Week 10 – Monday – News that Cheers the Soul

We are going to get straight to the heart of true Godly manliness . . . TOMORROW . . . but today we’re going to set up the whole passage.

Go read Philippians 2:19-30
<> This passage is not intensely theological so much as it is narrative. Paul is writing honestly about the situation with some men in his life. What can we learn from the fact that God thought this was worthwhile to include in His Word?

Stories
If we are not careful in the Bible belt culture that we live in, we can get confused into thinking that God wants more than anything for us to be incredibly smart and knowledgeable about Him. The truth is that God is writing a story and that He has decided to make us a part of it. He wants us to KNOW Him, not just to know about Him. The fact that the Scriptures are not just a textbook or encyclopedia of facts about God is testimony that God wants us to study how men interacted (well or poorly) with Him and each other. This section of Philippians shows Paul writing very honestly about two other men of God in his life. He honors them as men of God. God thinks Paul’s comments were important enough for us to be reading them thousands of years later.

<> Do you struggle with thinking that your spiritual growth is dependent on gaining more facts about God?
<> Why is it important to see Paul in a personal way as a man who interacted with God and other men?

I think there is a danger in thinking that the authors of the Bible were some kind of superhuman spiritually-perfect robots who never made mistakes and who loved God in an impossible to imitate way. If that is your attitude towards Paul and other writers, then you give yourself an excuse to ignore what they are teaching. “Oh yeah, of course he lived like that – he was Paul! I can’t do what he did. I can’t live like he did . . . I don’t have to listen to what he wrote.”

The problem is Paul was a man. In fact he was a pretty horrible man before God changed His life. The same Holy Spirit that God send to inspire Paul to write the Scriptures is the same Holy Spirit that lives in you and will teach you to obey the Scriptures.

News that Cheers the Soul

Go read Philippians 2:19.

I love the honesty and the implications of what Paul writes in the end of this verse, “that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you.” Can you hear the honest and realness of a parent who’s child is in college? How much anticipation is in the question, “How is life going?” Hey! I’m looking forward to hearing from you cause I as tough as I’m trying to act right now, the truth is I MISS YOU. I liked it when you were part of my life more regularly.

There’s also a beautiful implication of this passage. When Paul writes that he can’t wait for Timothy to get back with news from the Philippians, he is implying, “I am expecting some good news.” Paul is saying that he can’t wait to hear from them because he can’t wait to hear great stories of what God has been doing in his absence. He’s looking forward to news of maturity and miracles and life change and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in a community of people who are radically giving their lives away for the Kingdom.

I remember when I first moved to Columbia and I heard reports that there was almost NO community here in Columbia where spiritual growth was the expectation. I think we have seen God changing that (and not just in our family at Midtown). Our hope as the pastors of Midtown is that our family would be an environment where growing towards maturity in Christ is an expectation, not a surprise. “What you aren’t growing in Christ regularly? – weird.”

<> Is your expectation of your life that God is and will continue to work in you towards spiritual grown and maturity?
<> Do you have high expectations for people in your life who claim to be Christians?