Philippians 2:1-13
2 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that wasin Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
as something to be exploited,
7 but emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
8 he humbled himself
and became obedient to the point of death—
even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Meditation
Over the last several months, I have pondered the sediment of “Why Bother?” and surprisingly had a conversation recently where a friend also posed the same question. My friend and I discussed the concept of original sin (we are born into sin) and how that makes life automatically tainted. I was able to bring the conversation to the grace found in Jesus. Grace which is available to all who faithfully respond to it and which is the antidote to original sin. What still remained was the question, “why bother living a righteous life if Christ’s sacrifice covered our sin?” Why bother, indeed?
My best guess to an answer finally came several days after our conversation. This is probably not the only answer and I am over simplifying. We bother to follow some semblance of good (or righteous) behavior (some might call this obedience) to express our gratitude to Jesus Christ’s sacrifice which extended grace to humanity. Now, our obedience is reflected in how we treat others and our reverence to God. In other words, following the law of love for God and neighbor. Recognizing that we can’t completely pull off this great love (which is why we are asking this question to begin with), we confess or repent. Confession or repentance is the act of acknowledging we all “fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and we keep on trying because we are so grateful for the grace of God we receive through faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul says it much better, of course. The interesting thing about this passage in Philippians is that it wants to sound like we are striving to become like Christ. Christ is our example and we follow that example, but becoming like Christ is unattainable because he is the one who has been tested and is “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). So, the “same mind” (vss. 2 and 5) is actually referring to Paul’s mindset found previously in this letter (see Philippians 1:15-30). Paul rejoices that his being in prison is actually furthering the message of Jesus Christ and equates his struggles with some struggles that the Philippians are also having. Our text is his pastoral care for them to stay strong by sharing “encouragement in Christ,” “consolation in love,” the Spirit of compassion and sympathy, and be fully committed with each other (vs. 1) to live life “in a manner worthy of Christ” (Philippians 1:27).
Paul gets to the why bother in verses 12 and 13. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for [God’s] good pleasure” (vss. 12b-13). Said another way, understand with awe and reverence that grace (that is Jesus) has secured your salvation, and know that God is working in you not only to have the desire but also the ability to fulfill the call God has on your life. Why bother? Because the grace of God is irresistibly worth as much gratitude as we can muster.