Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on Philippians 1:27-30.
“Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
Philippians 1:27-30 has one main
thought dominated by one main command spelled out in v. 27a: “Let your
conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ….”
This is the headwaters from which the steams that make up the
rest of this passage flow.
We hear the English word “conversation,” and we think of two
people talking. In the King James translation, however, “conversation” usually
has to do not with talking but with action. It means “conduct.” So, we might
render the opening to v. 27: “Let your conduct be as it becometh the gospel for
Christ….”
To go a bit further, the verb here for “to conduct oneself”
in Greek is politeuo. It has as its root the word “polis” which
in Greek means “city.” The Greeks had city states where each polis or
city was like a small country. Many of the names for our cities today have
“polis” at the end of them, like: Annapolis, Maryland; Minneapolis, Minnesota;
Indianapolis, Indiana. We also get terms like “politics” from this word root.
The statement here literally means: Conduct yourself as a
citizen of the kingdom of Christ, as is fitting for someone whose life has been
changed by the gospel and who continues to promote and live for Christ.
Paul uses a related term (the noun, politeuma) in
Philippians 3:20 when he writes, “For
our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ.” Many modern translations render politeuma here not
as “conversation” but as “citizenship” (cf. NKJV: “For our citizenship is in heaven….”).
Here
is mentor Paul, spiritual father Paul, older brother Paul saying to the
Philippians: If you are citizens of the kingdom of Christ, if by God’s grace
you have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of
light, then live in such a way as befits those who know the good news of what
God has done for us in Christ. Live as a genuine Christian. Don’t be a phony.
Don’t be a hypocrite. Don’t be a play actor.
Where
my boys played youth baseball, at the end of the regular season, some boys were
selected to take part in the all-star season. The man who ran the park would
always have a meeting with these boys tapped for all-stars, and he explained to
them that they would be traveling to play other teams and there would even be
one long trip out of state. He would then say very seriously, “Respect the
uniform! When you wear this uniform with the name of our park on the front you
represent this park and this program.” And he said, “If you do anything to
bring disrespect upon that uniform, you will be kicked off the team and sent
home.”
We
can draw an analogy from this to what Paul says here to the Philippians. If you
say you are a citizen of the kingdom of Christ, then live like it. Don’t do
anything that is incongruous with one who claims to know the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ!
Grace
and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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