That's Not Me!

I am back in Philippians 2 today adding to the periodic series I am writing on the passage. Check out the other posts here, here, here, and here. It seems to be an endlessly fruitful endeavor for me as I spend time in those verses. God seems to reveal more and more about my heart and Himself in the process. Pride is a something that seem ever present in my heart sometimes subtly and sometimes overtly so this passage is always a chance for me to grow.

Do everything in selfish ambition and conceit, and in pride count yourself more significant than others. Let each of you look to your own interests and not the interests of others.

Okay, so obviously Paul doesn't put it like that in Philippians 2. However, for the sake of comparison and to help me look at my life I find that it can be helpful to flip passages like this to see if they are true of me. Often times we want to believe that our lives are in accord with scripture but sometimes seeing things written out like this can help reveal that things aren't as we might want to believe.

It is easy to read that re-written passage from Philippians 2 and say "that's not me". I bet the Philippians themselves would have said the same thing. And yet Paul felt it necessary to write these words to them and to us: "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."

If we don't feel that my re-written words are sometimes true of us why would Paul write the words he did in fact write?

If we don't identify ourselves as selfish and proud why does Paul give us this extended passage exhorting us to be humble?

I think that if we were to really have our hearts exposed and our inner thoughts and motivations revealed we would be appalled to find that quite often we do in fact live out my re-written version of the passage.

We want to believe better about ourselves and our motives. But we all have had that little heart check that tells us to think about ourselves. Our future. Our family. Our reputation. Our comfort and safety. The list of things that we secretly consider could go on. Each one is justified in our hearts with a veneer of biblical wisdom. We are just being shrewd. Or prudent and wise. Or patient. Or careful stewards. Or trying to be 'balanced'.

Except this passage doesn't show balance. The next few verses gives us a picture of a Savior who is all in. Paul is working hard to show that there isn't really middle ground or a gray area when in comes to pride and humility. It really is an either/or endeavor. If we aren't intentional and diligent to pursue humility pride is going to creep in.

Paul knows that there is no empty space in our motives. We either proud and selfish or humble and selfless.

Philippians provides a heart check every time I read it. Perhaps that is why God has kept me coming back to this passage over and over. My heart needs some serious checking when it comes to pride. It's possible I'm the only one but a quick scan of Facebook or the comment sections online show that I am probably not the only one.

The good news is that Jesus isn't just our example in the Philippians 2 passage. He is also our provider. Trusting him allows us to give up our selfishness. We need to bend our knee to him and to humble ourselves before him. And in doing so we are given the capacity to do the same with others because we know that we are secure in Christ.

Maybe you don't connect with Paul's challenge to our pride as intimately as I do. Or maybe the fact that you don't is a warning sign that you need to dig deeper in your heart to look for pride. If I go back to my re-written version of the passage and Paul's original words I can honestly say that depending on the circumstances I will oscillate between the two in saying "that's not me". Looking to Jesus is the most sure way for me to be able to look at the re-written, selfish version and say "that's not me." Looking to Jesus is the best way for you to fight pride too!