Let Nothing Be Done Through Strife and Vainglory

Trustworthy and Desirable - Part Two

By Gary Cox

Philippians 2:1-8 “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of His Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, and of one mind.  Let nothing be done through strife and vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled Himself, and He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” 

Like-minding Back to Jesus

The premise or the rule that we build everything from: we are required to have the mind of Christ in us.  That is the goal, that is the objective, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”  That is the foundational structure.  That is why I have tried to emphasize the difference between telling words about the Gospel and expressing the Gospel in the terms of the Gospel which are the compassions of Christ because there is where the Spirit is going to reveal and minister life to starving needy souls.  That is the work of the Gospel.  I am just becoming so amazed that the primary emphasis on superior ministry centers around you and I learning how to get the bowels of our compassion opened up and functioning like God’s are functioning towards us so that we can reflect Him and minister by Him to others in the fashion that is suitable.  It is suitable for us to use joy as a measuring stick in terms of our relationship as a shepherd.  It is suitable for us to say as a shepherd, “I desire to have the joy of your good success.”  It is not brow beating, it is not bribing, it is just plain and simple acknowledging that when we have an open free flow of that love of Christ, that gives me the greatest joy that is possible on the earth, and when there is something blocking that, then something begins blocking the joy and it makes it more difficult.  It is important for us to understand that there is a legitimacy of joy that helps us purify our ministry as shepherds.  You can look at yourself and your joy and say, “The joy is missing, why is the joy missing?”  The joy is only going to be missing for one or two reasons: you are at fault as a shepherd and you are being selfish and nobody in a selfish frame of mind has joy.  It is impossible to be selfish and have joy simultaneously.  But just because you are being a good shepherd does not mean your sheep are following very well.  When the sheep are not following well and you start losing your joy, it is the first little trigger something is not right.  I find it amazing with Paul that he was priming his whole shepherding ministry to obtain the utmost level of joy because that is where the free flowing grace of God was having its full expression in the body of Christ and to the glory of God. 

Doing Nothing Through Vainglory

Beginning at verse 3, he says, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind esteem each other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” and this is directly following the concept of being of one accord and one mind. So as we move through this understanding of the nature of Christ-likeness, we have to start focusing on this one key aspect of making a reputation for ourselves.  The subtle motive is for me get into the mix and that spoils the pristine sweetness of all of this mercy and love and joy that is in God.  He commands us not to do things through strife and vainglory.  What is vainglory?  Empty glory.  Empty glory is thinking we are something when we are nothing and we deceive ourselves.  When we promote ourselves and our own interests, we are pursuing vainglory because we have something behind it.  Listen brothers and sisters, this is a hard one to overcome, you cannot just say, “Do not be vain glorious and good we are cured,” it is the natural instinct of the self to be vainglorious, we are always going to pursue glory to self.  But the standard is, “Let nothing be done through strife and vainglory.”  Here is a little shepherding tip: if you are the shepherd and you are perched high on the cliff in Greece and you are watching for the enemy ships coming down into port, when you start seeing enemy ships, what are you going to do if you are the shepherd?  You are going to get word back to town very quickly.  That is what shepherding does.  Here is one of those lofty places of viewing when you see those under your care beginning to have strife and vainglory.  Be alert.  “Oh I have spotted a need for shepherding in my own home.”  There is the picture of the first place of shepherding, “Let nothing be done through strife and vainglory.”  Here is what happens, if you can live by the standard of shepherding whereby the byword is let nothing be done through strife and vainglory, then it is kind of like a watchmen at a door.  Here is the problem, if you fail to recognize this place of operational ministry, you are going to accumulate so much confusion and commotion in your home that you are going to become accustomed to it and it is going to become ordinary. How in the world will you ever deal with one instance because if you deal with one, you are going to have to deal with them all and all the sudden you are overwhelmed.  Here is a way to avoid it: if you stop and you deal with every instance of strife and vainglory until strife and vanity is removed, it takes some time. If it is hard enough you can spend the whole day on one issue and you only had to deal with one issue that day instead of 100 issues not getting dealt with.  Isn’t that wonderful?  Your whole day is shot but your attentiveness is being built.  Here is a key to a standard in the Gospel: the standards of the Gospel are the free flowing representations of the grace of Christ in my life. And when I am in the middle of a circumstance and I say, “What is the standard here?”  You have to ask the question, “What would this look like if I had the mind of Christ and what would be appropriate in that mind?”