Living a Life of Genuine & Generous Friendship, part 2

As I mentioned, there are four points I want to tackle this week, followed by three applications. The first point is this: Agree with each other. Paul takes time in this teaching letter to urge two women in the church at Philippi to “agree in the Lord.” Some translations say, “be of the same mind.” Friends, it is important that we agree with each other. Of all the people in this world, God’s people should learn how to get along with one another!
 

Now, as we continue with the flow of the previous chapters of this book, this is not a call to be tolerant of bad doctrine. If someone were to come into our church and say that they really don’t believe that Jesus was God, and we should stop preaching that, then we need to stand firm on the truth of the deity of Jesus! Paul has already cautioned us to beware of bad theology. There is a tendency among us who value truth to use it like a hammer – but that’s not the intention of seeking truth. Seeking truth must start and end with wanting the glory of God above all, not for us to simply win an argument.
 

With this in mind, I use the quote attributed to St. Augustine: In necessary things Fidelity. In doubtful things, unity. In all things, love. You see, friends, Agape love is tolerant of diverse opinions. For example, most of you tolerate those of us who are Packer or Cowboy fans. You tend to pray for us that we might come into the light of, your truth, and become fans of the Vikings, and you haven’t thrown any of us out of the church, over a football team allegiance. For this, we thank you.
 

When there is a conflict over doubtful things (things that are not clearly spelled out in Scripture as absolute truth), we have Scripture to guide us in this situation. Romans 12:10 “Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Outdo one another in showing honor” CSB. Paul is talking about Christian harmony. “Harmony” is a musical term, while doctrine is critically important. It’s possible to get the words right, but to get the “music” wrong in our relationships.
 

Notice, too, that not only does Paul ask these two women to get along, he asks other leaders in the church to help them agree with each other. You see, Christian unity is the business of everyone in the church. We all have a stake in our unity. When we see brothers and sisters in our churches that cannot agree with one another, our response should not be to merely shake our heads, or to judge them for their weaknesses. No, we should help them to agree with one another, or, at the least, agree to disagree, while carrying on in agape love for one another.
 

The second principle of Living in Genuine and Generous Friendship is to Rejoice in the Lord. Notice that Paul does not say, “cheer up!” Paul isn’t saying, “Smile through your grimace of pain.” Rejoicing is something else altogether. It is the outworking of a spiritual attribute, called joy.

• Joy is the evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in a group of people.
• Joy is a sign of God’s Kingdom made manifest here on the earth, right now. 
• Joy goes beyond mere happiness and imparts the substance of Heaven.
• Joy and happiness are two different things. Happiness is a fleeting emotion that is completely dependent on your immediate circumstances.
• Joy is closely tied with the most important spiritual attribute there is and that is faith. Faith is the currency of heaven. In fact, it’s so very important that Scripture says, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6)
• Joy is the outworking of faith. It’s the assurance that God will do what is best in any situation, no matter what the immediate physical or worldly situation is.   

Continued tomorrow