Tag: Euodia

Resolving Our Differences

Gary Pollard

In Philippians 4, right before he confronts Euodia and Syntyche, Paul says, “My dear brothers and sisters, I love you and want to see you. You bring me joy and make me proud of you. Continue following the Lord as I have told you.” 

Then verse two, “I strongly urge Euodia and I strongly urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the lord.” The word translated “urge” here is something called a petition verb. These were usually used for strong emphasis. There are two in the same sentence in 4.2, suggesting that Paul had been leading up to this the whole time. His examples of selflessness, humility, concern about others, willingness to sacrifice for the good of others, and his examples of other Christians who did what they were supposed to do, all led up to this straightforward conclusion. These two Christian women were evidently in an argument so severe that their salvation was in serious danger (2.12). 

But he doesn’t just admonish these women and leave them in awkward silence. He asks a friend to help these women work out their issues because (4.3), “They worked hard with me in telling people the good news, together with Clement and others who worked with me. Their names are written in the book of life.” He wasn’t bullying these two women because of their issues — even as he corrected them, he made it clear that this was done out of genuine love and concern for their spiritual well-being. Because of their evangelistic mindset and excellent work ethic, their names were in God’s book of life. 

Paul repeats 3.1 in 4.4 — “rejoice in the Lord always. I’ll say it again — rejoice.” These are also imperatives. How do we fix problems in our congregations? We focus on what we have in common. We serve God and we’re waiting impatiently for Jesus to come back. It’s a lot easier to resolve our differences when we’re united in our goals. We all want the same thing. We’re all equal in God’s eyes. 

Philippians 4 has several more imperatives (5-9) — Make sure everyone sees that we’re gentle and kind. Don’t worry about anything. Ask God for everything you need and be content with what you have. Think about what is good and wholesome. Follow God’s teaching. 

At the end of Philippians 4 is another familiar verse — “I can do anything with God’s help”. This verse is on a poster at our gym near the weight lifting area (as “Phillippians” ha), and many have this verse on a shirt or tattooed. While it’s certainly innocent and kinda funny, that’s not what Paul’s saying here. To avoid ending the letter on an unpleasant note, he spends time thanking Philippi for all of the ways they’ve helped him. He slipped in that he can be content with or without money, and he can be content with or without enough food. How? Because when it comes to working for God, he’ll make sure we have the strength we need to keep going. 

Philippians 4.7 says, “Because you belong to Jesus, God’s peace will guard your hearts and minds. His peace is more profound than we’re capable of understanding.” No matter what happens to us, if we’re working for God we’ll be ok! 

Positive Encouragement

Gary Pollard

In Phil 1.6, Paul says “I am sure that the good work God began in you will continue until he completes it on the day when Jesus Christ comes again.” If this sounds familiar, it’s because he said something very similar in II Timothy 1.5 — “I remember your true faith. That kind of faith first belonged to your grandmother Lois and to your mother Eunice. I know you now have that same faith.” 

The confidence motif is repeated in both passages. It’s something Paul seems to say to give the person he’s correcting the benefit of the doubt. He also starts off his correction in both letters by saying something genuine and positive about their character. 

When we have to correct another member, we should never start with an accusatory tone. We should highlight the positive aspects of a person’s value and character and practically smother them with encouragement first. When Paul handles this uncomfortable situation he doesn’t say, “I’m sure you’re doing a great work, but…” He doesn’t tell Timothy, “I’m sure you still have faith, but…” The hug-followed-by-a-slap-to-the-face method does not and has not ever been effective. 

Instead, Paul encourages them by saying, “These are your positive attributes,” and then shifts his focus to positive examples of other people. It really is a masterful approach, but that makes perfect sense. God formatted both letters, so of course it was excellent. This also shows us that if we want to know how we’re supposed to do something difficult, we should look for a biblical example first. Chances are, God’s already given us a blueprint. 

We’re not told exactly what Euodia and Syntyche were fighting about, but there are some hints. The selflessness theme suggests a struggle with self-centered living. Love that hasn’t fully matured seems to evident from verse 9. Focusing on unimportant issues is also suggested in Paul’s prayer. Whatever it was, the root of their issue was a lack of selflessness. 

Down in verse 25, Paul talks about his struggle — he wants to leave this life and be with Jesus, but he knows the church at Philippi still needs him. He wanted to help them grow and find purpose through faith — evidently something that wasn’t already in place. 

Confrontation By Encouragement

Gary Pollard

Philippians is a very misunderstood letter. We often go to it for encouraging passages like “rejoice in the lord always” and “I can do all things through Christ”. We usually think of Philippians as being a book about joy because the word does appear several times. But the letter is much deeper than that. It is extremely encouraging, but maybe not for the reasons we often cite.

There are many similarities between Philippians and II Timothy. Paul takes a similar approach to correction in this letter, but it’s focused on two women: Euodia and Syntyche. In Philippians, though, Paul seems to take a far gentler approach. For example, he starts the letter by addressing it to everyone, not just those two women (1.1) — “to all of you in Philippi who are God’s holy people in Christ Jesus, including your elders and special servants.” 

Confrontation is uncomfortable and uncertain. Philippians is a masterful example of confrontation by encouragement and tact. It’s not political and convictionless, but it’s also not aggressive or rude. Even though the letter is primarily addressed to two people, Paul is very gentle in how he corrects them. 

This teaches us two things — one, correction is necessary. It’s often very unpleasant, but critical for the health of the church. Two, it teaches us to be careful when we correct. We’ll need to choose our words carefully, keep our emotions in check, and be mindful of why we’re correcting. Correction has nothing to do with superiority, it has everything to do with preserving a soul. 

This isn’t unique to Christianity — when a part of our body fails, we get medical care. Sometimes that care is invasive and uncomfortable, but we do it for the health of our bodies. Correction within the church is no different. We don’t seek medical care for fun because it’s nearly always unpleasant. We don’t seek confrontation for fun because it’s nearly always unpleasant. 

The theme of Philippians is simple: others above self. This letter is structured pretty simply — Paul gives several examples of people who put others above self. He talked about his own experiences at the beginning of the letter, then uses the examples of Jesus, Timothy, Epaphroditus, and himself again. It might seem strange to us that Paul used himself as a model to follow twice, but it makes sense when we take a closer look. Since he was the one writing the letter, using himself as an example of selflessness twice essentially communicated, “I’m not asking you to do something I’m not already doing.”