Chad and Keith discuss Philippians 1:27-28 and what it means to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel.
Intro (Keith): Welcome to the Kanakuk Institute Podcast, where we continue to equip leaders with biblical skills for a lifetime of ministry.
Chad (00:14): And good morning and welcome back into the Kanakuk Institute Podcast, as always is Chad Hampsch and Keith Chancey working through some scriptures today. Keith, excited to look at a passage that I know you have taught recently, and you’re excited to share a little bit, this morning, with us. Read that text to us and then explain…
Keith (00:33): Chad, what a great passage. Man, I thank you for letting me be here today, and I thank our listening audience. Man, if you look in Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 through the end of the chapter, through verse 30, here’s what it says, and I’ll read it to you. He says, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you, that you are standing firm in one Spirit, one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”
Chad (01:27): So good, and, Keith, I know as you, kind of, work through this text, you really want our audience to kind of understand four major principles. Will you walk us through those principles.
Keith (01:35): Yeah Chad. You know, what I see right there right off the bat. I see there’s four things that we have to look at, and that in order for us to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel, there’s four things. Number one, by being citizens of heaven. We’ve got to understand, to walk worthy is understanding we are citizens of heaven. Number two, we are standing firm. Number three, we are teammates in Christ. And number four, we are to be strong and very courageous. You know, Chad, one of the things that I love is that when it starts out, and that first little bit ought to grip our attention. It says, “only.” And you know, he says, “Man, I need you to understand something guys, only this: conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” So when you see that, I go, “What is the one thing I need to do that as a citizen, that one day I’ll be in heaven, as I’m on this earth, I need to walk in a manner worthy.” That word worthy is the Greek word axios. And what it means, a balance. That you walk in a balance. There’s a balance in the way that you walk. But when you, and that should always be true as we, in Christ, ought to walk in balance, that there ought to be a way that we wake up. Yes, we’re in the world, but we’re not of the world. You know, we’re making a difference for Christ because we understand that yes, I’m going to get up, I’m going to go to work. I’m going to raise my family, I’m going to do what I do. I’m going to balance that, but I’ve got to make a difference. I’m going to walk in a way that is worthy. So, the word worthy, when you break it down, it’s worth. And when you think of something, “What is it worth?” Well the worth is the value that you place upon something, and everything that you have or I have, we place worth upon, the value. And so, what Paul is saying here, he says, “Guys, what’s the worth in which you live here as citizens of heaven. Are you making the impact that you need to make for Christ?” And so as I look at that and I go, “Man, when I wake up in the morning, am I making Christ known wherever I go, whatever I do, whether it be in my home with my kids, with my wife.” As I go to work, do people go, “Man, you’re different.” Do my kids go, “you’re different.” Does my wife go, “you’re different.” Now, we does I’m different, you know what I’m saying? But she says, I want her to say, “You’re just different, because I love the way that you love God.” You know, Chad when I think about that I go, my value that I place upon God, it’s everything. I don’t wake up going, “I hope I get up tomorrow and have a quiet time.” I have a quiet time because I understand what Christ did on the cross for me. You know, we’re celebrating Palm Sunday here, you know, next weekend is Easter, and I just go, wow it is time for us to kind of go, “What in the world are we doing during this season to celebrate the risen Christ?” And I get so pumped up about that because what I believe in is absolutely my understanding of the resurrection of Christ. It is prophesied, Jesus is prophesied, and we’re being able to understand, it’s real. So, do I get to live it? Is it real in my life? Is my worth based upon what it was worth Jesus to die for me? Chad, that’s awesome.
Chad (04:43): That’s so good. So, if you just joined in, we’re looking at Philippians chapter 1, the first part, 27, and Keith, just so I make sure I’m clear, and our listening audience taking notes, our first major thing is our citizenship is in heaven informs everything.
Keith (04:55): Yes, absolutely.
Chad (04:56): Okay, good. Now, you’re moving on to the next part of 27. Walk us through point number two and how that kind of plays out in correlation to the first point.
Keith (05:04): You know, when I understand my position as a citizen of heaven, and I look at that and I go, “wow, the worth that Christ paid for me, now I want to pay for him back, because of what he did for me. I don’t mind dying for my faith, because I believe in it so much. So now, what I need to do is, and Paul says it, he says, “Stand firm.” And so, what does it mean to stand firm? Boy, I tell you what, in today’s world, that is a great word that we need to hear. Standing firm, do I have convictions? Do I believe in this Bible right here being the inspired Word of God, 2 Timothy 3:16? It is God- breathed and is profitable for teaching, for correction, for training in righteousness, so the man will, of God, will be equipped for every good deed. Do I believe that? Then I need to stand on that. When I walk into a battle, do I walk in sharing my opinion about what I think? Or do I share the convictions of God’s word? Am I getting caught up into all these things that people want to battle about all these things about government and these things, and the wars in which we’re fighting, and I go, no we’re in a whole different kind of war. It’s a spiritual war. Ephesians 6 tells us that our battle is not against flesh and blood, but its against the spiritual forces of evil. I have got to know that what we’re experiencing in our world is not anything other than evil. The devil has a foothold. He is called the serpent. He wants to destroy everything that we believe in. So what do we do? We stand firm. How do we stand? I love what Ephesians 6 tells us, because Paul said shod your - he tells us to put on the full armor of God. And one of the pieces of armor he says to put on he says, “Shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” I’ve got to put on the right shoes. You know, Chad, I’m about to go climb Mt Everest, and still people go, “Chancey, you’re always wearing those shoes. Why do you wear those funny looking shoes? They’re kind of green on the bottom and brown and, why do you wear them?” And I go, “because I’ve got to break these shoes in because these are what are going to get me to where I’m going.” And I don’t want to slip and I don’t want to fall. These shoes are a part of me. And I have to understand, my traction of what I believe is so important, because my belief system is who I believe in Christ, what he did, that he resurrected, and that I’ve believed it. And my traction cannot vary from the Word of God. And I can’t let people take me to places that I don’t let them take me. We are an emotionally moved society. We, I don’t know, we kind of get caught up into the moment. And God says, “No, no, no, no, no. I’ve been here forever. You stand firm. Immovable. Abounding in the works of the Lord.” So Chad, I like that second part a whole lot.
Chad (07:38): Yeah, that’ll preach for sure. So, we’re citizens of heaven. Because of that citizenship, we stand firm. Now it moves to, kind of, 27c in the text. Walk us through what it means to be teammates because of that.
Keith (07:51): We are to be teammates. You know, when it tells us that we’re to stand firm and that we are one Spirit, one mind, that we’re striving together. Oh, can you say it any better Paul? Come on, my brother. You see, me being a football player and an athlete and a teammate, you know, I ran track, and what I always noticed in running track and in playing football, you had to play teammates. You know, you had to play together as a team. And you don’t win by one great athlete. You win by eleven athletes in football, five athletes in basketball, nine athletes as a baseball player. As a relay team, there’s four of you. You have to understand that each one must pull his weight. But you don’t criticize the one that’s not as good. You try to raise him up to be better. And Chad, that’s one of the things that I think is so important, when he talks about one Spirit, one mind. It’s so important that I understand, you know, the people that are around me, that I’m looking at the very best qualities in them. I want to exhort not what I see externally, but I want to exhort what I see internally. Man, what I see on that smile, what I see in that countenance, what I see, not with a “Hey, you got a nice shirt.” So what? You know? But to say something like this, “Man I just want to tell you when I saw you really be kind to that waitress, that really meant a lot to me. When I saw how you treated your parents on the phone, that really meant a lot to me. When I saw how you drew people together, and that you could have made that winning shot in basketball, but you chose to pass it off and made that other person great, man I can’t tell you how great you are.” So, you know, Chad, I think when we understand teammates, we’re passing the baton to the next person according to the gifts that God has given them. And we maximize each other with the gifts that they have. I’m not comparing myself to you, I’m not trying to be as good as you, I am understanding that God made me fearfully, he made me wonderfully made, and that I’m as good as God made me. Now, make other people around me great, and let them even be greater than you. And that’s what teammates do.
Chad (09:51): So, would you say, kind of to drill down on that a little bit, from a teammates standpoint, that comparison, not valuing people’s gifts, are the biggest hurtles, or would you say there are other things that you would add to that list that our audience could go, “Man, I’m not being a good teammate because I’m doing this.” What would be those maybe cautions you would give people?
Keith (10:12): Wow, there’s probably a long list there. You know, because I just think that we in society, we listen to people, but as we’re listening to people, we start thinking what we’re going to say, and we don’t quite listen all the way through to what they’re saying. And so, having a great listening ability is one of those qualities as a teammate. I know my wife, she really appreciates that one.
Chad (10:36): Yeah
Keith (10:37): She wants me to put the phone, the book down, and look her in the eye, and get romantic with her. Not really. That part… but she wants me to look in her eye and say, “Hey, sweetie, I’m with you.” And so it’s really important that I am a good listener. It’s that my body language says I care. It’s that I serve her. And then we, by the way we do this for everybody. We come alongside and say, “Hey, what can I do for you?” And it’s just really offering my body as a living sacrifice, to the Lord most importantly, but to others because that’s what Christ did to us.
Chad (11:15): That’s good. That’s good. So, understanding then, is a huge part of being a great teammate, and it seems like a lot of times the comparison piece is because we really don’t understand the other person. We’re like, “That person’s so much better,” or, “That person has so much confidence.” That’s where we can get sideways.
Keith (11:29): You know, Chad, it’s interesting, because I know my wife, she doesn’t want to be compared to anybody.
Chad (11:34): Yeah
Keith (11:35): And she loves it when I exhort her gifts of teaching. I have always made it a point since Karen and I got married, even before we were married. I would tell everybody what a great cook she was. I took joy in that. I took joy in talking about how beautiful Karen is. But I would, always when I said how beautiful she was, I never really elaborated. I could have on the external, but it was more so the inside, because I know that that’s what I would be left with a long time. Karen is inside and out the most drop-dead gorgeous girl I’ve ever known. And she’s the object of my attention, my affection, because of who she is in Christ. And so I look as a husband, my goal is to. People always say, “Chancey,” If people have problems in their marriage, I hear that. But I’ve always said, “I know, that’s how I’ve made her.” And so, whether good or bad, it’s how I’ve, a lot of times, made her, by the way that I treat her.
Chad (12:28): A lot of times we’re the problem…
Keith (12:30): Oh, I’m so much of the problem. And teammates have to understand. It’s not so much making the other people good, as I must be the best that I can become. I can’t take people where I’m not. And so that’s a good point.
Chad (12:43): Again, if you’re back home taking notes, we’re working through Philippians 1:27-28, primarily. We’ve looked at three major points. One, what does our citizenship in heaven look like? Two, the result of that, really, is standing firm. And then, three, being a great teammate. Now he kind of rounds the corner here, the last lap. And he’s challenging us to be strong and courageous. Walk us through verse 28 and how that kind of sends us out on mission.
Keith (13:09): Well it’s great I love how Paul did that and I’ll use the analogy I was just using about the relay race. You know, you get the first guy that takes off, hands it to the second guy, the third guy, and then the third guy hands off on that corner to the fourth guy who’s the anchor. And this is where you anchor it. You know, we have got to be anchored that we are not afraid of the battle that we’re in. That we’re going to be strong. We’re going to be courageous. That this world is going to be tough. There is going to be suffering. And once again I have to go back to James chapter 1, “Consider it pure joy, my brethren, when I,” It’s a personal thing. And when, it’s not if, but it’s when I am either in a trial, coming out of a trial, or about to go into a trial. You know, so, I am, trials are just a part of my life. And what I’ve got to do, is I’ve got to say, I’m going to be strong and courageous because God is with me. The battle of which I fight, God is with me, and we’ve seen him win in the Old Testament, we’ve seen him win in the New Testament, because he resurrected, and he did what nobody else could have ever done, and that’s why I would die for him, and I will be strong and courageous in what I believe. As my citizenship will be in heaven, I want to stand firm for him, I want to make other people around me great teammates, and I want to be strong and courageous. And I love this and I’ll close with his Chad. You know, Joshua 1:8-9 says, “For this book of the law shall not depart from my mouth, but I’ll meditate on it.” The Bible. What I’ve got in my lap right now is my Bible, and it is my sword. It is how I fight. And I don’t fight with my words or being mad at you. But I fight with the words that reconcile you with the grace of God. With the Love of God. With God’s intensity. And I go, “man, I’ve got to love people well.” You know, “No greater love than this that one will lay down his life for his friends.” And so, you know, I want to meditate on his word, because if I meditate on that word, I will be strong and very courageous. And I won’t tremble or be dismayed. For God will be with me wherever I go. Yay God. You win! Thank you.
Chad (15:08): That’s awesome. Great way to close, Joshua 1:8. If you get a chance today, go look at Philippians chapter 1 and focus a little time on verses 27 and 28, and look at what Keith walked us through, the idea of our citizenship being in heaven, the idea of standing firm in the faith, being great teammates, and what does it mean to be strong and courageous in a world that’s collapsing around us. We hope you were encouraged by God’s word this morning, and we’re exited to catch up with you next time here on the Kanakuk Institute Podcast. We’ll see you next time.