To Live Is Christ by Matt ChandlerSample

“Bring it to Completion”

Let me tell you the wrong way to read these stories. I think that sometimes we read the Bible and think everybody we read about is different from us. I think we believe that Lydia and the slave girl got converted and never wrestled with doubt, fear, anger, or bitterness again. We think that the duty-bound jailer converted and then immediately converted the rest of the Roman legion there in Philippi. But it’s not true. Paul says to the Philippians that to live a life worthy of the gospel means standing together as one, striving in one mind for what’s ahead. Implicitly, we see that the Philippian church was not a perfect church; in fact, the gospel is commended when we can admit we aren’t perfect, even after we’re saved.

This is purely speculation, but do you suppose there is a chance that as the church at Philippi grew, Lydia starts to struggle with pride? She’s got a big house. She funds a big part of what’s going on in the church. There’s a possibility that, over time, she could become quite the control freak.

What about the slave girl? Do you suppose that, as she gets older, she might have some relationship issues, finding it difficult to trust?

Do you think that our blue-collar ex-GI might need the Lord to soften his heart and warm him up a little bit?

Maybe it’s stuff like this that’s behind Paul’s encouragement: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Living a life worthy of the gospel does not mean pretending to be perfect. Instead, it means having the humility to think of others as better than ourselves (Phil. 2:3). It means putting self-concern aside to work together, realizing that we are all still in process. Let us have the grace of God for each other that He gave us in the overlooking of sins and the outpouring of unmerited love. And together we can strive in the holiness imputed to us in Christ and promised to us in the age to come.

* How hard is it for you to think of others as better than yourself? Why is it so difficult to have the humility to admit you’re not perfect?