May 12 - Philippians 4:2-3
“I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Oh, don’t say it … yup, there were two women in the Philippian fellowship who were causing dissension. Doesn’t it just figure?
Euodia means ‘prosperous journey’ and Syntyche means ‘pleasant acquaintance.’ I’m guessing that they had set aside the positive portions of themselves to get into some type of argument. For Paul to call them out publicly implied several things. First of all, he knew them and knew their hearts … they probably meant well, but weren’t working together. Secondly, their disagreement was disrupting the entirety of the church, not just their area of ministry. He goes on to say that they had worked with him before when he was bringing the gospel to people, he wanted them to stay focused on the common bond, the gospel.
This is so easy to forget when we want to have our way in the church. We get so focused on the miniscule, the legalism, the rules, the need to have it our way that we forget what our main purpose is. Paul knows all of this – that’s why it is in this letter. When we spend too much time focusing on the busyness of the church, the minor details and we turn them into the main reason and purpose for our activity in the church, we completely lose sight of the fact introducing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world is what Jesus commanded us to do.
Matthew 28:18 doesn’t spend much time talking about the organization of the church, the building of buildings, the structure of programming and trying to get kids excited about coming to worship. We are to go … make disciples … baptize them … teach them to obey Jesus (not the church, by the way – Jesus!).
This is the common point of unity that the church in Philippi should focus on. This is the Gospel that Paul has preached and for which he is imprisoned. When we sow seeds of disunity, it stops the flow of the Gospel, no matter how hard we try to make it happen.
“I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.”
Oh, don’t say it … yup, there were two women in the Philippian fellowship who were causing dissension. Doesn’t it just figure?
Euodia means ‘prosperous journey’ and Syntyche means ‘pleasant acquaintance.’ I’m guessing that they had set aside the positive portions of themselves to get into some type of argument. For Paul to call them out publicly implied several things. First of all, he knew them and knew their hearts … they probably meant well, but weren’t working together. Secondly, their disagreement was disrupting the entirety of the church, not just their area of ministry. He goes on to say that they had worked with him before when he was bringing the gospel to people, he wanted them to stay focused on the common bond, the gospel.
This is so easy to forget when we want to have our way in the church. We get so focused on the miniscule, the legalism, the rules, the need to have it our way that we forget what our main purpose is. Paul knows all of this – that’s why it is in this letter. When we spend too much time focusing on the busyness of the church, the minor details and we turn them into the main reason and purpose for our activity in the church, we completely lose sight of the fact introducing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world is what Jesus commanded us to do.
Matthew 28:18 doesn’t spend much time talking about the organization of the church, the building of buildings, the structure of programming and trying to get kids excited about coming to worship. We are to go … make disciples … baptize them … teach them to obey Jesus (not the church, by the way – Jesus!).
This is the common point of unity that the church in Philippi should focus on. This is the Gospel that Paul has preached and for which he is imprisoned. When we sow seeds of disunity, it stops the flow of the Gospel, no matter how hard we try to make it happen.
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