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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

The core message of Jesus is the announcement of the arrival of God’s Kingdom in his person.

The Kingdom of heaven is a synonym for kingdom of God used in the other Gospels.

What is the Kingdom? It is the realm or sphere of God’s eternal reign. God’s kingdom is present wherever the will of the Father is present (“Your kingdom come your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” [Matt 6:10]). The kingdom is good news or Gospel (4:23). In short, it is the long awaited creation renewing dynamic rule of God. As Jesus embodies it in his life, death, and resurrection, we can see that the Kingdom brings salvation and a radical commitment to extend God’s grace to outsiders.

This announcement requires a radical and ongoing response. There is only one-way to react adequately to the declaration of the Kingdom’s arrival: realignment. Jesus calls those who hear his proclamation to align and/or realign themselves continually in light of the realities of the Good News. This is not a one-time action.

Realigning with Jesus’ announcement involves breaking with past for sake of what God is doing now—creating and raising up a new humanity.

Understanding that an encounter with Jesus is a commission to engage fully in God’s mission to bring healing, hope, and reconciliation to the nations

Gospel comes to us on the way to someone else. Jesus will shape his movement to replicate.

Focus of response is personal and relational. The response of the first disciples is a commitment to Jesus involving following him.

The Christ-following movement is communal and familial. There is never a solitary Christ follower. From the beginning, Jesus called two. Moreover by calling brothers Jesus is pointing to the creation of a new family of God’s people.

Following Jesus involves embracing a new mission in life: God’s mission. But notice that Jesus calls the initial disciples contextually. They are trained fishermen, but now Jesus will teach them to fish for women and men so that they may announce to them the good news of the Kingdom (4:23).

If we want to understand the ethos of the Kingdom, we need to continue reading Matthew’s Gospel. In particular 4:23-9:35 offers a summary of Jesus’ ministry of word and deed.

Responding to Jesus involves new allegiances: the first disciples leave jobs and families for the opportunity to follow Jesus.

© 2009 Brian D. Russell

The Biblical Languages in the 21st Century: Miscellaneous Thoughts

“Languages are the scabbard that contains the sword of the Spirit;
they are the casket which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought;
they are the vessel that holds the wine;
and as the gospel says, they are the baskets
in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude. . . .
As dear as the gospel is to us all,
let us as hard contend with its language.” (Martin Luther, 16th century reformer)

Is the study of Greek and Hebrew still relevant for missional leaders and churches? I published an essay in 2004 arguing for their importance. I want to expand my earlier arguments with three additional points.

1) The loss of Christian memory means that our generation must reteach the biblical story. This demands a deep engagement with the text on the part of interpreters. One’s capacity to engage the text in Greek and Hebrew sets the limits of the depth at which one is able to study God’s word. With the Western world losing 5000 Christians every 24 hours, Western Christians need to recapture and unleash the power of the Scriptures in all of their richness. The Scriptures exist as the story in which we are to find ourselves as individuals and as community. In the missional reality of our day, there is no room for superficial engagement with the Bible. I fully understand that it is unrealistic for every one to learn Greek and Hebrew, but is it unrealistic for our teachers and preachers to gain some substantive facility in it?

2) Computer tools are not a substitute. There are a plethora of web-based and software programs that offer help with the parsing of Greek/Hebrew words and with lexical issues. These are welcome, but what the designers don’t tell you is this: if you don’t know Greek and Hebrew well, you will more than likely misuse these tools. Popular programs such as Logos, Bibleworks, and Accordance are outstanding, but one must first understand the languages in order to use these programs to their fullest. Too many users mistakenly believe that a word study is a citation of the entries posted in a lexicon or that somehow citing the parsing of verb or a noun’s declension is tantamount to interpretation. The key to deploying Greek and Hebrew in exegesis is the study of syntax, i.e., how a word, phrase, or clause functions in its context in relationship to the words around it. No computer program gives you this information. This can only be gleaned through actual study of the language.

3) Interpretation is critical in the information age. Dr Google has opened the world of scholarship, pseudo-scholarship, and plain silliness to anyone with internet access. The Western world does not suffer from the absence of information rather the challenge facing readers of the Bible is information overload. Moreover the recent proliferation of competing English translations has heightened the challenge for readers. What the world needs is not a dispenser of information-google and other search engines serve this role well. The world needs interpreters of this information. In terms of exegesis, the study of Greek and Hebrew is the baseline for assessing an interpretation of Scripture. Key questions for evaluating an interpretation are: Does the original language support the interpretation? Is it grammatically/syntactically possible? Does the original Greek/Hebrew word carry the connotation alleged in the interpretation?

John Wesley preached around 40,000 sermons and covered 250,000 miles on horseback traveling to proclaim the Gospels. Yet Wesley was committed to serious engagement with the Scriptures in their original language. I will end this essay with a quotations from his “An Address to Clergy”:

Do I understand Greek and Hebrew? Otherwise, how can I undertake, (as every Minister does,) not only to explain books which are written therein, but to defend them against all opponents? Am I not at the mercy of every one who does understand, or even pretends to understand, the original? For which way can I confute his pretence? Do I understand the language of the Old Testament? critically? at all? Can I read into English one of David’s Psalms; or even the first chapter of Genesis? Do I understand the language of the New Testament? Am I a critical master of it? Have I enough of it even to read into English the first chapter of St. Luke? If not, how many years did I spend at school? How many at the University? And what was I doing all those years?

© 2009 Brian D. Russell (Rev. 1/2010)

I also highly recommend John Piper’s essay “Brothers, Bitzer was a banker!” for another perspective on the importance of language study.

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

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

The Global positioning system (GPS) is a network of twenty-four satellites launched by the Department of Defense to be used by the United States military for pinpoint navigation around the globe. Each of the satellites orbits at roughly 12,000 miles above the surface. The satellites move at over 7000 mph so each one completes two orbits around the earth each day. Since the 1980s, GPS equipment has been available for civilian use. GPS navigational tools are precise and enable persons with receivers around the world to determine their exact location as well as to maintain correct course headings on land and sea and in the air. To work the receiver must be able to lock into the signal from at least three satellites.

GPS technology greatly enhances the ability of its users to navigate unfamiliar territory. But it is not fool proof. Navigation requires the intelligent use of GPS technology. It is not as simple as obtaining one’s starting position and charting a course to one’s destination. As soon as movement ensues, other variables come into play. If one is traveling by ship, currents, wind, waves, and storms constantly move the ship off-course. If one’s position is not recalculated continually during the voyage, travelers will be surprised to discover that they end up far from their intended destination. In fact, a ship guided by GPS navigational tools is rarely perfectly on course. Instead, the GPS equipment continually monitors the ship’s location and realigns the ship with the proper heading to reach the desired goal.

As we seek to follow Jesus the Messiah faithfully, we likewise need GPS navigation so that we remain constantly aligned with the Risen Lord. If Scripture is the navigational tool for following Jesus, then the triad of mission, holiness, and community serves as the three orbiting satellites that triangulate and calculate our current position vis-à-vis God’s mission embodied in Jesus through the power of the Spirit. God created humanity to serve as a missional community that reflects God’s character to the world, in the world, and for the world. God’s new humanity, the Church of Jesus Christ, embodies God’s purposes for humanity and participates in God’s missional activity to reach the nations with the Gospel and serve as stewards of Creation. This is a huge task. The Church must constantly realign itself as it advances. Reading the Scriptures through the GPS navigational lenses of mission, holiness, and community allows the people of God to stay aligned with the heartbeat of God by continually realigning with the world of the text.

Likewise, as the people of God engage the world with the Gospel, the lenses of mission, holiness, and community allow outsiders to the Gospel message to hear God’s invitation to align themselves with the emerging new humanity created through the power of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah.

What do you think? Does the GPS metaphor work for thinking about a missional hermeneutic for the Scriptures or for a general theory of missional hermeneutics?

© 2009 Brian D. Russell