Passage: Philippians 1:1-11

The Big Idea

Our minds are like huge ships headed the wrong way, and it takes time to turn them around. Paul says we’re transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). In the opening of Philippians, Paul teaches us how to think about other believers: take advice only from humble servants, give thanks even for difficult brothers and sisters, pray for them with optimism, never give up on them, and remember we’re all one. Then get in the battle and do spiritual work: abide in Jesus, and pray.

Turning the Ship

Our mind is a small part of our body, but a huge part of our life. It’s like the captain of a cruise ship. Once a big ship heads the wrong direction, it takes a long, long time to turn it around.

Our minds are ships traveling the wrong direction, and this letter will help us slowly turn them around.

Here’s how easy it is to steer someone’s thinking. Say “silk” five times fast. Now spell it five times. Now: what does a cow drink?

(Not milk. Water!)

Paul says not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

The way we think needs to be renewed. We need to relearn how to think.
We grow up in a culture that puts a high value on our thoughts: “Tell me what you think.”
So when the Bible tells us how to think properly, it can offend us.
We assume our thoughts are just our thoughts, and nothing could be wrong with them. Anyone who disagrees is closed-minded.
But God’s Word says our minds have been conformed to the world. Without realizing it, we’ve let a world in rebellion against God shape how we think.

If the world gets to tell you how to think, shouldn’t God get the same opportunity?

That’s the heart we’ll bring to this letter: Lord, teach us how to think. If we learn to think the way He teaches us, it will transform our lives. That’s the promise.

Who Wrote This? (1:1)

Paul and Timothy describe themselves simply as bondservants of Jesus Christ.

A bondservant was a slave by choice.
So who should we take advice from? Only someone humble: broken of their own pursuits, committed to Jesus and His glory alone.
Many people write books of advice, but they’re often pushing their own agenda, their own patterns of thinking.
We need broken men and women writing letters and giving advice.
Paul qualifies. He has shown he isn’t concerned about his own legacy, plans, comfort or ideas. He just wants people to know Jesus the way he knows Him.
The gospel doesn’t need our additions. Paul only wants to share the riches of heaven’s wisdom. He’s not trying to take people’s riches.
Contrast that with preachers who use the gospel to build their own wealth and fame. Be careful whose teaching you follow. Pride and love of money are warning signs.

Thinking lesson 1: Only take advice from humble servants of Jesus.

Paul writes to all the saints in Philippi, along with the overseers and deacons. We’re going to learn how to think about all believers, including pastors and leaders.

The Main Purpose: Grace and Peace (1:2)

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The main purpose of this letter, and most of Paul’s letters, is that believers will receive grace and peace from God.
Paul wants them to receive something real and tangible, something that will change their lives.
Grace is the power and life of God, given to people, so they can live the way God wants them to.
Peace is what people so desperately need. It’s the quiet assurance that God isn’t angry with you and you’re not His enemy.
In fact, you’re His child and on His team. You will win. No matter how bad it looks or feels, you have an unbreakable confidence, like a quarterback who knows the game is already won.

That’s what the transformed life of Romans 12:2 looks like: full of grace and peace. Living a life that honors God by grace, and confident in your connection to Him.

That’s it! Everything else is details.

“I’m OK with God. It’s His Followers I Can’t Stand.”

You’ve probably seen that bumper sticker. Let’s see how Paul thinks about God’s people (Philippians 1:3-11).

Give thanks (1:3)

Paul thanks God every time he remembers them.

The first way Paul teaches us to steer our minds is by giving thanks.
His life might have been easier without these people!
Remember how the church in Philippi began (Acts 16). Paul met Lydia by the river, and she believed. Then he cast a spirit out of a slave girl, and her owners had Paul and Silas beaten with rods and thrown into the inner prison with their feet in stocks. At midnight they were praying and singing, and an earthquake shook the prison open. The jailer nearly took his own life, but instead asked how to be saved, and he and his household believed. The next day Paul had to confront the magistrates before leaving town.
Beaten. Imprisoned. An earthquake. A courtroom confrontation. And Paul gives thanks every time he thinks of them.

Thinking lesson 2: Give thanks for brothers and sisters, even if they’re difficult for you.

Some people are hard to be around. Some take a lot of your time. Some always seem to be trouble. You may even get hurt by other believers.

Our flesh reacts with anger or self-protection. But the Spirit calls us to something different: give thanks for that person.

“Thank You, God, for bringing __ into my life. Thank You for choosing me to be a loving friend to them. Thank You for the opportunity to serve one of Your children, someone You died for.”

That’s how we’re meant to think. When I’m constantly annoyed by people in the church, the first thing that needs to change is my own heart. We’re the ship going the wrong way. Turning it starts with giving thanks. Thanksgiving doesn’t change them. It changes you!

(Giving thanks doesn’t mean ignoring real harm. If someone is hurting you, wisdom and safety matter too. But even then, God can give you a heart that isn’t ruled by bitterness.)

Pray with joy (1:4-5)

Paul says he always prays for them with joy, because of their partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

Paul isn’t burdened when he prays for them. He’s optimistic!
Joy is a huge theme in this letter.
And he’s writing from prison, chained to a guard, suffering, yet teaching us how to think.
Paul has already been transformed, and what does it look like? Joy. Joy has become his normal state.
When he thinks about these believers, he isn’t stressed, bummed out, disappointed, sarcastic or sad. He’s optimistic!
If you tend to be pessimistic, I understand. But let God turn your ship.
Our minds need to rejoice in our brothers and sisters, not doubt them.
That doesn’t mean we never warn about sin or pitfalls ahead. But we do the hard work of believing in God’s power to change their lives, even before they believe it themselves.
We teach grace and trust that grace is going to change them.
Paul teaches us to pray for others’ growth, by grace, and to expect God to answer by faith.

Thinking lesson 3: Pray optimistically for others, simply because they believe the gospel.

This keeps us from doubting God’s Word and the power of His grace. We need to believe in the power of the gospel itself to change people!

You don’t have to stress about changing people, because the gospel changes people.
You don’t have to be bothered by their failures, because the gospel has made provision for their failures.
You don’t have to sort believers into categories based on performance, because we all believe the same gospel of grace. No believer is better than another. No believer earned a higher standing.

God finishes what He starts (1:6)

Paul is confident that He who began a good work in them will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Paul can be so confident because God is the one doing the work.
He trusts God’s Word and God’s gospel: all the work was finished on the cross. His confidence is in grace!
Spurgeon asked where we’ve ever seen God start a work and abandon it: “Show me for once a world abandoned and thrown aside half formed.” God completes what He begins.

Thinking lesson 4: Don’t give up on believers, because God doesn’t scrap a project.

How often do we give up on Christians because of a mistake: a divorce, a crime, a moral failure, or just acting like a jerk? We feel justified shutting them out of our hearts.

We can change that by putting our confidence in the Lord and His power to transform lives through the gospel alone.

If someone claims to be a Christian but is living in ongoing, unrepentant sin, that’s a bigger concern. We pray for them to truly believe and surrender to the gospel. But we still don’t get to ignore them or write them off. We love them and share the gospel with them, not reject them.

One in grace (1:7-8)

Paul says it’s right for him to think this way, because he holds them in his heart. Whether he’s in chains or defending the gospel, they’re all partakers with him of grace. God is his witness how much he longs for them with the affection of Christ.

This way of thinking is right because it’s motivated by love.
Paul is deeply connected to them. How? By the gospel and by grace, the same way Jesus loves us. You can’t earn it.
They believe the same gospel and receive the same grace. That connection is greater than any disconnect they’ll ever have.
And because they’re one body, they suffer when Paul suffers.

Thinking lesson 5: We are all one. No one is better than anyone else.

This creates a heart of love for each other. When you smash your thumb with a hammer, you hold it and care for it. That’s what the body of Christ does for its hurting members, and grace equips us to do it.

Get in the Battle: Do Spiritual Work (1:9-11)

Paul prays that their love would abound more and more in knowledge and discernment, so they can recognize what is excellent, be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Because Paul’s mind has been transformed by the gospel and grace, he knows what to really pray for. He’s doing real spiritual work.

So what does he pray? This is how to be involved in God’s work in other people’s lives.

That they’d be more loving. He’s asking God to transform their character, more and more. We can always join God’s work in people by praying for this. People aren’t a burden. They’re an opportunity to watch God plant His love in them.
That they’d have wisdom: knowledge and discernment, able to recognize what’s right and good.
That they’d be sincere: not faking being better than they are (that’s legalism and performance), but humbly admitting weakness so they can receive grace.
That they’d be without offense: understanding how their actions affect others.
That they’d be filled with fruit that comes through Jesus.
For anyone to do anything right, it has to be fruit, not a product from a factory.
Our own efforts are like a factory. God’s work in us is like a garden.
Righteousness is produced only by Jesus, and He’s a patient gardener.
He works in us by grace, His life flowing into ours, like a branch grafted into a tree: both are cut, and they’re joined at the wound.

Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches. Whoever abides in Him bears much fruit, but apart from Him we can do nothing (there goes our factory). If we abide in Him and His words abide in us, we can ask what we desire and it will be done. The Father is glorified when we bear much fruit. As the Father has loved Jesus, so Jesus has loved us; abide in His love. He told us these things so His joy would be in us and our joy would be full. And His command is that we love one another as He has loved us (John 15:5-12).

To get involved in God’s work in His church: we abide, then we pray.
We pray for people to stay connected to Jesus, to abide!
When we partner with God in bringing righteousness into people’s lives, the reward is true joy.
Serving God is better than serving any other master, and His work isn’t a burden. Prayer takes effort, but it’s not our power or resources. We’re simply calling on God to accomplish His Word in the lives around us.
And yes, God has chosen to work through our prayers. Not because He’s withholding, but because He has committed to partner with us in His work of saving the world and growing His people.

Summary

Only take advice from humble servants of Jesus.
Give thanks for brothers and sisters, even if they’re difficult for you.
Pray optimistically for others, simply because they believe the gospel.
Don’t give up on believers, because God doesn’t scrap a project.
We are all one. No one is better than anyone else.

Application: Get in the battle and do spiritual work. Abide, and pray.

Grace Takeaway

“I’m OK with God; it’s His followers I can’t stand.” False. God’s people aren’t the problem; the way we think about them is. Our natural minds don’t know how to think about our brothers and sisters, or how to help them. But grace renews our thinking. Thank God for them. Pray for them with joy. Trust that He will finish what He started in them, just as He will in you. Let’s pray that our minds would be renewed, so our lives can be transformed.

For Discussion

What’s the best example of a Christian you’ve ever met? What’s the worst?
What was more influential on you growing up: your parents, your school, or something or someone else?
Do you often give thanks to God for other believers? Who is the most difficult to give thanks for? Why is thanksgiving important?
Are you an optimistic person? Why should we be optimistic about other believers?
If you could use one word for how we should think about other Christians, what would it be?
Read Psalm 138:8. Do you see yourself as a work of God’s hands?
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. What parts of your life is God concerned with? Whose faithfulness matters most for accomplishing His will?
Read 2 Thessalonians 1:11. What is the “good pleasure of His goodness”?
Read Hebrews 12:1-2. What goal should we keep our eyes on in this race?

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How to Think About Christians