Philippians 1.27-30.
1.27 Participate in the world only in a manner worthy of Messiah’s gospel. Thus, whether I came to see you, or whether I hear about you while away, you all stay standing in the one Spirit, working together in one life, trusting the gospel, 28 unafraid of any of your opponents. Whatever “evidence” they find is destruction for them—and salvation for you. This is from God, 29 so that He can do great things for the Christians—not just the believers, but those who suffer 30 the same trials you’re experiencing, like you saw me experience, like you hear I’m currently going through.
The Philippians, and Paul, were undergoing persecution.
Americans Christians don’t understand persecution. We experience a lot of things that we call persecution, but it’s rarely the same thing. Unless you’ve experienced white supremacists threatening to burn your church down and lynch you for daring to preach that we’re all equal under Jesus, or been beaten up by gay-bashers because you dare to minister to gays and lesbians, or stood in the face of an actual life-threatening act, you have not experienced persecution. You’ve experienced opposition. It ain’t the same thing.
When Paul visited Philippi last, he and his partner Silas were stripped, caned, and thrown into prison without a trial. (Ac 16.22-24) As Romans, they had a right to a trial, (Ac 16.37) and if that right was violated, the whole might of the Roman government might come down upon the Philippian leaders, which is why they were so quick to cover the whole incident up. (Ac 16.38-39) Now if they were willing to behave that way towards Romans, imagine how these same folks might behave towards non-Romans, for not everyone in Philippi was a citizen. Picture a town full of aliens—legal aliens, but aliens nonetheless—who wanted to practice a religion you’re unfamiliar with. Even in our free society, think they’d be tolerated? Now picture a society with no real police, where bribing judges was an approved-of custom, where you could be crucified for disturbing the peace, and where pagan religion was considered patriotic. Not a safe environment to be a Christian.
In comparison with true persecution, the United States is a giant oasis on a planet where everyone else suffers real persecution. As a result, though, Americans exaggerate every minor opposition into “persecution.” A church who has to fight the local planning commission over the zoning laws is not persecuted. A pastor who has to take a salary cut due to the economy is not persecuted. A Christian called a naughty word by a militant atheist is not persecuted. A group isn’t allowed to pray before government meetings—but can pray everywhere else they want—is not persecuted. You want persecution? Go to Saudi Arabia. Go to the Sudan. Go to Cuba. Go to China. There’s persecution.
In this country, we’ve been so successful at eliminating most forms of suffering that we’re under the delusion that no one should suffer. Progressives and conservatives alike think we should be able to spend enough money to be rid of it; their only disagreement is funding. But this is not how normal humanity has ever worked before. The ancient Christians had to solely rely on God’s grace. And you might notice in this passage that this is the only solution God expects us to rely on. Not the government; not our bank accounts. Him. And grace.
Paul instructed them to live the gospel, (v27) the εὐαγγέλιον/evanghélion, the Great Announcement that God became human and is preparing a Kingdom for us, and intends to return and live in it and rule it, and we’re to not so much to lay as to be the groundwork. We’re to stick together, support one another, encourage one another, pray for one another, and be the support system for our fellow sufferers. Those who aren’t suffering might alleviate, or even take away the suffering, of those who are. Do you realize the economic problems of the poorer Christians in this country could be eliminated overnight by the richer ones? …But then again, it’s so very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom. (Mt 19.23-24) Many of them, by their fruits, show that they’re living in a different kingdom altogether.
Persecutors regularly assume that suffering will gradually pull us apart. Which is usually true. Helmut Thielicke taught that the devil likes to take our suffering to the point where we respond, “Okay, God, I realize this suffering was meant to teach me a lesson. Message received. You can stop it now.” But then the suffering doesn’t stop; and we begin to doubt God ever heard us… or even cares… or is even there. Everybody has a breaking point, which the devil is counting on. But our breaking point can be belayed so very much by the prayerful, encouraging, Spirit-directed support of our fellow Christians. Especially the fellow sufferers, who demonstrate how to live under suffering. What the devil means to drive us apart, can be transformed into something that drives us together, and together to God.
But God graced the Philippians by having their persecutors’ tactics backfire. (v28) Christians regularly—mistakenly—assume that this verse applies to us too, that every time we’re persecuted God will booby-trap our persecutors. That’s not true. This is not a universal message to every Christian everywhere; this is a specific message to the Philippians at this time. We know this ’cause elsewhere in the New Testament, persecutors don’t get hoisted on their own petards; they’re successful in their persecutions, and God’s people die. So this is something God can do for us when we’re persecuted, but until the Holy Spirit says, “Read Philippians 1.28; I’m going to apply that to you,” it doesn’t apply to us. Don’t preach this verse as His promise to you unless He makes it a promise to you.
Pp 1.27: Μόνον ἀξίως τοῦ εὐαγγελίου τοῦ Χριστοῦ Only in a manner of worth of the evangel of the Christ πολιτεύεσθε, you all live as a [participatory] citizen! ἵνα εἴτε ἐλθὼν καὶ ἰδὼν ὑμᾶς so that whether having come and having seen you all, εἴτε ἀπὼν ἀκούω τὰ περὶ ὑμῶν, [or] whether being absent I might hear the [things] about you all ὅτι στήκετε ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι, that you all stand firm in the one spirit, μιᾷ ψυχῇ συναθλοῦντες τῇ πίστει τοῦ εὐαγγελίου by one soul working together in [or, by] the belief of the evangel, 28: καὶ μὴ πτυρόμενοι ἐν μηδενὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀντικειμένων, and not being frightened in nobody from the [ones] opposing, ἥτις ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς ἔνδειξις ἀπωλείας, what[ever] evidence is to them destruction, ὑμῶν δὲ σωτηρίας, καὶ τοῦτο ἀπὸ θεοῦ· & to you all salvation, and this from God, 29: ὅτι ὑμῖν ἐχαρίσθη τὸ ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, so that to you all [he] has done favor to [those] for Christ, οὐ μόνον τὸ εἰς αὐτὸν πιστεύειν not only the [ones] in him believing [or, to believe] ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πάσχειν, but also the [ones] for him suffering [or, to suffer], 30: τὸν αὐτὸν ἀγῶνα ἔχοντες, the same contest [you all are] having, οἷον εἴδετε ἐν ἐμοὶ καὶ νῦν ἀκούετε ἐν ἐμοί. like you all saw in me, and now you all hear [of] in me.
