Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi because he wanted to both thank them for the gift they had sent him, but more importantly because he sensed there were troubles at Philippi. Though he touches on the issues gently and tactfully, the troubles Paul identifies are clearly indicated in the text as issues of division. These issues of division are not of a doctrinal matter as in other letters, but rather of personal animosities. Instead of working together towards the causes Paul had initially set in motion, the church had become distracted with feuds and rivalries. The petty questions of precedence had become primary concerns for all those in the church, as it was those in leadership with the greatest issues. For Paul he had seen how this animosity led to a position of delusion in ones life that considered oneself perfect. It seems that Paul was writing in particular to the individuals who were claiming a state of perfection and somehow had gained the ability and authority to look down upon others in condemnation. The influence of Judaism is clear, but one cannot point too heavily upon it being just a Jewish-Christians problem. This was primarily Christians getting it wrong and fighting among themselves.
For Paul, he laments that things have become troubled, but he also sees that the issue is not too far-gone. We get the impression that the troubles at Philippi have only just become an issue and that there is time yet to change course and return to the mission it was called. For Paul, he saw the good and promise of the people. His unstinted affection was primary and inescapable. The later thanks he offers the church along with the concern he shows over their present condition give the letter to the church in Philippi its unique character.
This is the same situation that the men’s Ultimate Frisbee team at North Park University is in. Its birth was only a few years ago when it was created in the fall of 2001 and officially chartered by the school in the fall of 2002. The original team’s name Extend exemplified the two clear purposes of the team. We were called to extend the hand of Christ into the ultimate Frisbee culture as well as to extend our hands on the field to be the best athletes we could. This dual nature of being on the team was one that was founded on a belief that God cared about our sports when we sought to use it as an opportunity to extend the Kingdom.
The team’s name has changed and over the last few years the team has struggled with its identity. The purpose has been challenged, forgotten, and then remembered in moments of brilliant clarity. But there persists questions of what identity is primary. What matters most? The athlete or the Christian? Players been known for being crazy at the party Saturday night or on the beach of a spring break trip. Players have been remembered for getting into physical altercations on the field. Players have received enough points at the University to be kicked out. Team leaders have fought, spoken badly about one another behind their backs, and tried to control the team for their gain. But, players have also attended and planned two mission trips during the winter breaks, community service events on campus, and brought into their fold students who otherwise had not found a home yet at North Park University. Players have gathered in prayer off and on the field and even with other teams. They have stayed in churches while at tournaments and been witnesses to those in the community. They have attended chapel services together and have had a regular team chaplain that they invite to give a word and prayer before and after tournaments. The core group ends their meetings in prayer, half the players serve in a camping ministry during the summer, and most attend a local congregation when not at a tournament. Still, there are concerns. Like the Philippians, there are things to celebrate, but things to have concern over as well.
In the second chapter of his letter, Paul writes a profoundly simple but extremely challenging statement. He states that “if there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being full accord of one mind.” Paul acknowledges that there is encouragement, consolation, sharing, compassion and sympathy being found in the lives of the Philippians, but it isn’t enough. They need to be of one mind. They need to have unity. The unity that Christ brings is something they had lost touch with. They had been active in all the things that are out-workings of being a Christian, but they had forgotten to do it in unity. They had lost touch with one another and the body of Christ had begun to fracture. The right hand and left hand were no longer working together, but rather separately and sometimes against one another. In the same way, the North Park University men’s team needs to be reminded of their need for complete unity.
But it isn’t just in unity that we need to be working out our faith. Paul continues with two more challenges that for a Christian will be difficult, but for a Christian athlete nearly impossible. But, it is in these two additional challenges that we as Christian athletes will set ourselves apart and at the same time extend the Kingdom of God. Paul pushes his church in verse three that we need to seek to “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.” How amazing and counter traditional culture would this be? What would it look for a sports team to regard all those whom they play as better than themselves? For the North Park Ultimate team, what would it mean to do nothing out of selfish ambition? What would it look like to regard others as better than ourselves? And in verse four, Paul extends it one step further. He states that “each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” Not only are we to look to others as better than ourselves, but also we are to look to their interests first and foremost. What would this look like?
In closing, I would like to offer my suggestion of what this would look like. For North Park Ultimate, it means that when we play our sport, we seek in all ways to elevate our fellow brother whether it is at practice and he is a teammate or whether he is one of the seven across the field from us. We are called to be excellent in all we do, knowing full well that we are not perfect or able to reach perfection. We look to the interests of others not by giving games up, but by playing as hard and honest as possible. We honor what they need most when we play the game well and we then engage in relationship afterwards. We treat our opponents as brothers and we allow the game to be an opportunity to demonstrate Christ. We have the opportunity in every game and at every tournament to be Christ with cleats on. It means that when we enter tournaments our primary goal is not to win or exalt ourselves, but that we are ambassadors of Christ. It means that the moment we step onto the grass fields, we are extending the reach and depth of His Kingdom. It means that our primary identity is not Lost Boy, but Christian.
As the church in Philippi was encouraged, be encouraged Lost Boys. Be united in this mission filed of Ultimate. Because, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any opponent curious of your faith that leads to conversation, any consolation from love, any lives changed while on mission trips south, any sharing in the Spirit, any prayer offered for a brother or sister, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete, make me proud as the founder: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition, or conceit. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others because the victory or loss on the field does not matter. It is in this culture called Ultimate that you have been called to witness the life changing person of Christ. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
