If you are new to this blog....

Welcome! The primary purpose of this blog is to explore and encourage around what it means to be winsome and sent into the world for God's glory. If you are new here, the definition of "lighthouse-searchlight" or our missional journey is a good place to start. Come peruse the blog and add me to your RSS feed!

Saturday, April 14, 2007

philippians - holy friendship

On beginning a church study of Philippians...

As we study Philippians and as we continue in our life together as holy family and holy friends, I hope that we will grow in the understanding that we are not just here to worship together, eat together, or even to support one another in tough times, though all of those are vitally important to each of us. We are also bound together here as holy friends because of Jesus Christ. And as we learn to love one another with the affection of Christ – the very heart of Jesus Christ – we will learn more and more how to encourage one another to grow spiritually.

That means we will need to learn how to dip beneath the surface questions. We will need to ask the harder questions like, “What is God doing in your life? How are things with you and God? Can I pray with you? What can I pray for you about?” It may be that we need to add our discernment when our friends’ seems clouded. We need to find ways to cheer one another along and keep one another from stumbling. (You’ll notice in Philippians that in addition to the plant-growing imagery, Paul will later use the race analogy to describe spiritual growth.)

Warning: It can be easy to take the goal of spiritual accountability and see it devolve into judgment and gossip. “Oh, so and so isn’t living the straight and narrow – she really needs to get her act together.” That’s not holy friendship; that’s the devil at work.

Holy friendship – spiritual accountability – must begin with loving with the heart of Christ, and I think we understand what that might mean. When we have that perspective, we begin to see one another not as competitors but like family. And we are interested in growing together toward God.

Let’s think about the sequence Paul prayed for in chapter 1, vv.9-10:

1. Love abounding: How can we help one another grow in love for God and others?

2. Real knowledge and discernment: How can we teach one another and grow in knowledge of Jesus and clear understanding of what is good and godly?

3. Sincere and blameless before God: How can we turn from sin more often and more completely, and keep our eyes focused on the God-who-goes-before-us?

And finally, how can we be a “searchlight” so that those who do not yet know Christ may become “friends of God?”

Philippians is a “letter to my friends” from Paul. I hope to encourage you as a brother so that your love might grow into real knowledge of Christ and discernment in your lives, that you might stand sincere and blameless before God. I hope, too, that you will find ways to encourage one another (and me) in the same ways.

I am reassured that as we participate in God’s growing process that “He who began a good work in [us] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (1:6)

Tag Cloud

2014 2015 accountability acts advent archive art arts ash wednesday aslan assurance audio auditions authenticity bands belief bigotry blessing blob bloggers blooper reel bluegrass body of christ book book reviews boomer boundaries breadth of worship builder bus calling Calvin Symposium cd ceilidh change character of god chart christmas church church partnerships civility commandments commentary communication community con ed confession confirmation contemporized hymns crisis CS Lewis culture D.Min. dance darkness death definitions denomination depth of worship discernment discipleship discourse dismissal dissertation drama early church easter ecclesiology ecpc emergent church error evangelism excellence exile exodus experience experimentation facebook failure faith family of God father fear fellowship fellowshippres following forgiveness friendship frost fruit frustration funerals GA ga219 ga220 GAhelp generations genX gift gifts girl scouts good news Google gospel grace gracious witness gspc youth hands health highlights holy spirit holy week hope hospitality humility humor hymn image of God imago dei improvisation incarnation inclusion index information insider language institutions interns invitation iTunes james jazz Jeremy Begbie john piper jonah joy judgment Keith and Kristyn Getty kids kindness language law lay renewal leadership legalism lent license life light lighthouse linked articles links listening liturgy loneliness love lyrics maddie shuler meme mentoring mercy metanarrative mgb commission millenials ministry networks miscellaneous mission missional missional identity missions moderator montreat mumford music narnia neighborhood neighbors new wineskins new year news newsletter NEXT NEXTchurch nicaragua noticing obedience obstacles organizations outreach palm sunday parenting participation pastor pastoral ministry pcaus pcusa peace performance peter pgf pictures plagues planning podcasting poetry politics ponderings pornography post-modernism prayer preaching presbymergent presbyterian global fellowship presbytery publishing questions racism reader reconciliation recordings recycled goodness redemption reflection refugees relationship relationships repentance retreat righteousness risk roadblocks rss rules sabbatical safety salt samaritan satan satire scotland searchlight searchlight 2.0 sectarianism self-righteousness seminaries sermon snippets sermon-song sermons shalom sheep shepherding sin small church social media song songwriters songwriting spheres of influence spirit spiritual lessons spiritual power stewardship stories story sub-culture summary sunrise talent challenge tears technology teenagers Ten Commandments terrorism testimony theater theft theological education top posts tragedy transformation translation travel trees trinitarian worship trinity trust truth twitter union with christ valentines VBS video virtual reality vision waiting website wednesdays out wee kirk welcome witness word cloud wordle words workshop worship writing year-end YL you tube youth