I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. - Philippians 4v2
Well, somehow this morning I read out of the wrong chapter and didn’t even notice it until I got ready to type this out. I guess we will get back to chapter three tomorrow.
I don’t have a clue who Euodia and Syntyche were. If I knew Greek better, I might be able to hazard a guess whether they were men or women, but then I might get myself in trouble for making comments, so maybe it is better this way.
Whoever they were they have been immortalised over some kind of row they were having. Paul calls them out by name and begs them to be of the same mind in the Lord. Something had divided these two believers, and Paul was begging them to sort it out. Divisions in a church spread like cancer. Too often a church is ripped apart at the seams by what started as a personal squabble.
Paul doesn’t go in to a deep theological discussion. He simply tells them to be of one mind in the Lord. I don’t think that ever indicates that any one is going to agree on everything and every little detail. What we can do is to find our commonality in the Lord. It seems to me that Paul is saying – ‘You don’t have to agree on everything, but you do need to have the mind of Christ; and mind of humility and servanthood.”
What would happen to our fights, spats, squabbles, arguments, and rows if we had the mind of Christ in every discussion? What would happen to the importance of our own opinion? Would we need the last word? Would we have to respond? Would we return railing for railing?
Next time we get involved in an argument over something, lets strive to have the mind of Christ and see what happens to the fight.
1 comment:
They were both women (still, I wouldn't recommend commenting on that fact!). I think you hit one one the the great themes of Philippians in this verse though. Isn't it interesting that Paul waited until the end of the book and then slipped it in as a request? Surely the authoritative Paul would have taken the initiative to exercise his authority and command them to sort out their problems. Of course, he approached Philemon the same way...
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