" complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus," Philippians 2:2-5
God created us for companionship, needless to say, we were not meant to be alone, doing things by ourselves. We are designed to need our creator and each other to fulfill God's divine purpose and our purpose here on earth and that holds true in any relationship we find ourselves in e.g marriage, families. Hence we see that in the book of beginnings, Genesis where it shows the first marriage, and even before that the first "collaboration or teamwork" that was recorded was in Genesis 1:1-3 where we find the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit working together to bring about the world we live in today. God knew that in order for His work on earth to be done, He was going to require human resources to bring it to pass. In heaven, in the spiritual realms, there are multitudes of beings working together with a common agenda or goal be it in God's kingdom or in satan's kingdom to get things done and everything is extremely organized. So it is on earth, as we have teams in heaven, so there is here on earth, be it in the secular world or Christian world. In any organization, working together effectively is the key to the success of that organization. In the secular world, organizations rely heavily on teamwork to get things done and so if working together effectively for a common goal is important in the spiritual realm and here on earth in the secular world, how much more in the body of Christ, the Church of God.
Apostle Paul in his ministry always encouraged the body of Christ to work together in unity because he knew the importance of standing together in one accord. He emphasized this at every opportunity he had; for example in Ephesians 4:3, he admonished the brethren to make every effort to keep themselves united in the Spirit, binding themselves together with peace and in vs 12, he refers to the Church, the body of Christ to work together, building one another up in Christ with the gifts, skills, and talents that have been given to us from the Lord. The Lord Jesus himself believed strongly in the power of teamwork in His ministry on earth; for he chose 12 disciples to work along with him to do the work of the Father and he knew when his time on earth was up, these ones will continue to spread the message of salvation throughout the earth and today we see the results of those team of believers ( the apostles and disciples) in the world today. Matthew 4:18-21, Mark 6:7-12, Luke 10:1-20
In the body of Christ, working together as a team means putting God at the head of our lives and ministry. He must be acknowledged as the established leader in the body of Christ and our own personal lives (e.g in our marriages, businesses, etc). In our text today, Paul admonishes the brethren to have the attitude of Christ for, without it, we cannot be effective as a team to build and propagate the work of the kingdom. In vs 2, he lists the christ-like attitudes we must have in order to effectively work together and they are 1). agreeing wholeheartedly with one another 2). genuinely loving each other 3). working together with one mind and purpose 4). Being selfless and not conceited, trying to impress others. 5). we should be humble, thinking of ourselves less than others 6). take interest in the affairs of others and not be all consumed with our own lives and interests.
With the above-listed attitudes or qualities, we cannot go wrong in achieving team success in our ministries, the body of Christ, and our individual lives. Even the book of Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 emphasizes the importance of working together for it states in vs 9 that "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. "If one person falls, the other can reach out and help".
Beloved, even satan knows that Christians who work together in harmony, with one mind and purpose is a big threat to his kingdom and so he does everything in his power to bring strife and discord within the body of Christ. For example, corporate prayer, standing together in faith with one mind and purpose breaks stronghold and disrupts the works of the enemy Matthew 17:19, 21.
Beloved, I will conclude with the words of another great Apostle in scripture, in the book of 1 Peter 3:8-9, the Apostle Peter encourages all God's children, all Christians to be of one mind, sympathizing with another and loving each other. These are the exact encouraging words Apostle Paul also stated before in the book of Philippians. These men of God knew how important it was to work together in unity because they have seen the positive effect of it in their lives and ministry. Peter goes further to admonish us to be tenderhearted and keep a humble attitude, never retaliating when we are insulted by others, especially our fellow brothers and sisters but instead reward them with good and the Lord will bless us for it. With these words I encourage us today to strive to be a team player in the household of faith, working together in one accord to achieve God's purpose for the Church and I assure you when we do this, we will surely be rewarded for our contributions to the work of the kingdom and our christ like attitudes and lifestyle.
SHALOM!
God created us for companionship, needless to say, we were not meant to be alone, doing things by ourselves. We are designed to need our creator and each other to fulfill God's divine purpose and our purpose here on earth and that holds true in any relationship we find ourselves in e.g marriage, families. Hence we see that in the book of beginnings, Genesis where it shows the first marriage, and even before that the first "collaboration or teamwork" that was recorded was in Genesis 1:1-3 where we find the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit working together to bring about the world we live in today. God knew that in order for His work on earth to be done, He was going to require human resources to bring it to pass. In heaven, in the spiritual realms, there are multitudes of beings working together with a common agenda or goal be it in God's kingdom or in satan's kingdom to get things done and everything is extremely organized. So it is on earth, as we have teams in heaven, so there is here on earth, be it in the secular world or Christian world. In any organization, working together effectively is the key to the success of that organization. In the secular world, organizations rely heavily on teamwork to get things done and so if working together effectively for a common goal is important in the spiritual realm and here on earth in the secular world, how much more in the body of Christ, the Church of God.
Apostle Paul in his ministry always encouraged the body of Christ to work together in unity because he knew the importance of standing together in one accord. He emphasized this at every opportunity he had; for example in Ephesians 4:3, he admonished the brethren to make every effort to keep themselves united in the Spirit, binding themselves together with peace and in vs 12, he refers to the Church, the body of Christ to work together, building one another up in Christ with the gifts, skills, and talents that have been given to us from the Lord. The Lord Jesus himself believed strongly in the power of teamwork in His ministry on earth; for he chose 12 disciples to work along with him to do the work of the Father and he knew when his time on earth was up, these ones will continue to spread the message of salvation throughout the earth and today we see the results of those team of believers ( the apostles and disciples) in the world today. Matthew 4:18-21, Mark 6:7-12, Luke 10:1-20
In the body of Christ, working together as a team means putting God at the head of our lives and ministry. He must be acknowledged as the established leader in the body of Christ and our own personal lives (e.g in our marriages, businesses, etc). In our text today, Paul admonishes the brethren to have the attitude of Christ for, without it, we cannot be effective as a team to build and propagate the work of the kingdom. In vs 2, he lists the christ-like attitudes we must have in order to effectively work together and they are 1). agreeing wholeheartedly with one another 2). genuinely loving each other 3). working together with one mind and purpose 4). Being selfless and not conceited, trying to impress others. 5). we should be humble, thinking of ourselves less than others 6). take interest in the affairs of others and not be all consumed with our own lives and interests.
With the above-listed attitudes or qualities, we cannot go wrong in achieving team success in our ministries, the body of Christ, and our individual lives. Even the book of Ecclesiastes 4: 9-12 emphasizes the importance of working together for it states in vs 9 that "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. "If one person falls, the other can reach out and help".
Beloved, even satan knows that Christians who work together in harmony, with one mind and purpose is a big threat to his kingdom and so he does everything in his power to bring strife and discord within the body of Christ. For example, corporate prayer, standing together in faith with one mind and purpose breaks stronghold and disrupts the works of the enemy Matthew 17:19, 21.
Beloved, I will conclude with the words of another great Apostle in scripture, in the book of 1 Peter 3:8-9, the Apostle Peter encourages all God's children, all Christians to be of one mind, sympathizing with another and loving each other. These are the exact encouraging words Apostle Paul also stated before in the book of Philippians. These men of God knew how important it was to work together in unity because they have seen the positive effect of it in their lives and ministry. Peter goes further to admonish us to be tenderhearted and keep a humble attitude, never retaliating when we are insulted by others, especially our fellow brothers and sisters but instead reward them with good and the Lord will bless us for it. With these words I encourage us today to strive to be a team player in the household of faith, working together in one accord to achieve God's purpose for the Church and I assure you when we do this, we will surely be rewarded for our contributions to the work of the kingdom and our christ like attitudes and lifestyle.
SHALOM!
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