Be of the Same Mind
Philippians 4v2-3
3rd May 2024
Philippians 4v2-3
I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.
Yes, and I ask you, my loyal yoke-fellow, help these women who have contended at my
side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my
fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Although Paul pleaded with these Christian women to agree, he was no stranger to conflict, and he was quite willing to confront false teaching and bad behaviour. Consider:
Acts 15v37-42
Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them,
but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in
Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.
They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and
sailed for Cyprus,
but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.
He went through Syria and Cilicia...
Galatians 2v11-14
When Cephas [that is, Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he
stood condemned.
For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when
they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he
was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.
The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas
was led astray.
When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to
Cephas in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like
a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?"
And many of his letters contain confrontational passages. I mention several of them here, to show he is quite willing to engage in a dispute when the matter at hand is sufficiently serious:
1 Corinthians 5v5
hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may
be saved on the day of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11v17-22
In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm
than good.
In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are
divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it.
No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s
approval.
So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat,
for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a
result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk.
Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by
humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you?
Certainly not in this matter!
2 Corinthians 11v4
... if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or
if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel
from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
Galatians 1v9
... If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be
accursed!
Galatians 3v1a
You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?
Galatians 5v12
As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Certainly, Paul didn't always urge that we should "agree to disagree". He understood the value of right doctrine and right practice. So why does he urge Euodia and Syntyche to agree? he doesn't seem to think that one of these women was right and the other wrong. He says, "I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche", which seems to be a way to make it clear he isn't blaming one woman over the other. If their difference was one of doctrine or Christian practice, surely Paul would have addressed the one who was in the wrong, and urged her to repent. Instead, he urges both women to work to come to a common mind.
We should probably conclude that their disagreement was about their preferences, not about doctrine. Sadly, such disagreements can cause huge - one might say disproportionate - problems in churches. In our day, people can argue about the choice of songs, or the volume of the music, or the length of the sermon, or the brand of coffee, or the thermostat setting for the heating, or the position of some item of furniture. I mention these examples because I've witnessed all of them, and many more.
Some Christians can feel very strongly about these things. Our passion over a relatively minor matter can sour the atmosphere in a church. People can take sides and start getting quite heated. The sense of peace, and of the presence of the Holy Spirit, can be diminished. As a result both the pastoral and the evangelistic work of the church become less effective.
If you are being a Euodia or a Syntyche right now, I plead with you to desist.
Paul then speaks to somebody whom he describes as "my loyal yoke-fellow". We don't know whom he is addressing but it was probably the pastor of the Philippian church. How else could the recipients of ther letter identify who was meant? He asks this person to "help these women".
If you know a Euodia and a Syntyche right now, I ask you to help them. Help them to see that the issue they're fighting over is less important than the unity of the church. Help them to understand each other's point of view. Help them to choose fellowship and humility over enmity and self-righteousness.
However, if the debate between your Euodia and your Syntyche is a matter of doctrinal significance, or of conduct arising from doctrine, then it's important to establish the Biblical position and support it. Ultimately, there is no Christian unity without Biblical truth. There can be no place in the church for false teaching about the Holy Trinity, the inerrancy of the Bible, the deity of Christ, the Virgin Birth, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the coming of the Holy Spirit, or the resurrection to eternal life, for example.
Paul describes Euodia and a Syntyche as "these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life." They are Christians, disciples of some standing, who have done significant work for our Lord Jesus, in august company. How tragic, then, to find that they have descended into petty squabbling! How valuable a service it would be to restore them to mutual love, respect and fellowship, to Help bring them to a point where they can work side-by-side again, to the glory of God!