MENDING RELATIONSHIPS IN CHRIST

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 23, 2025 under AM Bible Study |

Wednesday AM Bible Study; April 23, 2025 from Philippians 4:2-3

Theme: Paul gives us seven principles in dealing with division within the household of faith.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Philippians is a letter about how to have prevailing joy in Christ. In Chapters 1-3 of Philippians, Paul laid down the “doctrinal foundations” for that joy. And you could say that the doctrinal section of his letter concluded—and the practical section began—with the words of the first verse of chapter four: “Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved”. All that Paul has said thus far has pointed to an intimacy of relationship with Jesus Christ. And to the degree that we “stand-fast” in all that Jesus has done for us, we will experience His joy.

But does all of Paul’s doctrinal teaching about joy require of us in practice? How do we ‘stand’ in it? That’s what he begins to show us in Philippians 4:2-3;

I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:2-3).

The very first thing that Paul dealt with in this ‘practical’ section of the letter was a conflict between two women in the church. Dealing with that conflict involved putting ‘joy in Christ’ into actual practice.

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Now; who were these two women? All that we know about them is what we find in these two verses. We know their names, of course: Euodia (whose name meant “Prosperous” or “Successful”) and Syntyche (whose name meant “Fortunate” or “Lucky”). We also know where they come from. They were Macedonian women—Gentiles who lived in this great city, Philippi. When Paul and his missionary partner Silas first came to Philippi, they met a group of women from the city who were praying by the riverside (Acts 16:13). And because these two women were in a position of importance in the church, it may have been that they were among those women Paul first met at the riverside. And we also know that these two women were strong and faithful followers of Jesus—women that Paul esteemed as co-laborers in the work of the gospel and whose names were written “in the Book of Life”.

But something was wrong between them. These two precious and much-loved saints were at odds with one another. The way that Paul dealt with the problem suggests that the conflict wasn’t inherently sinful in nature. It might have been a conflict over ministry styles, or over a particularity of doctrine—the kinds of things in which Christians can legitimately disagree. But whatever the reason may have been, the relationship between these two precious women was being seriously harmed. They were not in fellowship with one another as they should have been. And their disagreement was hurting the rest of the church and its reputation. Paul even heard about it in faraway Rome. And he wrote the letter to the Philippians, in part, to help them deal with this problem and to exhort these two women to overcome the barrier it was creating in their relationship with each other.

This makes these two verses very important. When it comes to church life, the thing that is most crucial—more crucial than church constitutions, or ministry programs, or worship music styles—is the Christ-centered relationship people enjoy within the church body. As Jesus Himself said, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). People are drawn to the Savior more by our love for one another than by anything else they might see in the structure or activity of the church. And for that reason, one of the ways that the devil will strive to destroy the effectiveness of a church’s witness is by destroying the bond of love toward one another in Christ that should prevail in it.

So; we should take every word of these two verses seriously. When we do so, we find that the apostle Paul gives us seven principles in dealing with division within the household of faith.

First, we need to . . .

1. TREAT DIVISION SERIOUSLY.

The first thing Paul said to these two women was: “I implore …” That’s a word that suggests an earnest appeal. It can be translated, as “I plead”, or “I entreat”, or “I beseech”. It suggests that the problem was not something to dismiss or ignore, but that it sincerely needed to be dealt with and resolved.

Maintaining a bond of unity in love has been a great theme in this letter. And it may be that Paul had been dropping hints about it long before he made this direct appeal to these two women. Near the beginning of his letter, Paul wrote, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment” (1:9). Later on in the first chapter, he wrote, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel …” (1:27). Paul was very earnest about this with respect to the church as a whole. At the beginning of chapter 2, he wrote,

“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (2:1-4).

To let the problem go on would have been contrary to the mutual love that was to characterize an assembly of the followers of Jesus. It would have brought harm to the cause of the gospel, and would ultimately rob the church family of joy. Division in the church family is something then that always needs to be treated seriously and dealt with redemptively.

Another principle we learn is to …

2. DEAL WITH THE PERSONS INVOLVED AS INDIVIDUALS.

Do you notice that Paul didn’t simply say, “I implore the two of you, Euodia and Syntyche …” Instead he makes—as it were—an individualized appeal to each of them; saying, “I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche . . .”

When two different believers disagree with one another in the body of Christ, it’s not because some mysterious ‘thing’ called ‘disagreement’ was floating around and landed on them. The disagreement exists because two specific individuals have two different perspectives that are motivated by two different sets of priorities—both of which come from two different sets of experiences and from two different personality styles that conflict with one another. And that means that those two different individuals need to be understood and appealed to individually, and helped to overcome the conflict in the unique way that they each need to be helped.

When dealing with a conflict in the church, it isn’t really very helpful to simply tell everyone—in a broad manner—to ‘shape up’. Instead, we should show respect to the unique differences and concerns; and help each of the believers involved to bring those unique concerns to Christ in unity with each other. It takes more time to do things that way; but it’s much more effective. We should “implore Euodia” and “implore Syntyche” in the ways they each need.

Third, we should …

3. KEEP THE EMPHASIS ON A BASIC UNITY IN CHRIST.

Look specifically at what the apostle Paul urged these two women to do. He implored them both individually “to be of the same mind in the Lord.” Paul didn’t merely appeal to them to abandon all of their own perspectives and viewpoints and concerns, and pretend that those things didn’t really matter. To do so wouldn’t have respected them. Instead, he urged them to bring those concerns into submission to Christ; so that they could be unified in Him.

We who are in the body of Christ never need to work hard at creating ‘unity’ with each other. That unity has already been given to us in Christ; and it’s our job simply to “keep” it and protect it. When he wrote his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul said,

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:1-6).

If I love Jesus Christ with all my heart, and if you also do, and if we rejoice together in the things we have in common in Christ, then we will never have to try and make ourselves “united”. We will already be united. We might disagree on some secondary issues. We might not see eye-to-eye on every theological point, or on just exactly how things should be done to advance the cause of the gospel of Christ. But those differences won’t become a barrier to our relationship with each other. That’s why Paul said, “I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.” If they both love Him most of all, then they’ll both end up loving each other as they should.

Now; when Euodia and Syntyche heard this appeal from Paul, it was because they were sitting in the congregation as the letter was being read. And the rest of the congregation would have heard this appeal as well. And so; the next principle we learn about dealing with conflict in the body of Christ is to …

4. INVOLVE THE HELP OF OTHERS IN THE BODY.

In verse 3, Paul wrote, “And I urge you also, true companion, help these women …” Who was this “true companion”—or as it can more literally be translated, “true yoke-fellow”? It may have been the pastor of the church or some other leader in the church family. But we really don’t know. All that matters, though, is that it was someone who was a co-laborer with Paul in his concern for the ministry of the church; and that he—whoever he was—needed to step in and help these two precious women. They couldn’t work it out on their own. They needed help.

The word that Paul used to describe what this ‘true yoke-fellow’ was to do is fascinating. It literally means ‘to take up with’ or to ‘seize up with’ someone else. It may have been that Paul needed to put it that way because many people in the church—including this ‘true companion’—were holding back somewhat from dealing with this conflict. It may have been that the conflict was so strong and heated between these two women that most people in the church were taking a ‘mind my own business’ approach—and were not stepping in when they should have.

Conflict in the body of Christ isn’t a private matter. It’s a family matter. And very often, it’s something that the parties involved can’t solve on their own. They need the help of the rest of their brothers and sisters to exhort them, counsel them, and encourage them. Let’s learn from this not to look the other way when a conflict arises; but to lovingly step in and help when help is needed. Perhaps many sad ‘church split’ stories could be avoided if this was done more often.

And notice that, in dealing with this conflict, Paul called upon God’s people to …

5. PRIORITIZE THE WORK OF THE GOSPEL.

He urged this ‘true companion’ to “help these women who labored with me in the gospel …” Many of the believers in the church at Philippi had helped Paul in his missionary work—which was part of why he loved them so much. At the beginning of this letter, he wrote;

… just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. (Philippians 1:7).

These two women were, no doubt, among those who helped significantly to “share” in the labors for Christ. And now, others needed to step in and help these two women who had been such a help to Paul—and all so that the work of the gospel could continue to make progress.

Often, when a conflict occurs in church, we lose a sense of priorities. We forget that we are in this together for the common cause of the Great Commission—to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations …” (Matthew 28:19). It’s not about my personal agenda or your personal agenda, but about our Lord’s great call to spread His kingdom. In a time of conflict, we as a church family should help each other remember that what’s really important is the salvation of souls through the preaching of the gospel. That helps us put lesser matters aside.

Along with that, we should …

6. PRESERVE A SENSE OF PARTNERSHIP IN CHRIST’S WORK.

Paul went on to tell this ‘true companion’ to “help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers …” Just as was true of this ‘true companion’ of Paul’s, we can’t really know who this man named Clement was—except that he and some of the others that Paul calls “fellow workers” had labored with Paul in the common cause of the gospel.

It’s very important to notice how Paul did this. It’s as if he took Euodia, and Syntyche, and the ‘true companion’ and Clement and the other ‘fellow workers’ along on a walk down ‘ministry memory lane’. He reminded them of how they had labored together in the past—perhaps helping them to recall what precious times those had been and how great it was to be used by God together to spread His kingdom. He didn’t do what so many of us do in a time of conflict—that is, to forget everything that had happened in the past, and to only focus on the problems of the present. Instead, Paul honored the past and the experiences that they had all shared together and brought those times to bear on the present. He reminded them of the partnership they had enjoyed and of the ways that the Lord had used them together. He reminded everyone of what a great thing it was to be fellow workers together in the cause of Christ.

We should do that, too. We should be careful, in a time of conflict, to preserve that precious sense of partnership we had in the cause of Christ … and highlight it as something worth protecting and preserving.

And a final principle we see in this passage for dealing with a conflict within the church family is to …

7. LOOK FORWARD TO OUR ETERNAL DESTINY TOGETHER.

Paul spoke of Euodia, and of Syntyche, and of the ‘true companion’ and of Clement and of the other ‘fellow workers’ as those “whose names are in the Book of Life.” To have affirmed that all of these had their names written in the Book of Life was another way of saying that they were all destined to share eternal life together, and were going to go to heaven soon, and would soon be with each other throughout eternity. It’s like Paul said earlier in this letter;

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself (Philippians 3:20-21).

And that’s something we, too, should remember in a time of conflict. We may have times of conflict together, but we also share a common identity as citizens together of heaven. We have in common the joyful expectation that—one day soon—Jesus Himself will transform us so that we become sharers together in His glory. We share a common outlook of dwelling together with Him in His Father’s house forever. And when that finally happens, all the minor differences that may put us at odds with each other will then be completely forgotten. They will never divide us from one another again. So; we might as well not let them divide us now.

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Now; we will one day meet these two women—Euodia and Syntyche—in heaven. One day, we may even sit with them and listen as they tell us the story of how they had been helped in the Lord to put their differences aside while still on earth; and of how they grew to love each other as they should. And what’s more, we may hear about how their brothers and sisters in the Philippian church body helped them—and about how they all grew together as a result.

May the Lord help us to learn from their experience so that we can do the same. It’s how we will experience true joy in Him together.

AE