. What does it mean to “disagree like Christians”? It means that we realize that there is something, or someone, more important than our opinions on certain subjects. It also means that there is something, or someone, more important than our feelings about certain subjects. I have decided that the most important thing in a lot of Christian’s lives is their feelings, because if you hurt their feelings, they can just walk away from God’s work. Evidently, the work of the Philippian church was stalled because of the disagreement between these two powerful women. Euodias and Syntyche just needed to get themselves out of the way in order for the Lord’s work to continue. I don’t know what this disagreement was about, but it was hurting the work of the church. I would really hate to think that I was standing in the way of the progress of Christ’s kingdom because of my own stubbornness. Furthermore, it appears to me that others were joining in this disagreement. In other words, it appears that people were beginning to take sides. Some might have said, “I am on Euodias’ side. Come on let’s fight.” Paul reminded the Philippian believers that they were to “help those women who labored with me in the gospel.” If they really wanted to help these two women, they would not join them in their disagreement, but that they would encourage them to get over whatever it was that was causing the problem. This is a good lesson for us. Instead of saying “come let’s fight,” we should say that this fight is not as important as the work of the Lord. If something, or someone, is keeping your church from going forward in the work, you should lovingly, “speaking the truth in love,” remind him or her that the church’s work is more important than his or her opinions or their feelings. I think that a good old-fashioned prayer meeting with the people would be in order so that the real work of Christ’s church could get back on track. I guess that as long as the church is made up of human beings, and it will always be, there will be disagreements to sidetrack the work. But we shouldn’t settle for that. We should heed Paul’s admonition and help those men or women to be of the “same mind in the Lord.” Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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