ALWAYS A TEAM

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

“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, along with Clement, and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.” Philippians 4:1-3.

There is no place in the Christian life for lone rangers and even less room for competition. Paul did not specify what the problem was between two women in the Philippian church but, whatever it was, it was enough to merit a comment and a plea.

As believers in Jesus, they had a common goal, but they would not reach it by going it alone. Paul had urged them to join together in following him (Philippians 3:17) as he followed Christ. One of the most important facets of God’s way is unity. Oneness of heart and mind in Christ is a sure sign of God’s supernatural work because people are naturally selfish and self-centred.

God is one. He created human beings in His image to be one with Him and with one another. Satan made sure to destroy our unity when he tempted the first pair to do their own thing. If there is any disturbance of unity in Christ’s body, you can be sure that, under the surface there is self lurking and wanting its own way.

These two women, Euodia and Syntyche needed a prod to remind them that they were not in it to please themselves. They were not to work against each other, causing a rift between them and in the fellowship because people will take sides. Paul also reminded his colleague not to remain aloof but to get alongside them and help them carry their load, whatever it was.

This is a timely reminder for us that the Lord Jesus calls us not only to follow Him but, as a body, to do life together. This is our apprenticeship for the real thing when we will graduate to His eternal presence.

During their journey through the wilderness, God set up the rules for His people to live together in preparation for their life in their own land. In Egypt they had tasted what it was like to live under oppression. God wanted them to be the model for the rest of the world, a community of people who looked after each other’s interests instead of living greedy and selfish lives. It was to begin with respect for God and His ways and it spilled over into lives of generous and unselfish service.

It was to their shame that they never got it. Instead of modelling God’s way, they followed the ways of the surrounding nations until they were swept out of their land into exile for two reasons, idolatry and oppression, the very things that they were warned not to do.

Teamwork is the way of the kingdom, everyone doing what they do best in a mosaic of gifts. The trouble is that one person envies another for his gifts, and others compete for attention and accolades and make trouble when they don’t get them. Rivalry and competition split the body of Christ apart. It’s just as well the organs of our human bodies don’t compete or we would be in big trouble. When cells take over and multiply out of control because they want to be in charge, the result is death.

There are no “big and small’ in God’s kingdom – only functions to build up the body of Christ and bring into maturity in love and unity. Any friction and fraction must be dealt with quickly lest too much damage is done.

A hairline crack in any part of an aircraft is a potential for disaster. Crashes happen with terrible loss of life when small failures are overlooked or neglected. Like aircraft mechanics we must be vigilant and deal with the weak places immediately to save us from the pain of big failure later on.

Hence Paul counselled, “Deal with your issues, Euodia and Syntyche before they get too big,” and “Help them to see the real issues, my dear companion, because they can’t see the wood for the trees.” It sometimes the objectiveness of a third party to put things into perspective. It’s not interfering. It’s loving the body enough to heal the hurt places.

That’s the important thing about the body of Christ; it’s more about us than about me. Unity is about submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. We are to preserve the unity which the Holy Spirit created in the first place because unity is evidence that Jesus came from the Father (John 17:23).

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.