Philippians 2:3-4
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Today in the world we live, there are many issues and philosophies that we as Christians confront which are in conflict the spiritual truths of God’s Word and which constantly challenge our relationship with our heavenly Father and also with each other in the family of God. Whatever the issues are they might seem new to us but they have always been around since God put man and woman on this earth. Salomon stated this fact over 2,500 years ago.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10
9 What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
How these many different issues and philosophies are presented or packaged might be new to us but will change every generation or two. For example, what is seen on the World Wide Web (which will be 33 years old this month) through the internet has never in history been so accessible and seen by so many people around the world. The list of what we can access through the web is endless. Oh, just in case you were wondering, there is a technical difference between the internet and the web (World Wide Web). “The Internet is a global network of networks while the Web, also referred formally as World Wide Web (www) is a collection of information that is accessed via the Internet.” – GeeksforGeeks. How many of us had always mistakenly thought that internet and the web (World Wide Web) were the same thing?
The meaning of words and how they are applied have also changed in our lifetime, which can be seen when looking up a specific word on the web. In spite of these constant changes what does not change is God and His Word, that is why we need to always understand what God means in His Word concerning the many different topics and how the Bible describes or mentions them in contrast to the way the world defines them.
Isaiah 5:20-2
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
Keeping in mind with what was stated in the previous paragraphs, this is why it is always important when reading our Bibles to understand, the meaning of words, spiritual concepts and principles in the scriptural context of where they are used and how they are used. Which will always reflect God’s character as described in His Word. We also always need to be careful not to apply the non-Biblical, secular or worldly understanding or meaning to what we are reading in the Bible.
It is the world’s way of thinking, doing things, and how we consider and or even how compare ourselves to others and much more that the enemy of our souls will always use to try to get a foothold into our lives to cause disunity in the Church and with other Christians.
This is precisely what the apostle Paul was warning the Philippian church about. In the world’s way of thinking, many believe that there is nothing wrong with “selfish ambition”. We have all heard the idiom or expression, “looking out for number one” which means, “To act in one’s own interests; to act in a manner advantageous primarily to oneself.” However, in the Church as believers, this way of thinking and or attitude conflicts and is contrary to what Christ teaches us about the second greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:37-39
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Also “selfish ambition” conflicts with what other writers in the New Testament state who also quote this same Old Testament verse from Leviticus 19:18b, this is seen in Romans 13:9-10, Galatians 5:14, James 2:8.
Loving our neighbor many times involves taking them into consideration above ourselves which can be difficult and challenging at times.
Romans 12:17-18
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Loving our neighbor in its many ways of doing so should always be a common characteristic of a believer in Christ which is contrary to “selfish ambition”.
In addition to “selfish ambition” Paul also says in this verse do nothing out of “vain conceit”. In an excerpt from GotQuestions.org, it talks about the two terms together and says following concerning how these terms apply to us today.
“Selfish ambition can be understood as “motivation to elevate oneself or to put one’s own interests before another’s.” It is a self-above-others approach. Vain conceit means “excessive pride” or “self-esteem that has no foundation in reality”; vain conceit is an elevated and incorrect sense of self. Therefore, doing nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit means not letting our actions be motivated by selfishness, pride, or one-upmanship. One-upmanship, “the practice of gaining a feeling of superiority over another person.”
What Paul next tells the Philippians and us in verse 3c is very simple but important to live by. It is always easy to tell someone that they should not do something or not be a certain way, but it is always helpful to that person if we can also encourage them to realize from God’s Word what to do and or to be instead. This is what Paul does here, “but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”.
Both “selfish ambition” and “vain conceit” refers to arrogance, pride or an inflated ego in a person. Paul does not state what the causes are nor how pride is harming the congregation, but it is obvious that “selfish ambition” and “vain conceit” is not part of what the Bible teaches and or a part Christian’s new character in Christ Jesus. However, Paul does tell us what “humility” does, it “consider others better than yourselves.”
As I am writing this study, most states have recently or will be removing very soon their mask mandates, but what we all have experienced these last few years will serve as a good lesson of how scripture, such as these verses and others apply to many situations we might personally confront in the future.
One example among many that we all recently have experienced are the differing views that COVID-19 brought about, particularly with wearing masks. I am sure you saw on social media and heard in the news how heated the arguments were for and against wearing masks. Some people for political reasons, personal health reasons and other reasons choose not to wear a mask and others for the same reasons choose to wear a mask. However, as Christians having to navigate this particular dispute, did you ever consider what God tells us in his Word concerning why we should comply or should not comply to the mask wearing guidelines and mandates? Did you ever consider what Paul teaches us as believers in Christ in these two verses (Philippians 2:3-4)? And how do these verses apply to the arguments on either side of the issue of wearing masks? Christians always need to be careful and never let what the world says about a particular topic make the decision for us if we should or if we should not do something. As believers in Christ and because of our relationship with God, the Word of God is our moral compass no matter the issue. Even though these verses do not mention the word “mask” or any other disputed social topic such as …., it does not mean that the spiritual principle taught in these and other verses of the Bible do not apply.
What we do and not do, say and not say, what we believe and not believe should always reflect what the word of God teaches us and not reflect a worldly viewpoint or philosophy.
Pastor John
Galatians 6:10
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
