AJ the Irish Lass' Ramblings

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Philippians 2:1-13

“2 If therefore there is any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassion, ² make my joy full by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; ³ doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself; ⁴ each of you not just looking to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. ⁵ Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, existing in the form of God, didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, yes, the death of the cross. ⁹ Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. ¹² So then, my beloved, even as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³ For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. (WEB)

Paul apparently had to contend with one of the same things that afflicts Christians today – people who don’t act in the spirit of Christ. From self-improvement movements that exalt humanity to godhood to an overwhelming consumerism that’s all about what we want, all the time, there’s a lot of selfishness to go around. Unfortunately, those of the Christian persuasion aren’t immune.

How often do we see or hear with wealthy TV preachers pushing a “prosperity gospel”, whch is at heart, “name it and claim it” in different packaging? These assertions also tend to come with a big serving of requests for tithes (but of course!)

Is it really any wonder that the numbers of people identifying as “unaffiliated” or “none of the above” in regard to religion keep growing? As much as members of the Body of Christ try to assert that such beliefs are not representative of Christianity, it’s hard to deny the sheer influence tha these voices have.

It often seems as though our world has gotten so full of greed that it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it’s not all about us. It’s very competitive out there, and many are struggling. Some get so caught up in their misfortunes that they can’t see that their actions have any effect on others.

The time from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare what a world of egomania we live in. Past times of adversity have been times for humanity to shine, and we’ve seen some of that in this era. Unfortunately, we’ve also seen some of the worst that humanity can muster, too.

God gave us freedom, and whether we use it appropriately or not is our choice. Will we use adverse times to let our light shine? Will we make the mistake of crawling back into the darkness of our selfishness or despair?

The struggle is real, and it does a major disservice to Christians of times past to let today’s “junk” overcome us. Can we really saw that modern Christianity reflects its founder? I think we’re seeing the answer to this playing out before us daily.

It is always good to remember that Jesus gave us an example for how to deal with others. Remember, he didn’t regard his own divinity as something to be taken advantage of. In the light of that, who are we, as humans, to misuse our freedom to lord over and take advantage of others? Just some food for thought.