Week 49 Philippians 2
Paul gave this advice to readers of Philippians: do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. In humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but to the interests of the others.
So…a kind of double-whammy for me:
• Don’t be motivated by my own self-centered ambition
• Consider other people to be more valuable than I am
No doubt Paul anticipated the how-do-I-do-that? question because he went on to say I have to have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
Then to explain Christ’s mindset Paul described how Christ voluntarily took on the role of a poor labouring-class man at the bottom end of the socio-economic scale. He made himself nothing. That explanation is okay but it’s a bit tricky because it raises the complicated technical question of what-all exactly was involved in Christ’s Big Divestment? For example how do I square Jesus’ off-loading of divine qualities with his still being able to walk on water?
There’s no knowing where the question will lead. But i have to be cautious. I’ve got to remember that there’s a) The Point and then there’s b) the thing Illustrating the Point (and The Illustration can’t be bigger than The Point).
So a couple of bible reader’s reminders:
First: my focus is on The Point (which in this case is to learn humility).
Second: the illustration is there to illustrate (no matter how elaborate it is).
Note: quotes from Philippians 2:3-4 5 7 (NIV). And see the whole passage 2:3-11