Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4)
Thoughts: In the early church, there were many different opinions. In the current church there are many different opinions. It is too easy to skim over this passage and think how silly Euodia and Syntyche were to disagree. Yet we disagree all the time. Paul's point was that they need to stand firm, and to realize that both of them have their names in the Book of Life (that is they were both going to heaven- so they may as well learn to be patient, kind, and agreeable now). There will not be a separate room for EPC, ARP, OPC, BPC, PCA, ECOP, PCUSA, KPC (these presbyterians are called from the outside- "the split Ps"). We could also add the different types of Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist groups. The sin of schism is still a sin. It often involves calling names, demonizing/criminalizing the other side, and making a secondary issue a primary issue in order to "preserve the true church," and a ton of egos. The Presbyterian church is half of what it used to be, and is shrinking rapidly because of a lack of evangelism, a lack of biblical respect, and the sin of schism. In America's individualistic, entrepreneurial, and consumer-driven culture- if we don't like something or someone, we just go out and start our own. Paul's plea was for them to agree. Jesus' prayer was that the church would be one. Paul would also say, "Do everything to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." Even today, many church plants die out because people cannot learn to agree to disagree for the good of the church and the glory of God. It is a human thing- not just a church thing. Rotary clubs, garden clubs, VFWs split for similar reasons. The same kind of spirit shows in our epidemic of divorce in America. There are casualties- kids, the next generation of the church, and people who get disillusioned because of infighting. Paul pled, Jesus prayed, we should respond with herculean efforts to agree with those whom we disagree. If we want to be biblical about doctrine, we need to listen to these multitude of biblical passages about the church too. Part of "standing firm" in the Lord is learning to agree with each other.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be a better, more agreeable person. Help me to see that love is even more powerful than faith and hope.
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