realmealministries.org

This is a draft of an essay that will appear in an upcoming edition of Asbury’s Alumni Link:

I love the Scriptures. In offering my Top Ten Bible passages, I am sharing texts that continue to shape and transform me as I seek to follow the Risen Christ into the world for the sake of God’s mission. I have included a question or two that I find myself pondering as I read these passages.

Gen 1:26-31
God created humanity as the pinnacle of his creative work. Such a statement was audacious in its original Ancient Near Eastern setting and it remains compelling today. God crafted humanity for profound purposes. Women and men exist to serve as God’s visible representatives before Creation by reflecting God’s character through their communal lives together. People exist for mission, community, and holiness. The rest of the biblical story narrates the loss of this reality and God’s redemptive work to restore our true humanity.

Am I living as the person whom God created me to be? Am I part of a missional community that reflects God’s character before a watching world?

Gen 3:1-9
Gen 3:1-9 is a disarming reminder of the tragedy of human existence and of the root cause of our lostness apart from God’s grace. It narrates humanity’s substitution of self-rule for a moment-by-moment relationship of faithful obedience with the Creator. The issue is trust. The dialogue between Eve and the serpent moves God from the subject of Adam and Eve’s life in the garden to the mere object of a theological conversation in which the serpent sows seeds of doubt in the heart of Eve and invites her to rely on her own judgment rather than a relationship with God built on trust. Both Adam and Eve chose self-rule over trust.

Do I trust that God has my best interests at heart as well as those of whom I love?

Exodus 19:3-6
These are God’s initial words to Israel at Sinai. They interpret the meaning of Israel’s redemption from Egyptian bondage. The salvation of God is more than liberation from Egypt; it is liberation for the mission of God. The redeemed people of God exist to serve as a missional community that reflects and embodies the character of God in/for/to the nations (cf. 1 Pet 2:9). We must grapple with this text as we seek to inculcate a biblical DNA in our communities.

How do I embody God’s call to mission, holiness, and community? How well does my community of faith reflect the vision of this passage?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
The Shema marks the foundation for life as God intended. Our relationship with God is first order in importance. This text reminds us of the vital necessity of a fully committed life. Note that this commandment is lived out and nurtured within community. E. Stanley Jones once wrote, “Christianity that doesn’t begin with the individual doesn’t being; Christianity that ends with the individual ends.”

Is my life marked by a moment-by-moment relationship with God rooted in faithful obedience manifested in a whole being love for God? Am I “all in” for God? How well am I nurturing others in this first-order commitment?

Josh 1:1-9
Courage is the key that opens the door to the life of God’s dreams. Courage is determination to live out our faith commitments to accomplish God’s will. Joshua is God’s choice to take the mantle of leadership for God’s people. God appears to Joshua and casts a large vision for the future of God’s people. Joshua’s role is to live courageously by leading Israel into the Promised Land. The courage described in this passage is rooted in a journey shaped and formed by the Scriptures.

Do I live courageously to advance God’s Kingdom, or am I content to live in the “safety” of the status quo?

Psalm 73
Psalm 73 is a poignant psalm that narrates the psalmist’s struggle with life in the world. It captures a period of despair in which the psalmist’s perceived experience of God does not match his theological expectations. Yet it the midst of this dark time the psalmist enters God’s sanctuary and recognizes the ever present reality of God and God’s goodness. The psalmist moves from a faith rooted in external circumstances to one centered on the psalmist’s relationship with God.

What keeps me grounded when my faith experience does not match my theological understanding?

Jonah
Jonah sits among the Prophets as a nagging reminder to God’s people of God’s radical love for the nations. God is at work in the nations – even in those places that ostensibly stand the most opposed to God’s work in the world. God’s holy love extends far beyond the boundaries that we may be tempted to establish for it.

Do I love the lost as much as God does? In particular, what is my attitude toward those whom I consider my enemies?

Matt 4:17-22
Jesus begins his public ministry with a comprehensive call to (re)align continually with the ethos of God’s Kingdom that he is announcing has come near in him. Don’t miss the initial response to Jesus’ announcement: the creation of a missional community to serve as the vanguard for God’s age of salvation. The call to the kingdom is an invitation to mission and community.
In what ways have I separated following Jesus from following Jesus into the world on mission?

Philippians 3:7-16
This has been my favorite passage in the Scriptures since my teenage years. Paul recognizes that the ultimate value involves knowing Messiah Jesus as LORD. In response to this, Paul reorders his understanding of gain and privilege. Paul had boasted of his credentials in 3:1-6. He now advocates a radical reorientation of his past in light of Jesus. All that he once considered reasons for boasting are now reassessed as loss. This is not merely a pious display self-deprecation, but a deep rooted understanding that our gifts and talents become idols if we glory in them apart from a life centered on knowing Christ Jesus.

Have I surrendered to God my main thing so that it can become God’s thing?

There are countless other passages that I may well have chosen, but these are the one’s that have impacted me deeply in recent years as I seek to be continually realigned with and recast in the story that God is writing in the 21st century.

© 2009 Brian D. Russell

Tags: Biblical Studies, Community, Matthew, Mission, New Testament, Online discussions, Philippians, Psalms, Wesleyan, Wesleyan theology, asbury theological seminary, humanity, imago dei, learning, metanarrative, missional church, missional leadership, missional reading, theological education, writing by brian
1 Comment »

Philippians 3:17-21 serves to summarize 2:1-3:16 with a chiastic arrangement to remind the Philippians of his three examples.

3: 17a Be imitators of me (cf. 3:1-16)
Lessons from 3:1-16

1) Prioritizing our relationship with Jesus the Messiah as ultimate value/source of ultimate wealth (3:7-11) vs. a life based on confidence in our flesh (3:1-6). Give God our main thing so that it can become His thing.

2) Pursuing Christ diligently in the present (3:12-14) vs. Focus on the past.

3) Confidence that God honors this sort of life by uniting the community around the pursuit of Christ.

3:17b Observe those who walk/live according to our example (cf. 2:19-30)

Lessons from 2:19-30

1) Genuinely care for others (2:20).

2) Focus on the affairs of Jesus Christ vs. Self-focus (2:21)

3) Served for the Gospel (2:22)

4) Willing to serve to the point of death (2:27)

3:20-21 Citizens of heaven/Savior/Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1:27-2:18)
Lessons from 2:1-18

1) Non-exploitation of status/rights/privileges (2:6)

2) Willingness to embrace servant/slave status for the sake of the Gospel (2:7)

3) Extent of obedience = willingness to die the death of a slave on the cross (2:8)

Bottom Line teaching: The status we embrace establishes the limits of our capacity to reach others with the Gospel.

© 2009 Brian D. Russell

Tags: Biblical Studies, Community, Leadership, Mission, New Testament, Paul, Philippians, early church, missional church, missional reading, missionary by brian
No Comments »

Paul draws together 1:27-3:21 with a final exhortation in 4:1: “Therefore my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, this is how you are to continue to stand (firm) in the LORD, my beloved!”

This statement serves well to conclude Paul’s instruction to live as citizens (of heaven vs. citizens of the Empire) worthy of the Gospel.

1) Reinforces Paul’s deep relational ties with the Philippians Christ followers. This has been evident from the opening prayer (1:3-11), but Paul piles on the descriptive terms to express his love and admiration for the Philippians. Missional lesson: any rebuke or correction implicit in Paul’s exhortation must be understood in light of the relationship of love and commitment to the furtherance of the Gospel that Paul and the Philippian Christians share.

2) Paul makes it clear that his instructions are of an ongoing nature. The verb “stand” or “stand firm” is a present imperative in the original Greek. The sense of the present here is durative or continuous action. Paul has been describing an ongoing way of life for the Philippians to embody as they seek to serve as a missional community in Philippi.

3) The language of “standing” or “standing firm” ties 4:1 directly to the opening general exhortation in 1:27. In 1:27, Paul expects that an outcome of “living as citizens of heaven worthy of the Gospel” will be the Christ followers “standing firm in one spirit, contending together for the Gospel…” Thus, 4:1 is another frame around 1:27-4:1. It also reinforces the missional ends of Paul’s rhetoric. The Gospel must be proclaim in Philippi through the witness of the Christ following community there. Despite the opposition present, they must stand firm by modeling their lives after the examples of Jesus the Messiah, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and Paul.

4) 1:27-4:1 then serves to describe the manner by which the Christ followers in Philippi were to live as citizens of heaven worthy of the Gospel. 4:2ff then presents a final series of exhortations based on the foundation created in 1:27-4:1.

© 2009 Brian D. Russell

Tags: Biblical Studies, Hermeneutics, Leadership, Mission, New Testament, Paul, Philippians, early church, missional church, missional reading by brian
No Comments »

Philippians 2:19-30

Here is a snapshot of this passage.

This pericope serves a dual function in the letter to the Philippians. First, it functions pragmatically to detail the comings and goings of Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. Paul is able to express his concern and love for the Philippians (by the way, remember that Paul’s concern and affection for this church is a recurring element throughout the letter) through the agency of his colleagues. Epaphroditus appears to be one of the members of the Philippian church. Some scholars believe that Epaphroditus may have been the one who carried this letter to Philippi for Paul.

Second, this passage serves a preaching/teaching function. 1:27-30 called the Philippians to a peculiar vocation – life as citizens not of Rome but of heaven (1:27, cf. 3:20). This type of lifestyle was exemplified in Jesus who redefined the power of divinity through incarnation, crucifixion, and exaltation as self-giving rather than self-serving (giving rather than getting).

Paul now moves to a human example – his co-workers for the Gospel. In this seemingly “dry” itinerary, Paul makes a couple of key points which compare Timothy and Epaphroditus favorably to Jesus Christ. They are examples of self-sacrificial service.

Timothy is lifted up as one who “genuinely cares” for the Philippians (2:20). This means that he is others-centered rather than self-centered (2:21, cf. 2:4). Timothy does not cling to his own rights and prerogatives but works for the good of others.

Epaphroditus is even more closely compared with Jesus because he came close to losing his life for the cause of Christ (2:30). Notice that Paul lifts up this type of behavior for commendation (2:29). Epaphroditus embodies the vocation of self-sacrificial love for the sake of the Gospel.

Paul is not exhorting the Philippians to embrace martyrdom, but rather to move themselves to embrace of posture of service. Not clinging to their own interests as the ultimate good end in this world, but to give themselves for/to others in the service of Jesus.

© 2009 Brian D. Russell

Tags: Biblical Studies, Holiness, Mission, New Testament, Paul, Philippians, missional church by brian
No Comments »

The status we embrace establishes the limits of our ability to reach others with the Gospel.

In Philippians 1:27, Paul has exhorted the Christ followers in Philippi to embrace a different sort of status in the world. He writes: “Only live as citizens [of heaven] worthy of the gospel of Messiah.” The use of citizen is intentional. Many of the Philippians would have been Roman citizens, i.e., privileged persons in the Roman empire. This was an exalted status particularly in the provinces.

Paul uses the metaphor of citizenship to frame the central section of Philippians (1:27-4:1). In 3:20, he boldly reminds the Philippians “our citizenship is in heaven.” This metaphor is not a call to abandon the earth but rather it is a poignant critic of the tension of living in the world without being of it. It is a call to establish one’s priorities not on any privileges rooted in the Empire but rather based on the ethos of God’s kingdom.

What does it mean to embrace the ethos of God’s kingdom? Paul uses the next three segments to offer tangible examples of living as citizens of heaven: the model of Messiah Jesus (2:1-18), the model of Paul’s coworkers Timothy and Epaphroditus (2:19-30), and the model of Paul himself (3:1-16). Paul then sums up his argument (3:17-21) and offers a concluding exhortation (4:1).

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection serve as the paragon for citizenship of heaven. The Christ Hymn (2:5-11) must be read in the context of 1:27. In essence it is about a willingness to embrace whatever status was necessary for the mission of God. Profoundly, 2:6 describes the pre-incarnate Jesus as equal to God and of like form. In other words, Jesus by virtual of his nature enjoyed all of the rights, power, and prerogatives of divinity. Yet, he did not consider this equality something to be grasped, i.e., something to be held onto selfishly or perhaps better he did not consider equality with God something to be exploited for his own interests. Instead, Jesus took on the form of a slave (doulos) – this is the same title that Paul assigned to himself and Timothy in 1:1. A slave was the lowest strata of Roman society-a far cry from the high status of Roman citizen. Moreover Jesus embraced this status to the extend that he accepted death even death on a cross. What was the extent of Jesus’ willingness to embrace a low status? He was willing to die the sort of death that the Romans reserved only for slaves and traitors.

The status that we embrace sets the limit of our ability to reach others with the Gospel.

Paul offers the Jesus as the model of this. How will we respond? What would our communities of faith look like if we embraced this ethos fully? How would our individual lives be different?

© 2009 Brian D. Russell

Tags: Biblical Studies, Community, Mission, New Testament, Paul, Philippians, calling, church, early church, emerging church, ethos, kingdom of heaven, missional church, missional leadership, missional reading by brian
No Comments »

The central argument of Philippians is found in 1:27-4:1. This section may be outlined as follows:

I. Living Worthily as Citizens of Heaven/Gospel (1:27-4:1)
A. Exhortation: Live as Citizens of Gospel/Heaven (1:27-30)
1. Standing Firm (1:27-28)
2. Sharing Christ’s (and Paul’s ) suffering (1:29-30)

B. Example One: Imitation of Christ (2:1-18)
1. The Mind of Christ (2:1-5)
2. The Humiliation and Exaltation of Jesus Christ (2:6-11)
3. Exhortation to live in response to Jesus (2:12-18)

C. Example Two: Imitation of Paul’s Coworkers (2:19-30)
1. Timothy’s Example (2:19-24)
2. Epaphroditus’s Example (2:25-27)
3. Exhortation to welcome Paul’s Co-workers in Philippi (2:28-30)

D. Example Three: Imitation of Paul (3:1-21)
1. Warning: Confidence in the Flesh– 3:1-6
2. The Way: Confidence in Knowing Jesus Christ (3:7-16)
3. Exhortation to follow the preceding examples (3:17-21)

E. Conclusion – General Exhortation to Continue Standing Firm – 4:1

1:27a is the overarching general exhortation that controls 1:27-4:1. Its translation in English is ambiguous:

NASB Philippians 1:27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ;

NIV Philippians 1:27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

NRSV Philippians 1:27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,

NKJV Philippians 1:27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ,

NLT Philippians 1:27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ.

Only the NLT (which tends to be very dynamic in its translation) captures the literal sense of the Greek language. The main verb in the 1:27a is an imperative that means “live as a citizen.” Its noun cognate is found in 3:20 “our citizenship is in heaven.” In Paul’s other writings, he uses the Greek work (peripateo) meaning “walk/live” (1 Thes 2:12; Col 1:10; Eph 4:1) in similar expressions.

Why does he use this particular exhortation “Live as citizens of the Gospel of Christ” in Philippians?
1) The missiological setting of Philippi set the stage for this vocabulary. Philippi was a Roman colonial city. Many of its residents (presumably including some the Christ followers) enjoyed Roman citizenship. This was a significant and important status in the Empire. Paul captures a meaningful word for Roman citizens and deploys it skillfully to call the Christians of Philippi to embrace a different sort of status and citizenship. A fundamental insight in 1:27-4:1 is this: the status that one embraces sets the limits of one’s capacity to reach others with the Gospel. Roman citizenship is a set of privileges that one enjoys and is able to exploit for his or her own benefit. Gospel citizenship is a privileged relationship with God that unleashes one to lay aside personal benefits for the sake of God’s mission and for the good of others. It is worth pondering and reflecting on Paul’s word selection. What are some images/metaphors/phrases that can we subverted and refilled with Gospel content in our contemporary settings.

2) Paul is clear that this is the key command in his letter. Most of our English translations begin v. 27 with “only.” The idea here is this: pay attention to this one thing or only one thing. In other words, if the Philippians can embody this one exhortation, they will be living well. This is emphasized by the framing use of “our citizenship exists in heaven” (3:20). Paul begins and ends this large block of teaching with a reference to citizenship. Paul is challenging the Philippians to rethink their notion of citizenship with its privileges in the Empire and embrace to new citizenship with Kingdom of God as God’s missional people in the world.

3) The nuance of the imperative “live as citizens of the Gospel of Christ” is an ongoing action. We may capture this by translating the clause “live continually of the Gospel of Christ.” Paul is stressing that this calling is a moment by moment existence. It is not a one time or occasional activity. It is the essence of being a Christ follower in Philippi.

4) The goal is missional. The purpose for Paul’s command is so that Paul will hear about the Philippian’s Gospel shaped actions (1:27b-28). The principal witness according to Paul will be the Philippians “standing unified (“in one spirit”) contending for the Gospel without being intimidated by foes. The stress on unity as a witness will weigh heavily in Paul’s subsequent argument. The people of God present a corporate witness to the world that is vital and powerful.

5) Paul does not shy away from the reality of suffering and hardship due to the Gospel for the Philippian Christ followers (29-30). He talks about suffering as a given in the same way that their believing is a given (29). This is not suffering in general or suffering due to ill chosen actions. The suffering Paul is describing is suffering because they are allied with Jesus the Messiah. Paul’s initial entry into Philippi stirred up quite the opposition (Acts 16:16-40). The Philippians Christ followers are now experiencing similar troubles as Paul. If Paul’s current troubles were with the Empire (1:12-26), it may be that the Philippians were running into conflict with Roman citizens in Philippi who honored the Emperor alone as Lord. The confession “Jesus the Messiah is LORD” (2:9-10) is a bold and daring one in the context of an Empire that crushed all opposition. To have an allegiance above the state is risky.

To be continued…

© 2009 Brian D. Russell

Tags: Biblical Studies, Mission, New Testament, Paul, Philippians, church, commentary, early church, emerging church, missional church, missional hermeneutic, missional reading, missionary by brian
No Comments »