Wednesday, January 17, 2007


Whose Side Are We On Anyway?

With all of the recent turmoil over evangelistic methodology and general missiology, one could wonder if more time is not being spent waging war against the "brethren" rather than focusing upon the transformation of lives by the saving of souls. In my short stint on the Executive Board of the Missouri Baptist Convention, as well as my time spent on the Nominating Committee of the same, I have had more than my fair share of front line perspective. Perhaps one day I'll write a novel or more appropriately produce a soap opera entitled, "As the Stomach Churns."

Be that as it may, such experiences have led me to search the Scriptures again seeking the light of Divine wisdom to shine down upon the chaos of our human condition. And, once again, I turn to the writings of the Apostle Paul (Gee I love that guy!). In his letter to the Philippians, Paul addresses the issue of unity within the body. Philippi was noted as a veterans colony. Interestingly enough, it plays a very significant role in the history of Rome. Philippi was the site of the two greatest land battles in Roman history between Brutus and Cassius (the murderers of Julius Caesar) on one side and Marc Antony and Octavian (Julius' step-son, later to be known as Caesar Augustus) on the other. These two battles were known commonly as the "two works of Philippi." [The credit for this information, though easily enough documented through numerous other sources, belongs to Dr. Alan Tomlinson, Professor of New Testament at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, who is without question the single greatest expert I know on the first century A.D. ]

This is essential to understanding the book, because when you keep in mind that the common understanding of the day in Philippi of the word "work" was a battle, then the entire letter takes on a new essence. Paul is writing to the Philippians about the "work" of the Gospel, the furtherance of the Gospel message. The problem was that in the church at Philippi there were two ladies whom Paul had at one time worked alongside in the furtherance of the Gospel, and these two ladies, for some reason, got crosswise with one another (Imagine that, I knew they were Baptist!). Anyway, Paul writes a strong letter of admonishment to the church to help these ladies be reconciled in their differences because their "personal problems" were spilling out all over the body at Philippi with the consequence that the Gospel was being hindered.

Isn't that interesting! That's exactly what happens every time that evangelism becomes the focus of the body, strife and division creep in and undermine the work which was once begun. Paul doesn't spend time telling the church how they can have greener lawns, better kids or a more meaningful quiet time with the Lord, he speaks to them about the greatest single issue plaguing the church at that moment, division. It is the cancer that will devour the Gospel witness of the body and ultimately the body itself.

A couple of months ago, a lady in our church came to me and told me that they had found a spot on her breast but that they did not believe that it was cancerous. She informed the doctor that she didn't want to take any chances (having already lost one breast to cancer); therefore, she insisted upon having a mastectomy. A couple of weeks later, the test result came back on the spot and it revealed a rapid growing malignant tumor. Had she not taken a radical step when she did, by the time they realized what was going on it may have been too late.

Paul was treating the Philippians the same way. They needed to take a radical step toward bringing reconciliation into the body. Why? Because lost people were going to a Christless eternity without hearing the Gospel while brothers and sisters were drawing lines and choosing sides. Notice that the solution was not that one of the two ladies had to leave, but rather that they needed to be reconciled.

Folks, the world knows how to fight without us giving them lessons in it. I pray that we can get past the pride that seems to pervade nearly every level of denominational life and turn our hearts back toward what we were called to in the first place...the furtherance of the Gospel.

Just my thoughts.

4 comments:

Rev. said...

Too often we forget that authentic Christian unity and the task of evangelism are intertwined. The Lord Jesus Christ made this plain as He prayed for His people (John 17:20-23):

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me."

Rev. said...

Too often we forget that authentic Christian unity and the task of evangelism are intertwined. The Lord Jesus Christ made this plain as He prayed for His people (John 17:20-23):

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me."

Tom Willoughby said...

James,

You are absolutely correct. It's almost as if we are defining ourselves these days more by what battles we have been in within the body than by the scars of persecution which come from the bold proclamation of the Gospel.

I call this "soap opera Christianity." Just like on a soap opera, some people have got to go from crisis to crisis in order to validate an otherwise boring existence. As you know, there is nothing boring about evangelism! In short, these people have WAY too much time on their hands.

Rev. said...

Tom, may we be like the Apostle Paul, who wrote to the Galatians: "From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." (6:17)