Today I
continued moving further into this passage, "Let
those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think
otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we
have attained.”[1]
The issue is
that, while the mature are to "think
this way," as Paul has just taught in the previous couple of
paragraphs, there will also be issues about which Christians "think otherwise." The church
can agree on the doctrines involved, while having differences about how those
doctrines apply to various issues of life.
For example,
while everyone would agree with Paul that we cannot mix the law with the
gospel,[2]
and that we should all strive to run the race with perseverance,[3]
there might be "otherwise"
kind of thinking in how to apply this.
Someone in the
church might wonder what to do when invited to the in-laws for their observance
of the Passover. Some would say that Paul made it clear to have nothing to do
with law-based things in the church, while others would say that we can
participate in an event without interacting with our hearts.
Everyone could
still agree on the essentials, that there is no room for the law in the church,
and that everyone needs to strain for the finish line to win the prize of our
upward calling in Christ Jesus. And yet there could be "otherwise" thinking that the church legitimately did not
know how to handle.
Paul dealt
with something similar when writing to the Romans. All the believers could “think this way” that all idols are of
the evil one,[4]
and there is no such thing as other “gods” (except for the fact that the
demonic spiritual world keeps trying to make the world think such things).[1]
However, that doesn’t mean everyone thought the same way about what to do with
the meat that was on sale in the marketplace because it had already been
offered to these idols.[5]
Some
Christians thought that the doctrines about idols and idolatry in reference to
demons meant that Christians should not take advantage of the monetary savings
on meat sacrificed to idols. Other Christians reasoned that, because there was
no such thing as idols anyway, that taking advantage of the sale prices was a
smart thing to do. Paul would never have allowed a difference in doctrine regarding
idols and idolatry, but showed that Christians could have two opposing
positions about the meat sacrificed to idols, with both sides doing the right
thing as long as both sides were doing what they were doing by faith.
Here in
Philippians, Paul does not point to further study of Scripture as the answer to
resolving our thinking otherwise (although searching Scripture would be
included). Neither did he put the focus on the apostles as the primary teachers
of the church (they obviously had their place since Paul was an apostle
teaching the church what to do about such things). While Scripture and
apostolic teaching were both God-given gifts, Paul wanted everyone's attention
to be on God. There is a way that "God
will reveal that also to you."[6]
Personally, I
find this very exciting to see how clearly the focus is on God revealing
things. I don't need to stand with the pendulum-extreme of those who say that
every thought is inspired by God (no matter how much false doctrine it
promotes), and I don't need to stand with the pendulum-extreme of the nay-sayers
who say that God never speaks to us outside of what he already said in
Scripture.
Instead, I can
stand very firmly on the "let those
of us who are mature think this way," in relation to the clear
revelations of Scripture, and I can look to God to "reveal" things to the church to help us come to unity in
those things about which we "think
otherwise."
I believe this
applies to what God has taught me regarding how he continues to speak through
his word. We never look for new revelations that aren't stated in the
Scriptures, but we always expect God to give us insight about things Scripture
doesn't talk about. In the same way as we can apply the descriptions of
Behemoth and Leviathan to the world of dinosaurs,[7]
even though the word “dinosaur” is of very recent invention, so we can take
clearly revealed teachings of Scripture and apply them to contemporary problems
and scenarios that are not mentioned in the sacred text of God’s word.
This is what
God was teaching me when he firmly established me in listening to him in his
word just before being hit with all kinds of childhood abuse issues affecting the
church family I was pastoring at the time. Some of those dealing with childhood
trauma were also struggling with eating disordered behavior. Even though eating
disorders was a brand-new issue for me,
and there was no mention in Scripture of anorexia, bulimia, and compulsive
over-eating, that did not mean that Scripture didn’t speak to these things.
None of the specifics we were dealing with were found in Scripture, but all the
answers were there.
Along the way,
another pastor was also confronted with eating disorders when a family member
began struggling through the same things as what I had encountered in the
church. At the time, he and I were enjoying a weekly prayer meeting that was of
great benefit and encouragement to us both. However, he had such a different “take”
on how God wanted the church to handle eating disorders, that he decided we
could not continue in fellowship and pray together. As a result, his family
member also cut off relationships that had been growing in the Lord.
I have seen
this too many times, that professing Christians seem to be united when it comes
to the “let those of us who are mature think
this way,” side of the Scripture, but believe it is God’s will for them to
cut ties with other believers when they hit the “if in anything you think otherwise” side of the same Scripture. God’s
revealed will on the matter is that he “will
reveal that also to you,” if his people will only, “hold true to what we have attained.” Since attaining a certain
level of fellowship has consistently been part of the picture, letting go of
what has been attained is in direct disobedience to God’s way of doing things.
As I look back
at how God led me through these things to do with abuse and eating disorders,
and how the other pastor was dealing with the same things in his church and
family, I sadly wonder what all God would have revealed to us if we had stayed
together in what we had attained. What if we had waited on God to reveal what
we were to believe about the things in which we thought otherwise. I am sure
God would have revealed to us what to do for many more young ladies with abuse
issues and eating disorders if we did the
whole will of God and stayed together. Instead, there was even greater pain and
heartache added to relationships that were already tender with the sorrows of
childhood trauma.
I have had
enough positive examples of how God leads the mature to think the way the
apostles teach us, and people working through their “thinking otherwise”
situations by staying together until God makes things clear, that I know God
will do the same even now. The negative examples of things done the wrong way
also affirm God’s right way of doing things.
I am
encouraged to keep putting high regard on the Scriptures and what they say,
while looking for God to reveal things to us in the application of those
Scriptures. It is one more way that we work out our salvation with fear and
trembling in all kinds of application areas, knowing that God is working in us
to reveal what to will and to work for his good pleasure.[8]
© 2015 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
Philippians 3:15-16
[2]
Philippians 3:1-11
[3]
Philippians 3:12-14
[4]
I Corinthians 10:18-22
[5]
Romans 14:1-23; Paul also dealt with these things in I Corinthians 8, and I
Corinthians 10
[6]
Acts 15 gives a very good example of the way the church handled an early issue
of thinking otherwise. Everyone stayed together in their differences of
opinion, and God led the church to a resolution that everyone was satisfied
with because God had used their fellowship to reveal what to do. They had all
worked out their salvation with fear and trembling while God was working in
them to will and to work for his good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
[7]
Job 40:15-24; Job 41:1-34
[8]
Philippians 2:12-13
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