Reading Philippians Missionally: Part Two

In the previous post, we described Paul's exhortation to live as citizens worthy of the Gospel. In this second post, we can unpack it more fully in light of Jesus' example.

The call to live as citizens of heaven is a profound and radical shift in one’s understanding of status. We can see that Paul prepares his readers for this shift in his self-description at the beginning of his letter. In Philippians 1:1, Paul and Timothy take the title of “slaves of Christ Jesus” for themselves. On first glance, this may not seem significant, but his is the sole place in Paul’s letters where he only identifies himself as a slave without further qualification. In Romans 1:1 and Titus 1:1 Paul describes himself as "slave of God" or " slave of Jesus" respectively but also adds "apostle". Adding the powerful title “apostle” speaks of authority and subverts in some ways the use of slave. However, in Philippians, Paul and Timothy are simply "slaves of Messiah Jesus." This is important to Paul’s word to the Philippians about a new understanding of citizenship. The only other use of doulos in Philippians occurs at 2:7 and describes Jesus as one who “emptied himself taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness." Philippians 2:7 records Jesus' action/demonstration of not considering equality with God something to be clung to or exploited. The use of slave language for both Paul (the founder of the church in Philippi) and Jesus (the crucified and risen Lord) is subversive in the Philippians context. It is a call to the Philippian Christ followers, many of whom had privileges as Roman citizens, to willingly embrace a lower status in imitation of Paul and Jesus for the sake of the advancement of the Gospel. The Gospel moves forward not by selfishly clinging or exploiting one’s own status, but by valuing and serving others.

Don’t miss the profound challenge contextually to the Philippians of Paul’s description of Jesus as a slave. Slaves sat at the bottom of the status ladder in Roman society. Paul’s subversive use of slave is a key element in his teaching about living as citizens worthy of the Gospel. In 2:1-18, Paul offers Jesus as the first of three examples. At the center of this section is the Christ hymn (2:5-11). This poetic text unpacks what it means to embody the mind/attitude/intentions of Jesus. Jesus is described positively for his own renunciation of status for the sake of advancing God’s mission. Philippians 2:6 marvels at the reversal of expectations over the issue of Jesus' status. This text affirms that Jesus was divine and equal to God. Despite this reality, Jesus did not take this position of being equal with God as a privileged position to be exploit for his own gain. Jesus does not regard his status of being equal with God to be a collection of rights and prerogatives to be exploited for his own benefit. Instead, Jesus took the form of humanity. This announces the incarnation of Jesus into our world as a human. Notice this is announced first by the phrase “taking the form of a slave (Grk doulos). This establishes the full force of Paul’s exhortation to the Philippians about a new kind of citizenship. Their model is no longer the status quo of Roman social norms. It is Jesus. It is not merely that Jesus assumes the role and status of a slave. He identifies with it fully by embracing death on a cross. Don’t miss the subversive power of this statement. Christ followers are too used to thinking about Jesus’ death on the cross that we can easily miss its message in context. Jesus could have died an atoning death in a variety of ways. Why death on a cross? Crucifixion was reserved for the lowest classes of society. Roman citizens could not be crucified except as a penalty for treason. So to the Philippians, Jesus’ death on a cross demonstrated the extent to which Jesus was willing to renounce his status and identify with his adopted status of slave for the sake of God’s mission.

The last half of the Christ hymn records the results of Jesus’ willing embrace of a new status. 2:9 announced dramatically that as a direct result of his humble embrace of low status, God highly exalted Jesus and gave him the name above all names.In other words, Jesus has his lowly status reversed. Jesus moves from the bottom of the status ladder to the highest possible one. He is LORD (2:11). This is no mere honor. There is no status above it. By identifying Jesus with the Name, i.e., Yahweh of Israel's Scriptues, Jesus moves from the bottom of the status realm to a status above Roman citizenship, above the Roman emperor, and even above the Roman gods. Jesus alone is LORD and all others will bow before him. The message to the philippians believers is clear. They may cling to their status as Roman citizens, but if they willingly embrace a lower status, they will be raised up by God in Christ Jesus. The only status worth attaining is one given by God. The implication also that any temporary loss of status for the sake of God's mission is infinitely worth it. As the Philippian Christ followers, realign themselves for God's mission they position themselves to reach others for the Gospel through their witness by moving from a way of life that values putting the self and its status first to focusing on lifting the status and honor of others (2:2-3). By doing so, the Philippians will "shine continually as stars in the world" (2:15). Stars have functioned as navigation points and signs for millennia. In like manner, the Philippians will serve as clues to the world about true God. Such a life is nothing more and nothing less than a rediscovery of what God intended for humanity at creation (Gen 1:26-31). The status that Christ followers embrace establishes the limits of whom they can reach with the Gospel.

What do you think?

I offer a full missional reading of Philippians as an example of how to deploy a missional approach to Scriputre in my latest book:

Reading Philippians Missionally: Part One

Paul penned his letter to the Philippians to encourage and shape them for God’s mission in the world. Reading Philippians missionally involves hearing the text. In Philippians Paul models an incarnational and missional approach to proclaiming the Gospel.

The principal exhortation in Philippians is found in 1:27 “Only live as citizens worthy of the gospel of the Messiah.” The main body of Paul’s letter is 1:27–4:1. After Paul makes this exhortation in 1:27-30, Paul then offers three examples of what this sort of lifestyle looks like: Jesus (2:1-18), Timothy/Epaphroditus (2:19-30), and Paul himself (3:1-16). Paul closes out this teaching section by calling for the Philippians to imitate these models as the means to living and standing as citizens of heaven (3:17–4:1).

The wording of the wording the initial exhortation is important. The main verb (politeuomai) in the 1:27a is an imperative that means “live as a citizens.” Its noun cognate (politeue) is found in 3:20 “our citizenship is in heaven.” In Paul’s other writings, he uses the Greek work (peripateo) meaning “walk/live” (1 Thes 2:12; Col 1:10; Eph 4:1) in similar expressions. Why does he use this particular exhortation “Live as citizens of the Gospel of the Messiah” in his letter to the Philippians?

First, the missiological setting of Philippi set the stage for this vocabulary. Philippi was a Roman colonial city where many veterans of the Roman army resided. Many of its residents (including some of the Christ followers) enjoyed Roman citizenship. This was a significant and important status in the Empire. Roman citizens enjoyed rights and privileges as a favored minority in the Empire. Being citizens of Rome was central to the ethos of Philippi. The Philippians were a privileged citizenry. Thus, by using the language of citizenship, Paul captures a meaningful word for Roman citizens and deploys it skillfully to call the Christians of Philippi to embrace a different sort of status and citizenship. Paul begins with what the Philippians understand as the epitomy of life: living as a citizen of the Empire and subverts this by replacing allegiance to Rome as the highest calling with the ethos and vision of a different way of life: living as a citizen of heaven. A fundamental insight of the book of Philippians is this: the status that one embraces sets the limits of one’s capacity to reach others with the Gospel. Roman citizenship is a set of privileges that one enjoys and is able to exploit for his or her benefit. Gospel citizenship is a privileged relationship with God through Jesus that unleashes one to lay aside personal benefits for the sake of God’s mission and for the good of others.

Second, Paul is clear that this is the key command in his letter. Most of our English translations begin v. 27 with “only.” The idea here is this: pay attention to this one thing or only one thing. In other words, if the Philippians can embody this one exhortation, they will be living well. This is emphasized by the framing use of “our citizenship exists in heaven” (3:20) near the end of 1:27–4:1. Paul begins and ends this large block of teaching with a reference to citizenship. Paul is challenging the Philippians to rethink their notion of citizenship with its privileges in the Empire and embrace to new citizenship with Kingdom of God as God’s missional people in the world.

Third, the nuance of the imperative “live as citizens of the Gospel of Christ” is emphatic. It stresses this way of life as a continuous action. We may capture this by translating the clause “live continually as citizens worthy of the Gospel of the Messiah.” Paul is stressing that this calling is a moment-by-moment existence. It is not a one time or occasional activity. It is the essence of being Christ followers in Philippi. The shift is one of allegiance from being citizens of the Roman Empire to being and living as a citizens of heaven.

Fourth, Paul’s goal is missional. Paul’s wants the Philippians to embrace this new mode of life so that he may hear about the Philippian’s Gospel shaped actions (1:27b-28). The principal witness according to Paul will be the Philippians “standing unified (“in one spirit”) contending for the Gospel without being intimidated by foes. The stress on unity as a witness will weigh heavily in Paul’s subsequent argument. The people of God in Philippi are to present a corporate witness to the world that is vital and powerful. The shift from living as citizens of the Empire to living as citizens of the kingdom of heaven is the key means of reaching the city of Philippi with the good news about Jesus.

Last, Paul does not shy away from the reality of suffering and hardship due to the Gospel for the Philippian Christ followers (29-30). This is not suffering in general or suffering due to ill chosen actions. The suffering Paul is describing is suffering because they are allied with Jesus the Messiah. Paul’s initial entry into Philippi stirred up opposition (Acts 16:16-40). The Philippians Christ followers are now experiencing similar troubles as Paul. If Paul’s current troubles were with the Empire (1:12-26), it may be that the Philippians were also running into conflict with Roman citizens in Philippi who honored the Emperor alone as Lord. The confession “Jesus the Messiah is LORD” (2:9-10) is a bold and daring one in the context of an Empire that crushed all opposition. To have an allegiance above the state was risky. But profoundly the Philippian’s ability to stand together as the body of Christ serves as a sign to the very ones seeking to do them harm (1:28).

Read Part Two