Even though I continue to learn new things in our time of biblical reflection. I have been still wrestling with the text we looked at a couple of weeks ago. It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that responding to God's shaping word sometimes takes more than a week. These are the words that I am still mediating on:
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:3-4
One of the questions we often ask during our time focusing on Scripture is: how is God asking us to respond to the passage? And I remember that week trying to take other people's interest more into consideration. So I started with our family of faith
The whole week I was more prayerful about our community, I thought about calling and checking in with a couple of guys in our group. And I found my actions fell short, my good thoughts never fully translated to generous actions. I confessed my shortcomings and of course people where gracious. The following week I put my personal convenience aside for the interest of a neighbor. I didn’t do anything noteworthy, just what would have been the neighborly thing to do in decades past, which seems new and radical in an apartment complex where the only thing people share, is a parking lot.
And even in my modest living out of Philippians 2:3-4 I found it to be inconvenient. Taking others into consideration is inconvenient. It is easy to identify the interest of others as just speed bumps and distractions for my own pursuits for me pursing my interests.
Could it be possible that putting other’s peoples interests ahead of my own actually furthers the interests of God. That by putting aside my agenda and investing in others I am being obedient to God, I am following the Great commandment of Jesus to Love your neighbor as yourself.
So for the last month I continue modestly flesh out the Philippians passage in my life. Slowly realizing opportunities where I can surpass embrace the inconvenience by putting my interests and preferences aside for others. Even though I now wrestle with these inconveniences I look forward to a time when I boldly live out Philippians 2. Where I am more in tune with God’s heart not just for a few but God’s love for the whole word. I pray to become more like Jesus whom for our interests gave his life.
