Criteria of Christianity

Criteria of Christianity

Phil. 2:12-18

If you have ever seen a wanted ad describing certain criteria that must be met for a particular job, imagine if you were to run across the following:

Wanted, a man who would give up the most splendid family business as his father’s right hand man to embark on a thirty-three year mission which would affect the whole world. Requirements include having to leave the realm of Heaven for the planet earth, taking the form of a human being, working as a carpenter in the family business into whom you would be born, leaving all of that behind to begin ministry, choosing twelve immediate followers whom you will eventually promote to extreme positions of authority, teaching the people about the Father in Heaven and about the coming kingdom, put on trial by the Jews illegally, delivered to the Romans to be scourged, sacrificing yourself by being crucified between two thieves, being raised from the dead three days later and ascending back to Heaven

This would blow your mind, and I’m sure there would not be many people signing up for this job. Thankfully, Christ already answered this want ad, as Paul described last week in the preceding verses from chapter two. However, when we become a Christian, we are supposed to be a follower of Christ. As a follow up to the humility of Christ, Paul next provides some criteria for the Christian life. We don’t have the same job description as Christ, but we do need to notice what Paul says in this text:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me” (Phil. 2:12-18).

Though this is not an exhaustive list of requirements, Paul’s instructions to the church at Philippi should give each of us some food for thought with the Christian life. There are things we must be doing each and every day that we have in his service.

The first observation from this text is that Christianity requires individual effort.

When I was in college I remember having to do some group projects. It seemed that no matter how many people were in a group, there were almost always some people who wouldn’t do any of the work. They relied on the workers in the group to get the job done. They could get a good grade without having to do anything.

Christianity is not like that. Paul says our salvation is something that we are to be working on. We don’t depend on others for our salvation; it’s something we work out ourselves. Sometimes you get letters in the mail that says immediate action required! It’s usually something phony, but the principle is legitimate. Everything about Christianity is action oriented. Think about Christ: he went about doing good, he taught, he performed signs, miracles and wonders, he went to the cross. The early church devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). All throughout the New Testament we see them doing things which meant they were actively living out their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul said this is to be done with fear and trembling. It has been said that this is describing “’the anxiety of one who distrusts his ability to completely meet all requirements, but religiously does his utmost to fulfill his duty’” (Jackson 83). Another way of looking at this phrase to better understand it might be “’a nervous and trembling anxiety to do what is right (http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/robertsons-word-pictures/philippians/philippians-2-12.html). Something to consider here is the explanation that at the same time we are working, God is working in us.

God created us as creatures of free will, so we are not robots. However, God works through people even though we don’t understand how this works. From a study of the Bible it seems that God can work through people even when they don’t follow Him. He worked through Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar and Pilate, so you can see how God is still in control despite people who try to go against him. Though this is not what is under consideration here, I wanted to show that God is indeed working in the lives of people. According to Paul, God is working in the lives of Christians “both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13). Paul said “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Christianity requires individual effort as we are to work out our own salvation.

A second observation from this text is that Christianity requires illuminating effects.

Have you ever looked up at the night sky on a clear night to see how it is lit up with starlight? It has always impressed me when I am out west at elk camp at a much higher elevation to see how much brighter they shine. When God placed the specific lights he created on day four, the greater light called the sun ruled the day and the lesser light known as the moon and stars ruled the night (Gen. 1:14-19). Whereas the moon reflects the sun’s light, the stars shine light of their own which we see in the dark of night.

Paul told the Philippians that they were shining like stars or lights in the world. Christians are to be visible to those around them. We know that people are watching us wherever we go in life, especially in a world full of darkness. John states in his gospel concerning Jesus: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5).

Since we are to be shining among a dark world, Paul tells the Philippians there are some things they need to remember. First, they are to “do all things without grumbling or questioning” (14). If you’ve ever been around an individual like this it will make you miserable having to listen to it. Some people grumble, murmur or question just about anything. It reminds me of the Israelites when they kept grumbling against God, despite God’s deliverance of them from Egyptian bondage and his protection and provision of them in the wilderness. If people see Christians as grumblers or questioners, that reflects poorly on the church. Second, they are to “be blameless and innocent” (15). It has been said this addresses both conduct and motive on behalf of the Christian (Jackson 84). Again, Christians are supposed to set an example in the world. Third, they are to be “… children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation…” This verse reminds me that we as Christians are in the world but not of the world. Jesus said this of his disciples in his prayer to the Father: “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” (Jn. 17:14-16).

We are to be letting our lights shine wherever we go. It doesn’t even matter if you live in an assisted living home, people are watching to see what you do. We sing the song at Vacation Bible School called “This Little Light of Mine,” and it truly is to shine everywhere we go. In your room, at your table for meals, walking the hallways and reading the paper in the lobby are all places where you are to shine like stars. There are people here who need the Lord, and you can be a great example to them. You too can have illuminating effects in a dark world.

A third and final observation from this text is that Christianity requires intentional examination.

A friend of mine was on the way back from Alabama on a holiday. He was listening to a Nascar race and speeding along without even realizing how fast he was going. All at once he saw blue lights in his rearview mirror so he pulled off to the side of the interstate. The trooper approached his vehicle and asked him if he realized how fast he was going. Upon my friend acknowledging that he was unaware the trooper told him he was driving close to 90 miles per hour and asked why. My friend replied that he was listening to Nascar and guessed he was just trying to keep up. The trooper said that was one of the best excuses he’d ever heard and let him off without a ticket, especially since it was a holiday. It is very easy to go above the speed limit if we don’t intentionally look down to examine our speedometer every now and then.

The same principle is true for life. As a Christian, we live our life by the Word of God. Paul tells the Philippians he wants them “holding fast to the word of life…” (16). This term is also translated as attention or heed, which seems to give the idea of giving attention to something (Vine 541). Right before Peter healed the lame beggar at the Beautiful Gate “…he fixed his attention on them…” (Acts 3:5). Paul told Timothy “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching” (1 Tim. 4:16). That seems to be the same idea conveyed in our passage to the Philippians.

In order for us to do that, we need to constantly examine what God has revealed to us in Scripture. The Gospel truly is the word of life. It had given life to these Philippians, but it would also be life to those whom they would teach it to along the way. As for the Philippians, Paul tells them how this would affect him if they did hold fast to the word. It would bring him a sense of pride because his labor would not have been in vain (16). He has also communicated this concept to the church at Thessalonica when he was afraid that Satan would tempt them and make his labor in vain (1 Thess. 3:5). If the church at Philippi would hold fast to the word, his labor would not be in vain and he would have the ultimate realization of this at the second coming of Christ. Even if Paul was near death, that wouldn’t stop him from rejoicing with the Philippians, and he wanted them to rejoice with him.

It is truly a time for rejoicing when we are holding fast to the word of God. I am impressed with senior adults who have started to lose their eyesight, but continue to have the desire to stay in the word of God, which leads them to listen to the Bible on cassette or cd. I’ve got a lady at another assisted living home who has a machine that superimposes words on a screen where she can read it. She can’t see the handout I give out each week in class, but she goes back and studies it later. God wants us to hold fast to His Word, and there are lots of options to make that happen. Holding fast to the word of life does require intentional examination on our part.

For those of you who are Christians, are you meeting the criteria that Paul has laid out in this passage to the Philippians? We know that these things don’t just apply to them, but they apply to us also. The criteria of Christianity are revealed in Scripture that we are to follow each and every day. These criteria require us to put forth an individual effort by working out our own salvation. They require us to have illuminating effects in the midst of a dark world by shining like stars. They also require us to undergo intentional examination by holding fast the word of life. Paul told the church at Corinth to “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Cor. 13:5). If you stack up your life to these criteria discussed by the apostle Paul from Philippians 2:12-18, will you pass or fail the test? Let us be the people of God who are portraying these characteristics in our daily lives, the criteria of Christianity!