So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 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, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.    Phil. 2:1-5

Paul is urging the Philippians to take on a mindset of humility. Now, humility (lowliness) was no more a virtue in Paul’s Roman world than it is in our own world. Before understanding how to define the “humility” Paul means, we need to understand what it does not mean.

We’re not talking about some kind of an “underdog” kind of lowliness that Americans love – the kind you might find in someone not expected to succeed, who rises up and conquers all his or her foes. This is not about Superman, or Spiderman, or Batman, or some other superhero, hiding their identity, while relying on their own strength to get things done.

Nor are we talking about some "obsequious sycophant" (as one commentary put it) – in other words, someone who changes to be whatever you want them to be in a self-effacing way. An example would be the cowering toady in the Disney movie 101 Dalmatians. Cruella DeVil asks, “What kind of sycophant are you?” to which the toady replies, “What kind of sycophant would you like me to be?” This is false humility, arising from fear, with no heart to do what is right.

The humility Paul tells us to pursue is the opposite of that kind of selfish ambition that, for instance, might cause someone to preach the gospel for personal advancement. Paul mentions exactly this kind of selfish ambition in the previous chapter where he says,

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

Paul asks us to set our ambitions aside, and replace them with love, unity, and the respect of honoring one another even above yourself. Of all the gifts and abilities God has given you, Paul teaches you to empty yourself of all the identity you can have in those gifts, and instead employ those gifts as a servant to others.

I’ve been thinking a lot about men loving each other lately.

Now, if you’ve been brought up in the same American culture as I have, your mind probably went immediately to sexual love, didn’t it? Why is that? Because love between men in the Bible is not like that. Scripture says Jonathan loved David as much as he loved his own soul. Jesus loved Lazarus, and John the Apostle often mentions the disciple Jesus loved, probably referring to himself.

(None of these references have a hint of sexuality, although some provocative scholars steeped in our over-sexualized culture make such claims. These claims could not have been true in either case, since homosexual behavior was strictly forbidden in Judaism, yet the accusation was never even raised.)

I have had a few close relationships with men I would think of as close – like brothers. I don’t know what it would be like to love another man as I do my own soul, as Jonathan did, as Jesus did. I have not known this holy love. I have been accused of homophobia before, and have vehemently rejected that label. I am not afraid of gays! But here’s my confession – I think I do have a fear of having a holy love for another man. I have no idea what that is like. It is a level of vulnerability that I have never experienced. When I think of it, it feels like it would be a loss of myself, somehow. I suppose that’s why it’s called loving another as much as your own soul.

I wonder how much the love of a man is similar to how I love my wife after 31 years of marriage. Our man-woman love began quite lustfully. We married quickly. I was filled with romantic passion for her at the time, but that love has matured so much. Oh, I still have that romantic passion for her, but it is complimented with the deep richness and tones of friendship and sacrifice and knowing and empathy. I sense her. I know her looks and her posture. I know the angle of her mouth and the tilt of her head with her moods. I know the sparkle of joy and the flash of anger in her. I relish these. Not the passions themselves, as much as the knowing of her. I am her student. She teaches me herself, and I am an anxious learner. She inhabits my soul. When I rise, she follows, and she actually trusts me! In many ways, we are each other. I have given her myself with reckless abandon, and I have not given it a second thought. She has done the same. Our relationship is exclusive. Unshared.

No, I cannot imagine Jesus loving John this way, or Jonathan loving David this way. It must be different. CS Lewis distinguished erotic love from all other loves in that erotic love excludes others while the love of friendship invites others. This selfless, deep, holy love of Jesus for John – this is something I have yet to fully understand, and I would guess I am not alone. Our church in St Louis, sensing this same need among our men, has begun Journey groups: Intimate small groups for men to get together and study God’s Word. I remember similar groups at Elmbrook Church when I was much younger, growing up in Milwaukee. They were called “Top Gun” groups, or something like that. I suppose I have had such friendships – “Band of Brothers” kinds of experiences. And I wonder if that is the pathway to holy man-love. I wonder if I’m even up to it. Or if I’m too afraid of it. Or if investing in such a relationship in our busy culture would take away from time with my dear wife.

Lord, give me man-love friendships that teach me the holy love you intended for your sons to have. Teach me that “Psalm 133” brother love that I need to know:

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”

Jesus, the Friend of Sinners, also calls sinners to repent. He is not a friend of sin. Paul writes the following, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Corinthian Church, struggling as it was, as we do, with moral issues in an immoral culture. He writes:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:

• neither the sexually immoral,
• nor idolaters,
• nor adulterers,
• nor men who practice homosexuality,
• nor thieves,
• nor the greedy,
• nor drunkards,
• nor revilers,
• nor swindlers

…will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But:

• you were washed,
• you were sanctified,
• you were justified

…in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

• “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful.
• “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything.
• “Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”– and God will destroy both one and the other.

The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.  And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

(1Co 6:9-14)

Paul lists a number of sins. His topic is sexual immorality. He starts his message is 5:9, referring to his letter about a sexually immoral brother. He tells the Corinthians not even to eat with this man, because in that culture, eating with him would be to condone his behavior. But then Paul goes on to lump sexual immorality in with a number of other sins listed above. And, he is careful to distinguish between a sexually immoral person claiming to be a brother, and a sexually immoral person who is not a Christian. We are to eat with sexually immoral people who are not believers, because our mission is to them!

Paul ends his instruction by urging the members of the church to be sexually pure with their own husband or wife, or as unmarried believers dedicated to God. The bottom line: Glorify God with your body!

Why is Jesus a Friend of Sinners? Because in calling them to repent from sin, he also gives them the way to the truth and to life. The Corinthians werethese sinful people, but by the Spirit they were washed, sanctified and justified in the name of Jesus. And so, they became His.

The hope of the sinner is not to do better in one’s own strength. He or she can’t do better. There is no good news in condemnation. The hope of the sinner is in transformation, and that comes only in the work of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus. When you see your sin, then you are to confess and repent, and plead for the work of the Holy Spirit in you for transformation in the name of Jesus. You cannot do it yourself, but the same power that raised Jesus from the dead can raise you also.

Do you find yourself in the list of the unrighteous who will not inherit the kingdom? Me too. Neither of us have any hope, except in Jesus. Plead before His throne. Ask him to transform you. Confess the sin, and repent. He is the great healer. Be willing to let his resurrection power raise you from the dead.

Be saved!