Conduct Yourselves in a Manner Worthy of the Gospel
Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.
Phil 1:27-30
Now Paul takes the above zeal and passion to live for Christ and honour Him, being willing to die for Christ and contrasts it with living as a Roman citizen. The term he uses [politeuesthai] and its cognates [politeuomai] and [politeuma] which are all connected to living under Roman rule. The benefits and peace which supposedly come from being a Roman citizen. The term relates to the “commonwealth of citizenship”. What one shares in common if one is a citizen of a particular country or Commonwealth of countries. Living here in New Zealand we can understand what that term means because New Zealand is part of the British Commonwealth. Essentially it is a political term. It speaks of the oneness or commonality of being a part of a large political entity spread across many different countries. That was indeed the nature of the Roman Empire. Supposedly, conquered nations now in submission to the Roman yoke of political power and control could enjoy Roman peace (Pax Roma) if they remained in submission. As a free citizen (which remember Paul was) he enjoyed the privileges of Roman citizenship. Certain rights given him under Roman law, as we have seen already. But as a slave or as a bond servant, those rights were not so appealing.
Paul is deliberately contrasting the political system of citizenship with being a citizen of heaven. Ooh, careful Paul. Using such a political term as this one carries with it an inference. A political entity has a ruler; a king, a monarch or an emperor, who rules over the kingdom. Paul is deliberately contrasting the Kingdom of Christ in this way. As an analogy, it all fits so well. Yet there is danger ahead. As long as you are under a benevolent ruler life can be good, but under an insecure, despot life is not so good. Hence the clash when the Roman Emperor demands total obeisance with no mention of any other king or ruler. Such terms put Christianity on a collision course with any political system which does not allow talk of a spiritual, heavenly citizenship. I am sure you can think of examples all over the pages of the Bible which brings such a concept into conflict with the ruling authorities. Let’s step out into the world of being a citizen of heaven in a state which doesn’t allow dual citizenship of any kind: earthly or heavenly.
The points I wish to pick up on are:
- Whether I am present or not (whether I come and see you again or only hear about you)
- Standing together for the Gospel
- Don’t be intimidated by your enemies
- The privilege of trusting in Christ and suffering for Him
Paul’s analogy of citizenship applies very well in the contrast between the two kingdoms. This analogy was first used by Jesus when he stood before Pilate. I won’t expand on it because it is one with which I am sure you are familiar and Jesus made it clear to Pilate (the Roman Procurator in Jerusalem) that His Kingdom was not an earthly kingdom.
Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to this world, my servants would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But for now my kingdom is not from here.”
John 18:36
Whether I am present or not
A Roman Emperor required his presence to be represented or at least a reminder of it to be present everywhere. Hence the statues of Caesar spread around the Empire. It is similar today in countries where statue or the image of the ruler is displayed in every government office or citizen’s home. I remember when a photo of the Queen of England was everywhere here in New Zealand. We even had a photo of Queen Elizabeth II in our house. We stood for the Queen before watching a movie at the movie theatre. The notion is that the ruler is everywhere and therefore complete compliance is required. Interesting isn’t it? An earthly ruler can never be everywhere. They are not omnipresent in the same way God is. So to compensate for that, the earthly kingdom’s political machine attempt to ensure the citizens know while the Ruler may not be physically present everywhere, the representatives of the Ruler have eyes and ears everywhere. Paul’s inference here is that the presence of the King is still with you though he, Paul, may not be there. He is using the parallel to the Roman system to remind the Citizens of Heaven to still conduct themselves in a manner worthy of being a citizen of heaven.
While typing this I have felt an Ian Story come to mind.
There was a time during our association with Jakarta Praise Community Church in Indonesia that the theme or focus over a three month period was “Levelling Up”. The point was that we as the Lord’s people need to come up to the level of compliance with the Word of God and the teaching from the pulpit each week. The pattern was set for the cell groups of the church to discuss the sermon preached the week before in the cell groups during the week following. During the cell group time we were asked how we had levelled up to the message during the week. It was a good practical thing to do and the sermons preached during that time were carefully crafted to ensure there was direct application to be made from what was shared. The cell group we were part of at that time took to heart the theme and the method of follow up. So each week we would spend some time discussing the message from the week before and the ways in which we had levelled up according to the Word of God.
During that time over the three month period from December through to February we went back to New Zealand for a month to catch up with family during January. On our return to Jakarta we went to the cell group meeting on our first week back. There was a brief summary of the sermon from the Sunday just past and then the leader asked us all how we had levelled up to Pastor Jeffrey’s sermon this past week. There was no voluntary response forthcoming from those gathered and so he proceeded to go around the room asking each person one by one how we had levelled up to the Word of God during the week. Person after person said, “Oh I haven’t levelled up this week because I wasn’t there on Sunday. I have been away.” Very quickly the pattern was established to the extent that each following person repeated the same refrain. “Yes me too, I haven’t heard what the pastors have shared over this last week. So I haven’t been levelling up.”
Finally the leader came to me and said, “Oh Pak Ian, you and Tania have been away for the month so I don’t suppose you have been levelling up to the Word of God either.” I must admit I reacted rather strongly to the comment and said, “On the contrary, I have levelled up each morning during all of the time we have been in New Zealand. I haven’t levelled up to what Jeffrey or Jose have been preaching because we have not been able to listen to what our pastors have been sharing. But I assure you, I level up to the Word of God every morning as I read the Word of God. If I hear Jeffrey or Jose’s sermon I level up to that. I level up to whoever the preacher may be. But more importantly I level up to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God wherever I am. “Levelling up” is not something I do because it is the JPCC theme for the three months. It is something I do every day of my life. Here are some of the ways I have levelled up during the time in New Zealand. . . .”
I went on to say, “I am not dependent on Jeffrey Rachmat or Jose Carol to challenge or inspire me to level up. In fact if the Holy Spirit is the One prompting me to level up and Jeffrey and Jose are getting their sermons from the same Holy Spirit then chances are the LORD is giving me the same message anyway. If not day by day certainly over a period of time. It is the Word of God I level up through the conviction of the Spirit. I can’t escape from the Word or the Spirit. Wherever I go He is always with me and therefore I always need to level up. Not just for a three month period over the Christmas break. What will you do when the Level Up theme is over and we are on to another theme? Will that mark the end of you levelling up? Don’t let that happen! You ought always to be levelling up to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit , irrespective of who the preacher is.”
Oh, they got the message let me tell you. I don’t think I was too forceful but I made my point. For a while afterward a number of them would tell me when I saw them, “still levelling up Pak Ian”. But then it stopped. I hope they are still levelling up to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit as long as they draw breath.
This is why Paul wrote:
Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.
Phil 1:27
It is the Gospel we level up to. It is the Word of God which is our constant guide and the standard of our conduct as citizens of heaven no matter where we are, nor whether any pastor, preacher or representative of the Kingdom is watching us. We shouldn’t need any statue of Christ around nor any picture of the Ruler on the wall. We have the Word of God beside us and in our hearts, most of us in our mother tongue language. We also have the Holy Spirit living inside of us to convince us of the Truth of the Gospel and to remind us (hupomimnesko) of what He has convicted us of and placed into our heart and minds in times past.