STANDING FIRM TOGETHER IN 2026
As we enter into a new year as a church family, we enter with the promise of a clean slate. There is a hope that we are leaving behind the troubles of 2025 and can begin afresh. We have hopes of new and better things to come. Let us apply that hope of a “clean slate” or new beginnings to our relationships as well.
Wouldn’t it be great to put old wounds to bed and let go of offenses we have with each other?
Francis Schaeffer observed that Christians in many countries have something in common. That which leaves bitterness between us can last for twenty, thirty, or forty years. And at issue is not what we believe about God or the teaching of the Bible – these are not the source of our wounds. “Invariably it is the lack of love – and the bitter things that are said by true Christians in the midst of differences…It is these unloving attitudes and words – that cause the stench that the world can smell in the church of Jesus Christ among those who are really true Christians,” he said.
How we disagree has long term implications. We are going to have disagreements with one another – it’s human! The mark of a good relationship or a good church culture is not the absence of disagreement but how those disagreements are handled.
Imagine a group of people walking across a foot bridge. If everyone walks in slightly different rhythms – some faster, some slower – the bridge stays stable. The movement cancels itself out. But if people begin to fall into step without realizing it – stepping in the same steps again and again – the bridge can start to sway. Not because anyone is trying to cause damage, not because the bridge is weak, but because small, repeated movements start lining up in the same direction.
Engineers discovered that it doesn’t help to find blame, or to panic, or even to shut the bridge down. The solution is restoring balance – helping movement happen in a way that the bridge was designed to carry.
That’s really the image Paul gives in Philippians 4:1-3. The Church at Philippi was a good church with good people. But there was an imbalance in the fellowship that threatened to destabilize a beautiful thing.
1. Remember who you are (4:1)
How we deal with disagreements as Christians shows what we believe way down deep about the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And how we help others with their disagreements show what we believe way down deep about the unity of the Church. Are we going to allow disagreements to divide us or are they an opportunity to let Jesus unify the un-unifiable?
At the recent EMC ministerial, I met a pastor from Alberta whose church was divided over the political issues of Israel. It was said to be a matter of how they read the Bible on Israel, but the truth is less spiritual. Two hundred people left the fellowship over this impasse.
Paul would have been grieved over this split. Division was contrary to the Apostle’s thinking on church. Consider how he viewed the church at Philippi, he said, “…my brothers (and sisters) whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved,” (1).
Paul piled on five affectionate terms for this fellowship of believers to express who they were to him and to God. He used the same term twice, “my beloved,” in the Greek to emphasize his heart for them. Remember that this church included the wealthy (Lydia), a former soldier turned jailer, and a young woman who had been demon-possessed. It was an odd collection of people who had nothing in common except Jesus. But they were not just a collection of people, they were to Paul a treasured community.
If this is the way Paul viewed the believers in this church, then we are called to view each other this way too. And if this is the way we are to view each other, then to be divided is scandalous. Remember who you are: brothers and sisters in the family of God; a people in a love-relationship with God and each other; a people living in the joy and victory of Christ’s reconciling work. To be divided works against that testimony.
What’s at stake in our life together as a church is nothing less than the glory of God. The world is watching how we do relationships, how our faith in Christ affects relationships. So how we handle disagreement shows the world what we really think about Jesus.
2. Remember Who brings us Together (4:2)
Paul then gets specific. We have one little verse and a lot of questions. Paul writes, “I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord,” (2).
There are a lot of theories about who these two people were, but we do know they were women (by virtue of their names). Some say that they were representatives of the general disunity in the church at Philippi. But the fact that they were named indicates they were real people and very important to their community (otherwise it is rare for Paul to name people). Were they leaders of house churches? Were they among the overseers and deacons (1:1)? Whatever they were, Paul calls them “coworkers” in the gospel (4:3).
Euodia and Syntyche seem to have been in a quarrel that has become significant enough for Paul to write about. Can you imagine a letter being read before the entire church naming you and your adversary? So public! Yet it seems like everyone knew about it anyways.
Notice how Paul approached the conflict. He did not take sides. He did not shame them or tell one or the other they were wrong. Paul calls on both women to agree in the Lord. The word “entreat” means to “urge” or “strongly encourage.”
“To agree in the Lord” recalls what Paul said earlier in this letter. He said, “…if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy be being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind,” (2:1-2). Paul essentially reminds them that they are both united to Christ, so whatever disagreement they had must be held up to the light of Christ and who they are in Christ. Their identity in him supersedes any disagreement.
Christ is the great reconciler! We should be reconciled to one another! You need to resolve your conflicts with the other! I don’t think Paul is asking us to agree on everything. But he is calling us to embrace a common vision and to remember that we are committed to the same Jesus.
I know from my own experience how hard it is to resolve conflict with someone who has hurt you. It can keep you up at night and worry its way into your brain so that it’s all you think about. I did a little study on resolving conflict that revealed some steps we can take to make peace:
1) Pray – Ask the Lord to give you courage and love to go and speak to the person you are at odds with.
2) Examine yourself – while you zero in on the speck in your neighbor’s eye, check to make sure you don’t have a log in your own eye (Matt. 7:3-5).
3) Take the initiative – Jesus calls us to be peacemakers and not to wait for others to apologize. Matthew 18:15 tells us to go and talk to our brother or sister and work out our issues.
4) Speak the truth IN LOVE – I have heard this said many times, speak in terms of “I” versus “you.” It helps to say, “I feel hurt…” rather than “You hurt me…” because one speaks of personal feelings and the other is accusatory and condemns. It may simply be a misunderstanding. (Eph. 4:15)
5) Listen – There is another side to this story; there always is. James tells us to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (Js. 1:19).
6) Forgive freely – this is the most powerful step in the process of resolving conflict. How can we argue with Paul’s teaching, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you,” (Eph. 4:32). This will glorify God since by demonstrating God’s grace and reconciling power you are reflecting his posture to us.
3. Remember what’s at stake (4:3)
Let’s insert an eternal perspective to this process of conflict resolution in the church. Paul mentions that a motivating factor in making peace in the church is that these women and the people he is writing to in Philippi are all written in the book of life.
That perspective helps us to remember that your relationship with the other person and with God is more important than the issue that has caused this conflict. And it goes against the purpose and identity of the church to confess unity in heaven and practice disunity on earth.
In Christ’s church we have something that binds us together far beyond a constitution or a set of shared goals. We are bound together by the grace of God we have found in Jesus Christ. Literally bound together – like a book – like a book of life. Each of us is a page in a bound book. What binds us together is far greater than what could possibly pull us apart.
This is worth remembering. When we find ourselves in conflict with another follower of Jesus and we get angry or frustrated with that person – stop! Your name, beloved, is written in the Lamb’s book of life. No one can take that away. The person you are wrestling with, who has demeaned you, who has caused you to feel small – cannot take away your name in that book. But remember too that the name of this person sits on another page of the same book and will be with you in eternity.
When you cannot agree on _______, why not find in Christ what you do agree on and find that it far outweighs what you disagree about? When we disagree and fall into bitterness, we are saying to Jesus, “You don’t matter in this.” But if we seek peace and pursue reconciliation for his sake, we are saying to Jesus, “You matter more than anything.” And I think that’s really what we want to say, isn’t it?
In the beginning, we talked of a bridge that began to wobble because of foot-traffic. It was a good bridge but because of walking in the same spot over and over again, it became unbalanced. When we keep returning to our hurt and rehearsing our bitterness in the church – and this refers to your personal wounds as well – we become unbalanced.
Paul didn’t tell the Philippians to stop walking on the bridge.
Paul didn’t tell Euodia and Syntyche to leave the bridge.
Paul didn’t ignore the imbalance in the bridge either.
But he does invite them back into balance – to remember to “agree in the Lord.” Remember who we belong to and that we are all “in Christ.”
Paul calls us to stand firm in this agreement. That is the only way to present a shared witness of the reconciling power of Jesus Christ to the world.
How shall we practice this truth? I want to challenge you to think on this…
If there is someone in the church you’ve been out of step with – someone you are avoiding – someone whose name tightens your chest – someone you have written off….
Don’t ignore it!
Decide that Christ matters more than being right, more than being comfortable, more than nurturing bitterness.
Reconciliation begins with a conversation, with prayer – and sometimes with asking for help. Just as Paul counseled, sometimes we have to find a “true companion” who will mediate.
If the Holy Spirit is bringing a name to mind, don’t push it away. Ask God for the courage to take one step towards restoring the balance on this bridge – the church. We may not fix everything today, but you can take a step in that direction, towards standing firm in Jesus.
This church is worth the cost of healing. We are Christ’s joy and crown. Our unity in Christ is worth protecting and it brings him glory. Let’s stand firm together in 2026.
AMEN
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