Jump Start # 273

Philippians 1:1 “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.”

  This is the opening sentence of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. New Testament letters are called, “Epistles.” We read these letters differently than any other form of letter. Maybe we should, because they are inspired by God, but then maybe we miss the flow of things because of the way we read them. Typically, in a Bible class, a teacher will guide the class through a book like Philippians, looking carefully at every word, often only covering a few verses a week. Do you know of any other letter that you read that way? If you got a letter from the I.R.S. would you spend six weeks before the letter was completely read? I wouldn’t. First thing I’d do is to read it very fast to see if I was in trouble or owed money. Then I’d read it a second time, more carefully. There is a place for verse by verse Bible studies, but in doing that, don’t forget you are reading a letter – so read the letter!

  I have found that the beginning and the ending of Paul’s letters are skimmed over quickly and not a lot of thought is given to them. For instance, our verse today is a powerful expression of God’s arrangement and organization of His church.

  Three elements are identified. First, saints. Do you notice that they happen to be alive. It’s hard to write a letter to dead people. Saints is just a shortened version of “sanctified.” This letter was written to God’s people—the saved at Philippi. The church is made up of saints. Now, when we say that, some folks get the immediate impression, “Oh, they’re better than everyone else?” Or, “I know some of them and they’re not that perfect.” You’re missing it when you think that way. These people belong to God. Christ is the only one you’ll ever find that is perfect in the church. The rest of us are trying but on our best days, we’re not there. All of us need grace, need to apologize and need to keep on with the Lord. But we belong to Christ. We are his. When I was a kid, I’d take a crayon and write my name on the bottom of my toys, mostly so my two brothers couldn’t claim them. It meant ownership. God’s got His name written on us. Often, we feel like we’re nobody. Not true when you are a saint—you belong to God.

  Second, notice in the church at Philippi, with the saints, were overseers. This is the same word for bishops. In 1 Peter 5, the terms, elder, bishop, shepherd are used of the same people. Elder, meaning spiritual experience. Bishop, meaning given the charge of watching the sheep. Shepherd, or pastor, meaning feeding and nurturing the flock. These men are there within the church. Peter shows that. They are in a plurality, Acts shows that. They don’t run things—God does that, they watch out, care and tend the sheep, the saints, us. Imagine a home without parents, bad news. Imagine a flock of sheep out on the hill, far away from any barns, homes or people. No one around. When the thunder of a coming storm pops, off they run. When a wolf sneaks off, off they scatter. The flock would not remain a flock very long. Sheep need help. They can’t run very fast. They can’t turn and fight like a momma bear. They can’t rattle their tail like some snakes. Sheep can’t do much of anything. They need the shepherd. His job is sheep. That’s the way God designed it. They are specially qualified Godly men who have the heart of service. They care for God’s people. They are watching for wolves. They are seeing that the sheep are eating. They are looking for friction and diseases among the flock. Their attention is to the local church and that church only.

  The third element here are deacons. This is from the word “servant.” They serve. They are qualified men, from 1 Tim 3 who serve God’s people. They are trusted, dependable and able to do the things that help shepherds.

  Did you notice something? First of all, how simple this is. Some would say, well there’s no way that would work today. God said it would. We want structure. We tend to want big. Mega stores. Mega size soft drinks. Mega movie theaters. Mega churches. Big is in. And with that thinking comes a super structure to run it. Layers and layers of managers, supervisors, every kind of minister, except one that preaches. From that way of thinking it is not uncommon to find churches run like a franchise. Money, personel, flowing between the franchises, and all of it run by a board that oversees the whole operation. That may work for McDonald’s or GM, but not the church. That’s not the way God ordered it nor designed it. It’s time to get back and accept God’s simple plan. Have you noticed how simple the gospel is? The words aren’t hard. What’s hard is the doing part, not the understanding part.

  We need to see the wisdom of God’s ways. Saints, overseers and deacons. That’s it. That’s all that’s needed. God knows what He’s doing. He knows what works. Instead of trying to improve upon God’s way, we just need to improve upon us!

Roger