CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

May 1, 2005

 

MATTERS OF PRAYER:

Our congregation                                                                 Our college students

 

Our nation, military, and leaders                                        David, Leon and James in the military

 

Various friends, relatives and co-workers

 

BIRTHDAYS:

2nd - Nona King, Jason King   7th - Jolene Mearns    18th Rusty Hudson

19th - Carole Berry       23rd - Shalaina Cruthirds        

 

 

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS

 

“In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had” (Philippians 2:5).

 

Communicating is difficult, communicating with today’s postmodern society is a challenge.  We have said some things about this, and will probably say more in the future.  Over the last several years, much has been said and written about relationships.  How we view the church affects relationships.  If we see the church as an institution, then the institution is defended at the cost of relationships.  If it is seen as a family, then we build relationships.  Those perspectives are being observed by the postmodern generation.  What do they see?

 

Leonard Sweet sees people with three areas of relationships.  One is the family, another work.  The third is what is up in the air.  It should be the church but it often is other things such as Star Bucks Coffee.  Rubel Shelly mentions a rather funny list of things one will not hear in church. 

 

                                It’s my turn to sit on the front row today.

                                I was so caught up in the message today, I didn’t notice you went 25 minutes over.

                                Personally I find going out and sharing the gospel with people more enjoyable than

                                                golf or fishing.

                                I volunteer to be the permanent teacher for the junior high Wednesday night class.

                                Forget the typical preacher pay, let’s pay our preacher so he can live at the same level

                                                the rest of us do.

                                I love it when we sing new hymns, ones we never heard before.

                                Since we are all here, let’s go ahead and start service early.

                                Preacher, we like to send you to this Bible seminar we heard about in the Bahamas.

                               

Even though it is funny, we understand the humor of the above.  But the current generation would not understand many of those things.  Shelly listed things that the postmodern would not hear in a congregation.

 

                                We don’t have all the answers here but we are trying to hear the questions God is

                                                raising to the people of our time and place.

                                The people in this church are on a journey and we are willing to hear truth from

                                                any source that God may be speaking to.

                                We are not selling religion here and we are not defending ourselves; we are here to tell

                                                the story of Jesus and to try to co-mingle the stories of our lives with His.

                                We are not a very good church but we celebrate Jesus for receiving us with all of our

                                                flaws and failures.

                                We believe this church is called to be a corporate expression of Jesus without becoming   

                                                a religion on a business model with the bottom line

                                We believe God has put us here to serve, not to judge.

                                We are a safe place where people can expect acceptance, love and encouragement in

                                                their search for the meaning of life.

                                We are trying to be a supportive community of faith where people can grow at

                                                the pace God allows in their lives.

                                We exist to serve and love, not to fight and win.

                                We are convinced that spirituality is best lived out there in the real world and

                                                not in a church building.

 

Are those things that far out?  No.  You will notice however that they are about relationship.  The modern world wanted points and facts (nothing wrong with that), but relationships are difficult to build on facts.  God’s eternal purpose was, and is, redemptive fellowship, building a relationship with those created in His image.  This comes through Jesus Christ.

 

This brings us to Philippians.  Philippi was named a Roman colony by Caesar Augustus because he had won a battle there in 42 B.C.  As such, it had all the privileges of Rome itself.  Its springs attracted people and many retired soldiers would settle there.  You might remember that Paul met a woman named Lydia who sold purple goods in Philippi (see Acts 16).  He was also imprisoned there by Roman authorities and converted the jailer and his household.  He writes his letter to Philippi from another prison in Rome itself.  The church at Philippi was having difficulties, some from outside sources and some internally.  One was how they saw each other. 

 

In chapter two, verse five, Paul wants them to have the same “attitude of mind” that Jesus had.  He then explains to them that attitude.  He did not use His own position “to his own advantage” or “as something to be exploited” (NRSV).  Rather He humbled Himself to become a human being and He humbled Himself to die in obedience on a cross.  It is then that God exalted Him declaring that He is Lord, not Caesar.  In this sense he challenge the Roman political system.  It is a humble recognition because of a humble life.

 

We go back then to verses one through four.  Their internal struggles were affecting their relationships among themselves (see 4:2-3).  How does one deal with this then and now?  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.”  Being a Roman was for many a proud position, like being an American today.  It also led to selfish attitudes; “what’s in it for me.”  Paul then explains: “Rather in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  That is the  “attitude of mind” of Jesus.  If you have a translation other than Today’s New International Version (TNIV) or the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), you will have two words in the text that are not in the Greek.  The first is the word “only” and the second is “also.”  These words imply that others are important and so am I.  But that is certainly different from the “attitude of mind” of Jesus.  What Paul is saying is that we are not important, others are; we should not try to grasp or exploit things to our own advantage.  We are simply to be servants acting out of love, seeking what is best for others, whether they accept us or not.  “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:24).

 

What we need to be are people of action, not just words.  We need to practice what we preach.  Read the lists above again.  Think how we have often acted.  “We have all the answers and you need to listen to us.”  Or “if you don’t agree with us you can go somewhere us.”  Or “we will help you if you will respond the way we think you should.”  Is that the “attitude of mind” of Jesus?  Being a relationship among ourselves and with others is an important step in presenting the good news to both the modern and postmodern generations.  Let us be aware of our role in this.

 

                                                                                                                George B. Mearns