Skip to main content

What's Next? Consider others

 


Other-centredness is a big theme in the letter to the Philippians.

God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ (Phil. 1:8-10)

The 'you' and 'yours' are all plural. Paul is saying that as your love as a community abounds more and more you will be able to discern as a community what’s best next. Working out what is best next is not a solo thing. It happens in community. So as you explore gospel work:

  • Seek the wisdom of your church family and leadership;
  • Fully involve your spouse and children in the journey (if you have them) – they need to be on board from the beginning and all through;
  • Listen carefully to family members and honour your parents (even if they are not Christians).

And just as love drives good decision making, so love also should be the driver of gospel work:

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel. (Phil. 1:15-16)

The right motivation for gospel work is an other-person-centred love. Timothy is a great example of that – ‘genuinely concerned for your [the Philippians’] welfare’ (Phil. 2:20). This is another very important point to underline: we have got to ministering out of love for people. Sadly it is possible to pursue gospel work from twisted motives – coveting someone else’s (perceived) glory and position. With one study In Canada finding almost 1 in 3 pastors having narcissistic tendencies, this is not a small problem. 

Other-person-centred love is not just an issue for gospel workers. It is what Paul prayed for in his opening prayer for the whole Philippian church. It is the foundational, Christ-like, gospel-born virtue: 

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. (Phil. 2:3-4)

Instead of having a false and inward-looking view of ourselves (‘vain conceit’ – literally ‘empty glory’) we are to have a ‘humility’ shaped by the gospel (Phil. 2:1-2, 6-8) which looks outward to the concerns of others and is far more keen to serve than be served. This has huge implications for every Christian:

  1. It changes how we do whatever work we are doing: the motivation, manner, quality, quantity. We are to do everything in love. 
  2. It changes how we decide what line of work we will pursue. We are not pursuing a career for our own sake or to compete with others but we are looking to do what is best for others and lifts them up. “The question regarding our choice of work is no longer "What will make me the most money and give me the most status?" The question must now be "How, with my existing abilities and opportunities, can I be of greatest service to other people, knowing what I do of God's will and of human need?" (Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor).

So in our decisions about what next, in our motivation, in our process of discernment – we are to consider others. This takes the focus off ‘me and my gifts’ and looks outward in love. 

But, finally, there is another even more important place we should be looking outside of ourselves... Consider Christ


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Holding together restlessness and optimism

Piper has a great section in his Marks of a Spiritual Leader  where he holds together two vital biblical leadership virtues: 1. RESTLESS Spiritual leaders have a holy discontentment with the status quo. Non-leaders have inertia that causes them to settle in and makes them very hard to move off of dead center. Leaders have a hankering to change, to move, to reach out, to grow, and to take a group or an institution to new dimensions of ministry. They have the spirit of Paul, who said in Philippians 3:13, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Leaders are always very goal-oriented people. God’s history of redemption is not finished. The church is shot through with imperfections, lost sheep are still not in the fold, needs of every sort in the world are unmet, sin infects the saints. It is un...
Post a Comment
Read more

Matt Perman on Management and Leadership

These are quotes from the What's Best Next Toolkit ( mobi file ) - a free resource of online extra chapters and articles that accompanies Matt Perman's must read book “Leadership is not about you. It is about serving others, building them up, and making them more effective. “if you keep trying to do the sorts of things you did as an individual contributor, you simply won’t have time to lead at all.” “Now, the leaders should sometimes, frequently even, pitch in directly by working along side the people on his or her team. But this shouldn’t be the main thing the leader does. He needs to be setting direction, looking out ahead, and aligning people.” “Leadership in the pastoral role is practiced primarily  through  the ministry of the word and prayer.” “every week or so, review the org chart and reflect what actions you can proactively take to keep things going in the right direction, or to help make someone more effective, and so forth.” “There is a significa...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's Next? Consider the range of training possibilities

It has always been important to be trained in gospel work. Priscilla and Aquilla mentored Apollos and corrected his doctrine (Acts 18:26). Barnabas and Paul practiced a form of ministry ‘apprenticeship’, taking a succession of ‘ministry trainees’ along with them on their missionary church planting journeys. In particular we've talked before about Paul's mentoring of Timothy (Phil. 2:22 and 1 & 2 Tim). Doing a ministry traineeship year or two would certainly be something to strongly consider if you haven’t already done one.  Be aware that across the UK there is a variation between different ministry trainee programmes, with the proportions of practical service, mentoring, formal training and opportunities for Word ministry differing considerably. In addition, there are a wide range of theological and ministry training options now available – some online, some residential, some full-time, some part-time. In fact we live in an age of amazing opportunities to access excellent...
Post a Comment
Read more