Can we be Christian community?

…complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Philippians 2:2

Christians have a unity in community that is beautiful to experience when we are really reflecting Jesus together. It is what makes the church more than just a gathering of diverse people. It is what turns us into the Body of Christ. And Paul tells the Philippian church to examine the experience he commends them to know.

Philippians two opens with a conditional proposition. Paul is asking Christian to examine what should be true of their lives together. “If there is encouragement in Christ…” (Yes… always!) “If there is comfort in the love of Christ…” (of course there is!) “If we participate in the Spirit…” (Absolutely… He indwells every believer.) “If there is affection and sympathy…” (Well… there should be when Jesus is changing us to be like Him!) Those conditional questions are asking us to remember the evidence of change the gospel brings to us, and to live in all those qualities together. This forms the foundation upon which we grow in unity and love in the Church.

Paul then emphasizes this unity with the call to bring him (as the church’s founder) complete joy by being “of the same mind”. This is not a mindless uniformity. It is instead a transformative, joyous unity of purpose and action together as Christ’s unique people. It is both emotional and volitional as Christians choose to love each other well. It is also agreeable and extensive: all Christians in a local church setting fully in agreement and showing in this love, worship, and gospel community, the love of Christ. This is what we live for as Christians… together under Jesus, for the gospel, loving one another.

How do we show this? Well… that’s where Philippians 2:3-11 paints as a more detailed picture. We put away selfishness and pride. We humble ourselves individually. We see other people as more significant than ourselves (OUCH!). We put self-interest at the bottom of our daily to do list. And we hope to think like Jesus. That is how Christian community becomes the greatest society ever set up by God on earth.