You have probably heard me say at one time or another, "Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness." Or, put another way, "Your weaknesses are your strengths put to the extreme." It is one of my axioms for life my kids love so much! I see this axiom, greatest strength/greatest weakness, all the time.

I think I first began to notice the greatest strength/greatest weakness axiom with our oldest daughter, Megan. Megan has always been very creative—a great strength. However, at night she would have difficulty falling asleep because she would create all kinds of horrible scenes in her mind—a great weakness. The only way we could calm her fears was to have her recite the 23^rd Psalm which she had learned at pre-school. At seminary I noted the axiom in our Greek professor. He was a great professor because of his love and passion for Greek. To him there was nothing better in the whole world than Greek and it showed in his teaching—a great strength. However, it was also his greatest weakness as a professor because the students he had the most difficulty with were the ones who didn’t share his passion for Greek. I didn’t feel I was in a position to suggest any solutions to him!

Greatest strength/greatest weakness. I see it all the time…even in the church. Frequently I have conversations with my colleagues in ministry at presbytery meetings, pastor retreats and conferences, for example. As they share the inevitable ups and downs of ministry I find myself saying, "The greatest strength of the church, outside of Jesus Christ and His Spirit, the greatest strength of the church is people’s love and passion for the church. The greatest weakness of the church is people’s love and passion for the church." People’s love and passion for their church motivates people to do some incredible acts of generosity and service. Such people know they could invest all of their money in interest yielding investments, yet they choose to invest some of it in the work of the Kingdom through their church’s ministry and mission. Such people know they could focus all their time and energy on advancing in their careers, yet they choose to give some of their time and energy to the work of the Kingdom. Their love and passion for the church fuels their motivation to do some incredible acts of generosity and service.

At the same time, their love and passion for their church can lead to conflicts. Behind the battle for worship styles is people’s love and passion for their church. At the heart of conflicts over the moving, or removing, of cherished things in the church is people’s love and passion for their church.

Just last Thursday at the Session meeting I asked a question about the building of Gildersleeve Lounge, wondering what that area looked like before it was built. Some of the elders who were here at the time shared about the tree that was there and needed to be removed in order to build on that area. There was a lot of controversy over that. Some people left the church over that issue. I don’t mean to make light of that. It was people’s love and passion for their church and what that tree symbolized that sparked the conflict.

In one of my previous churches a woman had given a nativity set to the church. As things developed, she wasn’t happy with where we displayed the set. After several attempts to have it placed where she thought it should be displayed, she came to me with her grievance. When I didn’t overrule the decision about where the set was displayed, she said, "Well, maybe I should take it back!" To which I replied, admittedly out of some frustration with the whole topic, "Let me make sure I’m clear about this. Did you give the set to the church, or did you loan it to the church? " She answered, "I gave it to the church, of course. Why do you ask?" "Because," I replied, "if you loaned it to the church then you could have it back. However, if you gave it to the church then it is the church’s to decide how to display it." I know, I know, I’m still working on my pastoral care skills, but the point is this: Her motivation in both actions—giving the nativity set and wanting it back because we didn’t use it as she envisioned—came out of the same motivation, her love and passion for the church. To be sure, the church her way, but motivated by her love and passion for the church. If the church didn’t matter to her she wouldn’t have taken either action. Greatest strength/greatest weakness—I see it all the time…even in the church. When our faith really matters to us, we can accomplish great things…and we can do great harm.

In fact, something like that is what’s happening in Philippi. Paul is prompted by many things to write to the Philippians—the help they have sent him, the experiences they’ve shared in proclaiming the gospel, and, apparently, some conflict occurring in the church. Personally, I think it’s two women. Really. Chapter four, verse two: "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel." Some conflict appears to be occurring between these two women, conflict enough to be noted by Paul in his letter. Now, truth be told, there are certainly other issues of conflict going on. Every church has them, even the first churches of Christian faith. The good news is such conflict led to Paul writing letters to those churches, many of them becoming a major part of the New Testament. Whatever the cause, there is conflict within the Philippian church—perhaps it is Eudoia and Syntyche, perhaps it is over some controversial teaching that has surfaced since Paul left Philippi, likely it includes some persecution that has hit the church much like Paul experienced when he was in Philippi. Whatever the cause, there is conflict within the church at Philippi—probably the result of people’s love and passion for their church. And Paul pleads for unity. "Whatever happens, as citizens of heaven live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ…stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together with one accord for the faith of the gospel," (1:27). That word, "striving," is an interesting word. Similar to the word "contended" in the reference to Euodia and Syntyche, it can be used either for working together, or working against each other. Strive together, contend in unity toward the proclamation of the gospel, rather than striving against, contending against one another. Paul is pleading for unity in the church. To Euodia and Syntyche, to the church in Philippi, to Shepherd of the Hills in Lakewood, Paul is pleading for the church’s love and passion to unite us in proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ.

What is it that threatens our unity? What is the extreme that pushes our strength of love and passion for the church to become weakness? What threatens our unity are actions or attitudes that begin with the word "self:" self-absorption, self-glorification, selfishness. "Do nothing," Paul says, "out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others," (2:3, 4). What so often creates the lack of unity in churches, in most anything really, is when it becomes all about us. I love the church, but it must be the church my way. I love this nativity set, but it must be displayed where I want it. It can sound silly. It can be very subtle. But what creates a barrier to unity is when it becomes all about the self, selfish ambition, self-glorification (vain conceit), putting myself before others.

Fred Craddock, professor of preaching and New Testament at Emory University, says about this section of Philippians that "Paul regarded as inappropriate to the body of Christ the selfish eye, the pompous mind, the ear hungry for compliments and the mouth that spoke none, the heart that had little room for others, and the hand that served only the self." The great strength of our love and passion for the church becomes a divisive weakness when we focus on ourselves.

The solution to the disunity of selfishness, says Paul, is to follow the example of Jesus. Act in humility…like Christ. We draw our example…and our inspiration from Christ.

Paul’s push for unity in the church begins with a reminder of what we all share in Christ. The reminder comes in a series of "if" statements at the beginning of chapter two: "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion then make my joy complete by being like-minded," (2:1, 2a). It is important to note, however, it is not the "if" of uncertainty: "If I get my work done I’ll make it to the game." It is the "if" of a unique clause in the Greek that implies a certainty, "If I am your friend (and I am), I would gladly do that for you." A better translation into English would be "since." "Since you have encouragement from being united with Christ, since you have comfort from his love, since you share in the Spirit, since you have tenderness and compassion then make my joy complete." Paul is not uncertain about the inspiration we have in Christ. He is very certain all those things are available to us. And they should guide and encourage us in our relationships with others. More than that, Christ himself has set the example for us. In encouraging us away from selfishness and toward humility, Paul points out the humility of Jesus. He tells us, in a few short verses, the story of Jesus. Relatedly, we’ve been encouraging you to consider your own story of faith, something around the simple three step process of (1) Before I came to faith my life was…(2) Then I came to faith through…(3) Now my life is… Paul does something like that with Jesus’ story: (1) Jesus was in very nature God, (2) Jesus made himself nothing by taking the nature of a servant, (3) now Jesus is exalted above all things so that all creatures will bow before him and declare him Lord. As Christ willingly took a step of humility we are called to follow his example. Christ, at any moment in his ministry on earth, could have exerted his power and authority. Instead, he took on the full nature of humanity and followed its pathway to death on the cross for the benefit of others. We are called to similarly live our lives in humility, considering the interests of others before our own interests, remembering what we share in Jesus Christ.

As an example of that, we’ve asked you to practice "negotiated sacrifice." In our worship, when something happens that isn’t your favorite style of worship, we ask you to pray joyful prayers for those in our church who do enjoy that style of worship—whether it’s music, or prayers, or something else. In fact, in all areas of our lives, negotiated sacrifice is a good pathway to living lives that seek to follow Christ’s humility. Rather than contending against someone, striving instead to better understand what motivates and moves them.

Valuing others above ourselves, looking not to our own interests but, rather, looking to the interests of others is not a popular philosophy in our "me first" society. But it is the example Jesus sets for how we are to live. An example of someone trying to live that way, I think, is Tony Dungy, the coach of the Indianapolis Colts. He’s the real deal. Some people talk the talk of living the Christian life, Dungy walks the walk. He is well known for coaching, and living, in a different manner than most. I came across this quote from Dungy, one of his axioms for life, that sums up well the humble life that looks to the interests of others: