Standing in Love

 

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Philippians 1:27-30 ESV).

 

Sometimes Christians appear a little shaky. Some lash out at critics. In some cases, because of fears that a “culture war” might cause trouble for the church, some Christians urge people to engage in hardball politics to try to get their way. Make no mistake: Paul tells the Philippians to stand firm and not to compromise the gospel. We have enemies to face. But we have to face them in a way that is consistent with the gospel and with Jesus, who willingly suffered rather than lash out in anger. “Don’t be scared of those who oppose you,” Paul says, in effect; “fear is for uncertain people. But if we are certain that we have already won the victory in Jesus, then we have nothing to fear, and our confidence proves to our enemies that they have already lost!”

 

These verses from Philippians deliver a daunting challenge. For Paul’s first readers, this was not easy to do in the Roman Empire, where hostility toward the church became state policy. Nobody would want to suffer. Yet Paul says that suffering was “granted” to the Philippians, as though it was a gift. That’s the way Paul saw it. To suffer for Jesus and like Jesus— well, that’s a gift. And it helps the world see Jesus more clearly than if we try to inflict suffering on others because of our fears.

 

All of this is tempered with an understanding of our responsibility and opportunity to love others the way Jesus did. As infuriating as other people and their beliefs may be to us, we have this “gift” to be able to respond with equal parts of grace-giving and truth-telling, all done in the hope and expectation that the Holy Spirit will use our actions and words to bring glory to God and redeem a fallen world. Much of what I see today from the church has no love or grace mixed in with their truth. That is not the way of the Lord.