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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
There is a single hint at a problem with the church at Philippi. It is found in the text that follows: "Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved. I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life." (Philippians 4:1-3).
The Holy Spirit wants no dissension in the ranks of the believers. He makes this clear in other passages of scripture. For instance, He wrote through Paul to the Corinthians, "Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1 Corinthians 1:10). Years prior to that, He spoke through the Psalmist, saying, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalms 133:1). Division and dissension is the arch-enemy of truth!
Unity is not an objective of truth; rather, it is a consequence of truth! When disharmony exists and cannot be resolved, one or more of the following things is true: 1) Truth has been neglected, or 2) Personal ambitions have been elevated to a level above godly desires and truth. When the truth is held in love and where there is proper respect for one another, peace and harmony is sure to exist. Paul knew this when he penned his inspired instructions to the Philippians. Whatever the issue was that existed between Euodia and Syntyche, he knew that regard for these principle would lead to its resolution.
Note also that he refers to the two women involved in the matter as having their names written in "the Book of Life." This is the only New Testament reference to such a book outside of the book of Revelation. The motive behind Paul's persistent work on behalf of His King was the same motive to which he appealed in encouraging these two saints to settle their differences. There may have been secondary motives that could have been cited, but he invoked the highest possible motive in his appeal. If the implications involved with the fact that their names were in the Book of Life could not move them to resolve the situation, nothing could!
As a final observation, notice that Paul appealed to a person identified only as his "true companion" to help the two women. Whoever this peacemaker was, he had an important duty assigned. The resolution of issues that tend to divide brethren is a high calling indeed! There were thousands of forces at work to divide; Paul appeals to this one to help to reconcile. If only a fraction of the energy spent to tear down the body had been devoted to building it up, what a difference it would have made!
God still opts for peace between brethren but never at the expense of truth!
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