Daily Thoughts from Philippians (23): Final Thoughts – Philippians 4:21-23

Jesus made what to me is a startling statement to his disciples the night they celebrated Passover and right before he was arrested and executed.  He adjured his disciples to love one another the way he loved them and then said, “By this all people will know you are my disciples” (John 13:35).  How badly do we want the world to know who Jesus is and that we are his disciples?  That’s how greatly we will value unity among us!

Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (Philippians 4:21-23, ESV)

Paul finishes as he began, focusing on “all” the members of this congregation, emphasizing again God’s love for all of them and the need for unity.  He sends greetings from those of Caesar’s household who have come to know Christ, perhaps as a result of his imprisonment there in Rome.  He signs off with grace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

All the saints in Rome are in unity about their greeting.  Would that the church at Philippi would be in unity.  We don’t know exactly how things turned out for this church in a Roman colony.  Did they end up valuing their heavenly citizenship above their Roman citizenship?  Did they learn to trust God with all their needs, finding contentment in every circumstance?  Had they learned to love one another and consider the needs of the others, not just their own?  Were they focused on the gospel, which alone brings full joy, or did they see themselves as more important and more spiritual than those on the “other side” of the conflict?

We will likely never know how the Philippians responded.  What is most important is how we will respond.  Will we learn from this precious little letter that the gospel’s spread is more important than our smaller issues?

Was the Protestant Reformation a failure in this regard?  Protestants and Catholics alike would argue that it was not.  The question for both was the nature of the gospel.  I believe the Protestants were right to stick to their guns on this issue, and eventually to separate themselves from those who were obscuring the gospel with church traditions.

If we are to get more converts from “Caesar’s household,” that is, converts to the gospel from the world, our focus must be on the true gospel.  The true gospel rejects human accomplishments, seeing them as rubbish in the goal of having Christ and his righteousness.  The true gospel rejects the idea of our becoming perfect and thus established in our own accomplishments.  The true gospel urges us to “press on” to acquire that for which Christ acquired us, the resurrection to life.

Conflicts over lesser matters will lead to discouragement on the part of unbelievers.  Their secret hope that there is a society of God who will live for greater concerns will be dashed.  They will find cynicism in their hearts rather than faith.  And it will discourage believers as well.  We long for a loving community formed by God and His love.  Seeing repeated failures of this community will move us to trust more in God than in humans, but it will endanger, also, our commitment to seeing this kind of community become reality as we follow the Lord.

Discussion Questions for Small Groups

1. What was your favorite TV show when you were eight years old and why?
2. Would you find a show about church members demonstrating the love of Christ and living in unity entertaining or would you be bored with no conflict?
3. Can you conceive of a church where conflict does not exist and if so, would it be boring?
4. Why do you think Paul mentions “those of Caesar’s household” in his sign off to the letter?
5. What is your motive for striving for unity in the church, in your church, or are you unmotivated about that?
6. How can you obey Paul’s command “to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3)?