Altruism.
Paul has been speaking of the gifts of faith and of suffering which the Philippians had received, and now he proceeds to state further the practical outcome of the Christian spirit. It is really an altruism of a more thorough character than that provided by the schools. We have altruism paraded at present as the high outcome of that morality which is independent of God. But there is no consideration of the case of others so broad or so deep as that which is secured by the gospel.
I. THE FOUNTAIN-HEAD OF A CONSIDERATE SPIRIT IS THE GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST, (Verse 1.) We are not asked in this matter to go upon our own charges; God does not, like an austere man, expect to reap where he has never sown. So far from this, he only looks for consideration of conduct towards others from those who have received "comfort in Christ," "consolation of love," "fellowship of the Spirit," and "bowels and mercies." These are the forerunners of the true altruism. And they amount to this, that God has led the way in consideration. His gospel means that in the person of Jesus Christ he has not looked on his own things, but on the things of others. It is Divine altruism. It is the seed of disinterestedness sown in a kindly soil, and it is sure to produce a harvest.
II. THE UNITY OF THE PHILIPPIANS WAS THE JOY OF THE APOSTLE. (Verse 2.) He made it a matter of personal comfort to secure unity of mind and of heart among his converts. If we laid the unity of believers thus to heart, how we would use all lawful means to bring it about! Are we not open to the charge sometimes of living too self-containedly, so that when unity is broken we are not inconvenienced and pained by it as a Paul would have been? Christian union should be made by each one of us a personal concern: let us with Paul say honestly, as we urge men to see eye to eye and feel as heart to heart, that in so doing they are fulfilling our dearest joy!
III. LOWLINESS OF MIND MUST BE THE ANTIDOTE AND DEATH OF STRIFE AND VAINGLORY. (Verse 3.) Nothing so separates souls and breaks the unity of spirit as vainglorious strife. Competition, be it ever so generous, cannot be tolerated in the Church of God, except it Be competition for the lowest place and the severest service. The competition for the chief seats in society, in the world's market, in the sphere of power, is always prejudicial to the Christian spirit and the unity which comes from Heaven; But the competition which contemplates the severest service, the lowliest ministrations, the most humiliating role, is wholesome, Christ-like, Divine. Now, this lowliness of mind which esteems others Better than ourselves can be secured only by severe self-scrutiny in the light of God's Word, above all, in the light of Christ's perfect life. Then our sins and shortcomings become appalling, and we walk softly before the Lord. On the other hand, no such knowledge of our neighbor's sins and shortcomings is open to us; we judge him so charitably as to esteem him above ourselves, and so we sit in the independence begotten of humility. No longer do we complain of any lot God gives us; we accept it as better than we deserve; and in the panoply of humility we are safe from all assault.
IV. WE CAN THUS MAKE PUBLIC SERVANTS OF OURSELVES IN THE TRUEST SENSE. (Verse 4.) We hear a good deal of "public men," as they are called. They profess to serve the public, but the most of them, while professing to serve the public, are suspected of serving themselves. With some of them the public spirit is doubtless genuine, and they do serve their sovereign and country with singleness of heart. But the gospel is the great means in God's hand of making men and women the servants of others. Since Jesus came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many, many have learned to make the welfare of others their chief care. And so Christian consideration and charity break forth on the right hand and on the left. Men and women thrust themselves into work for others which can have no selfish aim or selfish issue, and the world becomes "Paradise restored." We are not right in heart until we thus are made public servants by the dynamic force of the Christian spirit. The law of love regulates us and carries us out of the narrow circle of personal interests into the broader one of the common weal. We sacrifice much to serve others. "We stoop," and think nothing of the effort, "to conquer" souls and circumstances in the interest of Christ. We have got unmoored, and are out to sea, where we have room and are in no danger from the lee shore. It is the life of real liberty which we secure when we look no longer on our own things, but have an eye for those of others.—R.M.E.