Make My Joy Complete

Somehow, in 21^st century America, the church has gotten the mistaken idea that the gospel is mostly about my individual relationship with God. It’s true that God deals with me individually, but his purpose is not just that I would personally be saved, but also that I would become one member in a body (1 Corinthians 12:27). As it says in the Scriptures:

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:10-12).

By reconciling us to himself through Christ, God is also reconciling us with each other. We are, each of us, temples of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), but at the same time we are, together, one temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17). It’s with this understanding that the apostle Paul can first rejoice that the people of Philippi responded to the gospel (Philippians 1:4-5) and then, in the next chapter, write:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others (Philippians 2:1-4).

The way we live out what it means to be united with Christ is to be united with each other. Just as we received God’s love, so we must love. If we have fellowship with his Spirit, our response is to be in fellowship with one another. We respond to God’s compassion by being compassionate.

“Remember who you are” is a theme that has been coming up over and over again in my study of the Scriptures and in my prayer times. But I can’t do that without at the same time remembering who my brothers and sisters are. Remembering, in particular, that they are my brothers and my sisters. And remembering, therefore, how I should treat them.

I think we all understand intuitively that there’s something deeply tragic about division within a family, whatever the reasons might be. Families ought to be united. They ought to be devoted to each other, build each other up, help one another and sacrifice for one another. In short, families ought to love one another.

Obviously, that doesn’t always happen. People sometimes get divorced. Children become estranged from their parents. Siblings refuse to talk to each other. Division occurs in the body of Christ as well because, although God commands, he does not compel. Rather, he gives us his Spirit of love and sets us free to love as he loves.

This is why Paul, writing words from the Holy Spirit, can talk about rejoicing when God’s children are united. When we love our brothers and sisters enough to put aside our own ego and serve each other, instead of serving ourselves. In other words, when we act like God’s children and not like the world’s children.

It’s when we love one another, when we treat each other the way brothers and sisters should, that the love of God is made complete in us (1 John 4:12). So can we do that? Even if nobody else does, if it’s just you and me, let’s do it. And let’s join in our Father’s joy when his children are united in love.