Have you ever had a brother or sister in Christ wish to give you a gift, or take you to dinner, or something like that, but you knew that it wasn’t something you needed? Or perhaps you knew that there was a “better” place for their resources to go? I know that I have and I’ve always felt a sense of discomfort about it. What we don’t realize is that even though it seems selfless, it can actually be more selfish to refuse the gift.

As I read in Philippians tonight, though it was something I knew, it occurred to me again that accepting that gift is often times a way to serve them in return.

Philippians 4:14-17:

Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.

Paul didn’t seek or ask for the gift from the Philippians. But he knew that they desired to serve God by serving him with their resources. So he graciously accepted their gift as it would be a service to their credit.

I would like, in those times, to realize that it may be self-centered to not accept a gift given in the Lord’s name. But perhaps the most selfless thing is to accept and appreciate their the love their showing me and God in contributing to my good.

In movies, in literature, in life, we hear people at the height of crisis say things like, “But I have always tried to do what is right” or “I have been a good person” or “I didn’t hurt people.” They don’t, in their eyes, deserve what they are getting.

The Jewish people had similar sentiments in regards to their laws and customs. And Paul responds to them.

Philippians 3:4-6

If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

As most of us who are familiar with this verse know, Paul doesn’t stop there with his boasting. He continues in verses 7 and 8 to explain that whatever was to his gain in his flesh is of no ultimate worth. It is unreliable.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

We are not the first ones to assess the things our culture views as noble and elevate them beyond their appointed place. To do those things and pat ourselves on the back. Even become angry when we do not receive what we feel we deserve thanks to those things.

Like most of us know, and Paul reminds, those things which, in our minds, may lift us above those around us, are really of little worth at all—especially in the harsh light of Christ and the free grace that he offers to each of us, if we would only stop relying on those things.

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Quoted in this video:

Ephesians 4:8-9:

Therefore it says,

    "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
   and he gave gifts to men."

(In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth?

And, Psalm 68:18:

You ascended on high,
    leading a host of captives in your train
   and receiving gifts among men,
even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there.

At least a couple of times during my first couple years as a Christian, my beliefs over certain theological things were shaken dramatically. I was forced to reassess my stance.  Both times that I can remember clearly, I resisted changing my belief because doing so would be a shot to my pride and I would have to own that.

Reading in Galatians this morning, it occurred to me that if anyone else had experienced this kind of thing, it was probably Paul. Galatians 1:22-23:

And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, "He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."

There’s a reason people use the term ‘Pauline Conversion’ when talking about people’s dramatic changes in opinion. It’s because scarcely was there ever a person who made a more spectacular 180 degree turn.

Paul was actually a violent opponent to the Gospel. After God struck him on the road, the greater portion of his theological belief was turned on its head. He stopped persecuting the church and instead, became a part of it and preached the Gospel with more vigor than nearly all of his contemporaries in the Church.

Thank God the Holy Spirit convicted him with the potency that he did and that he didn’t tarry, resisting the discovery of this truth, since he eventually became the author of most of the New Testament.

When our convictions are shaken and changed, we should not to give our pride space to stop us. If we discover we are mistaken in our belief, we should humbly accept that we were wrong and move into what we have discovered. Not like I have, sitting, resisting, insisting that somehow our original belief was right—just for the sake of saving face.

1 Corinthians 11:1

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Paul writes these words to the Corinthians. He has just explained some of how he chooses to interact with the Lost. Giving up many of his own liberties, at times, to better meet those people where they are. And so he tells the Corinthian church to imitate him, as he imitates Christ.

This verse is often used in the more direct sense that we should imitate our leader’s as they attempt to imitate Christ. This is an apt application of the scripture. But it occurred to me this morning as I was reading that we could also probably apply this in a broader sense as well.

As believers we all are imitators of Christ. We all have his Word and his Gospel. While the early church needed leaders to be a kind of ‘walking scripture’ to remind them of the Truth (they didn’t have very may written copies yet, and no one had a copy all to themselves which they could study daily), we now have the written transcripts and almost all of us have one all to ourselves. Those leading figures in our community remain important, but perhaps not always in the exact same way.

Because of this, we are all in a position to learn from each other and pour into one another. In some ways, we are all to each other, as Paul was to the Corinthians. We are all imitators of Christ to each other.

It stands to reason, with some limit, that we ought to not only look to our assigned leaders for our example, but also each other as to how to imitate Christ. To assess what is honorable in each other and imitate that.

Perhaps I have a great will and ability to read and study God’s word, while you have a great will and ability to seek God in prayer. These are both honorable things, and looking to each other, we should see what is good and attempt to emulate that as well.

I suspect this would help us to have a healthier view of following and serving God in our various ways, rather than idealizing church leadership and viewing that as the ‘pinnacle’ of following Christ.

A scripture many of us are familiar with. It’s often used when talking about evangelism. 1 Corinthians 2:1-4:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Whenever I come across this scripture I’m baffled how something so clear can be so totally neglected in institutional church ministry at large.

Even though he was well educated and able to debate the world with the best of them, Paul resolved not to employ such methods. This was so that when the people believe, there would be no risk that their faith would rest on his power of persuasion, but on God’s power alone.

While parts of the church are beginning to move into a healthier mindset, there is still a huge, possibly even vast majority, of the church who is still spending loads of money and time and resources attempting to craft an appealing ministry that will draw in crowds. It’s like Tim Keller says:

“What you win people with, you will keep them with.”

Don’t get me wrong, there is value in meeting people where they are at and allowing ourselves to be culturally relevant. But that happens on a personal level, not a corporate one. When the church manufactures ‘relevance’ the world can tell and just adds one more drop in the bucket for why the institutional church shouldn’t be trusted.

Romans 11:29

“…The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable.”

Paul is writing about the nation of Israel. They are an illustration here for how God deals with people. And in this instance he is saying that although God has allowed his chosen people to be hardened in heart for the sake of the gentiles who would be saved, he has not forgotten his promises to that nation.

But there are dual meanings, as virtually every classic Christian commentator agrees.

Therefore, this verse becomes among the most encouraging, strengthening, truths of God’s love to ever fall on the pages of scripture. Though we may fail, we need not succumb to despair. Though we are weak we can take heart and confidence because God’s gifts and callings are irrevocable.