T.J. DIAMOND: UNITY AND HUMILITY

The church is most beautiful when it reflects Christ most clearly.

When we reflect and represent Jesus in a consistent way with who He is, congruent with His character, then God is glorified through us, and the gospel gets lived out.

But the problem happens when, instead of reflecting Christ with all of His beautiful character, His grace, His truth, His love, and His humility, we display too much of ourselves: our own interests, ambition, agenda, our critical spirit, and our pride.

The world is watching. If they see the body of Christ as divided, they see a picture that’s not very pretty.

The Apostle Paul knew the importance of unity in the church.

He told the Philippians to “make my joy complete, by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves, not looking out only for your own interests but also to the interest of others.”

Paul then shares that if you want to experience genuine unity with one another, the key is to reflect Jesus. Be like Him, and think like Him. It starts with a heart attitude.

The character quality that Paul points them toward is Jesus’ humility.

Paul says, “If you want unity, you need to have the same attitude Jesus did. Even though He was God, in humility, he emptied himself, all the way to the cross.”

Picture a church made up of humble people who consistently put aside their own interests and wants for the benefit of their brothers and sisters; then empowered by Christ, their main agenda is to advance His gospel of truth and grace.

That’s a church that probably doesn’t struggle much with unity issues, and that’s a church that reflects our beautiful savior to a watching world.

The Apostle Paul knew how vital the unity of the church is.

He told the Philippians to “make my joy complete, by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves, not looking out only for your own interests but also to the interest of others.”

He then said, “church, if you want to experience genuine unity with one another, the key is this: reflect Jesus. Be like Him, and think like Him.” This starts with a heart attitude.

The character quality that Paul points them toward is Jesus’ humility.

Paul says, “If you want unity, you need to have the same attitude Jesus did. Even though He was God, in humility, he emptied himself, all the way to the cross.”

Picture a church made up of humble people who consistently put aside their own interests and wants for the benefit of their brothers and sisters and, empowered by Christ, their main agenda is advancing His gospel of truth and grace.

That’s a church that probably doesn’t struggle much with unity issues, and that’s a church that reflects our beautiful savior to a watching world.