Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.—Philippians 3:17–21 

Challenge
A) Watch those who walk like Christ. Who is shaping you?
B) Invest in those who you want to help walk like Christ. Who are you shaping?

Outline

Reality one – The MODEL to be shaped by (v. 17a)
Reality two – The METHOD of shaping (v. 17b)
Reality three – The MOTIVATION to shape and be shaped (vv. 18–19)
Reality four – The MESSIAH, our ultimate Source (vv. 20–21) 

Introduction

This message is the first in a two-part series in strengthening the core of our local church. This message will be focused on shaping one another with Christ. Paul Poteat will be delivering a message next week on sharing Christ with those who don’t know Christ.

So what does “strengthening the core” actually mean? Is this some sort of Crossfit or P90x initiative. No.

Those programs will strengthen your physical core. What we mean by “strengthening the core” is maturing in our love for Jesus and equipping our local congregation to show his love to others. We want you to have joy in Jesus, and for that joy to spread through you into one another and those outside our local body.

That means in the 25 x ’25 vision, you don’t have to be pursuing missions, be a church planter, or major donor to be part of this 25 x ’25 vision. Some of us will be those things, but all of us need to be growing in God’s love, and all of us need to be equipped to love others so that the name and fame of Jesus would spread.

So with this principle in mind we see that the other three 25 x ’25 initiatives depend on it. We want to be a local church that plants healthy churches, sends healthy missionary teams, and is generous with what we have. If that is to happen, we need to be a healthy mother church, with healthy members, small groups, and ministry teams.

Bottom line: A healthy church grows and spreads.

So let’s pray that the word of God would mature us and equip us, so we can be a healthy congregation that spreads the joy and fame of Jesus—both to the nations and to the neighborhoods in our Twin Cities. Pray with me ... 

Father, why would you bring us to this text in Philippians? Why would you have us consider what it means to shape one another with Christ? Probably for multiple reasons, but the one that is clear to me, is that you want us to have joy in you. We exist to be a people that has Jesus joy bubbling out of us. Please let this word point us to you. Give us more joy in you, and let that joy spread to one another, and to those who do not YET know you. In the name of Jesus. Amen. 

The main point that you will hear me say throughout will be “Shaping one another with Christ.”

So, let’s start with a question “Who has shaped you with Christ?”

Maybe it was in the way that they prayed. Maybe it was how they served. Maybe it was how they winsomely shared Christ. It might have been how they intentionally pursued you to share Christ with you.

“So, who has shaped you with Christ? Let’s take a few moments to think about that question” “Who has shaped you with Christ?”

As I considered that question, I was flooded by memories of people who shaped me with Christ …

As a child, every morning that I woke up before the sun, I would see my dad at his desk with his Bible and prayer journal. I was shaped by this picture: a man and his Bible. I need Jesus more than sleep and breakfast.

As a child, when I lay in bed, my mom would pray over me. Casting all her cares on Jesus for her children. I was shaped by this—I can’t carry the weight of my cares, I need to cast them on Christ.

In college, a guy who was discipling me would take me to do things like run errands, go to the grocery store, grab breakfast. On those trips he would press in on my life and speak the truth in love. However, even more impactful than that was when we went from place to place—I watched the way he engaged people. He saw them. He asked them questions. And when God opened the door, he shared the hope of Christ. At Cub foods, on Craigslist runs, at gas stations, and restaurants. I was shaped with Christ by his everyday life.

The most recent memory that washes over me is that of my small group leader. I’m actually discipling him, but he has shaped me in how he goes out of his way to be “easy to lead.” Makes himself available whenever I have open time during the week. He opens up about his life and struggles and humbly receives counsel. I’m being shaped with Christ by him as I lead him.

So, now let’s look at our text.

Brothers, imitate me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example that you have in us.—Philippians 3:17

As I meditated and studied this short but profound text, four realities emerged that I would like to explore. Each pertains to the main point of shaping one another with Christ.

1. Reality one - The MODEL
2. Reality two - The METHOD
3. Reality three - The MOTIVATION
4. Reality four - The MESSIAH

First let’s look at the MODEL … 

Reality One – The MODEL

In Philippians 3:17, Paul makes it clear that he wants the Philippians to be shaped by his way of life. He wants to be their model. That’s why he says “Imitate me.”

Before exploring this reality further, I want to address a reasonable objection: Isn’t that proud? How can any imperfect man tell another man to imitate him?

If we look a few verses earlier, we see clearly that Paul does not think that he has “arrived” or is “perfect. 

In Philippians 3:8 he says that his righteousness is not based on his ability to follow the law, but he has been given righteousness through faith in Christ.

Then in verse 12 of chapter three he says that he is “not already perfect ... but one thing he is doing ... he’s straining forward to what lies ahead. Pressing on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

Paul’s command to imitate him is not pointing people to his perfect performance, but rather saying. “Watch me as I pursue Christ in the midst of my mistakes, my failures, and my struggles.” 

Don’t think that being someone worthy of imitation means you have to be the perfect parent, perfect small group leader, perfect student, or perfect Christian, but rather it means being someone who is relentlessly pursuing Christ even as you fail to be perfect. This is a humbling thing, but it keeps us from pointing people to ourselves when we should be pointing to Christ.

My wife and I enjoy having people over for dinner. When we do, we like to have our guests join us for our kids’ bedtime ritual which usually includes a Bible story, song, and prayer. I had these rhythms modeled for me by my parents, and I wanted to model this for others. Also, I wanted my kids to see other people worshiping and learning about Jesus outside of the church building.

However, what I quickly learned is that this is a messy scenario. My two- and four-year-old are wonderful children, however, when it is bedtime and visitors are in the house, things get challenging. The challenges made me want to abandon the practice, but then it struck me: This scenario is a perfect opportunity to model not my perfection in parenting, but how my identity is not in my parenting but in Christ.

What does it look like to be a dad who has to ask for forgiveness when he loses his patience?

Or ask for feedback from other brothers or sisters on how they would have handled that situation?

I’m not modeling perfection, but trying to model what it looks like to pursue Christ in the midst of struggle.

That’s the MODEL: Pursuing Christ, not perfection, even when we are weak and imperfect. That’s what Paul is calling us to imitate.

Now let’s look at the Method for how to do this ...

Reality Two – The METHOD

Some of you will have a second objection:

Well, even if Paul is holding out a model of pursuing Christ and not perfection, I don’t even know how to pursue Christ in my weakness and imperfection. What does that even look like practically? How do I do that?

Paul provides an answer in the second half of verse 17.

Keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

Here we see the method for how to be shaped with Christ: Watch the people who have been shaped with Christ by others.

We see this same concept in 1 Corinthians 4:16–17. Listen for the similarities.

I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ. 

Paul gives the identical command—“be imitators of me,” and then an identical “method” for how to imitate him. “Watch someone else who I shaped in Christ.” In this case, Timothy.

Paul knew that the physical presence and model of Timothy was one of the primary methods by which these brothers and sisters would be able to be shaped for Christ, and pursue Christ in the midst of hardship.

So here is another personal example: After leading a small group for about five years and being in some form of discipleship ministry for more 10 years, God started to show me how important proximity was to my discipleship ministry. Having to get in the car to see someone in my small group or to be around someone I wanted to shape or be shaped by was not seeming very strategic. So, I started praying and brainstorming about how to live in closer proximity to those in our small group. About a year after praying and seeking the Lord in this, he provided an old six-bedroom house in Minneapolis. He also provided a couple of willing housemates from our small group to join us in this community discipleship experiment. 

Just like my earlier example about my kids, living in community like this has been challenging. Not because of the people we live with, but because they get let into the messes of life. When my wife and I are in a disagreement—they’ll probably see it. When I’m getting squeezed by pressures at work—they see it. And the same goes for them. When they are struggling, I see it.

Yet, as we SEE each other pursue Christ in those moments of struggle, we are living the model that should be imitated. As I’ve watched the sister who lives in our house pursue Christ in the midst of hardship through listening to him in solitude and opening up in weakness, I grow in my listening and in my openness. 

So the method or the way we can pursue Christ in the midst of hardship is to keep your eyes on those who are doing this.

I hear yet another objection which will lead us to reality three:

Why would I want to do this? Both the model of pursuing Christ in the midst of hardship, as well intentionally keeping my eyes on people doing this sounds, well, hard and very inconvenient.

I already have a really full life. I work a lot. I live a long way from my community. I’m introverted and don’t like to be around people. I’m extroverted and this sounds confining, like I have to invest deeply in a few.

This objection leads us to the third reality. 

Reality Three – The MOTIVATION

Let’s look at Philippians 3:18–19.

For many of whom I often have told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, they glory in their shame with minds set on earthly things.

Why does Paul want the Philippian church to be shaped with Christ by those who are pursuing Christ in the midst of hardship? Because they are surrounded by those who are doing the opposite of this, and that will lead to their destruction, which literally means to be lost or cut off from God.

Paul calls these people enemies of the cross, not necessarily because of they are “denying the message of the cross” with their lips, but because of their denying the cross with their lives. Their god is not the God of the universe, but their god is their belly. What does it mean for your God to be your belly?

Essentially, it means being a slave to whatever you crave.

Paul had to say this because the Philippian church was surrounded by a teaching that said you can believe in Christ, but live however you want. Does that sound familiar?

It should, because that is the air we breathe in our culture—so many of our colleagues at work, neighbors, friends, and family members have this worldview of comfort and security. The path of least resistance toward destruction: Making a god of the world and seeking everything here on earth to fill the felt spiritual void.

You might be thinking, “I’m glad I'm not like that, I have my act together. I watch what I eat. I don’t party. I don’t mess around in promiscuous relationships. So I’m obviously not an enemy of the cross.”

Don’t forget that in the beginning of Philippians 3, Paul has strong words for the “I have it together” people. He says, “Look out for the dogs ... those who mutilate the flesh.” He’s talking about the culturally religious people who were telling the men of the church that they had to be circumcised to be acceptable to God. Being this type of enemy is almost more deadly, because you think you are a friend of God based on your own works, but really you are denying the truth, which is that we all have fallen short of God’s standard and need him to save us through Christ.

Take a moment to consider which of these two ditches you might fall into. 

1. If, throughout this sermon, you have thought, “This idea of pursuing Christ and orienting my life around other Christians sounds really uncomfortable and does not fit with my personal agenda for my life”—that could be an indicator that you have your mind set on earthly things and have made your earthly cravings your God.
2. On the other hand, maybe you have felt like this command from Paul to be shaped by others, seems fairly irrelevant, because you feel like you’ve arrived spiritually. Maybe you need to consider if you are in the ditch of self-reliance and self righteousness.

So if the motivation for being shaped with Christ by others is so that we can be kept from destruction, then what is the motivation for shaping others with Christ? It’s simple.

We want to shape others with Christ, through intentionally showing them that their truest joy can only be found in Jesus and not in the things of earth. Also, we want to intentionally show them that no matter how righteous one is, only trusting in the perfect righteousness of Christ can save a person.

This is what we not only want to say with our lips, but what we want to model with our lives as we put ourselves in live life with people so they can keep their eyes on us and be shaped with Christ.

So, I want to take a moment right now to address those of you here who are skeptical toward Christianity. You might be hearing this and thinking, “Wow, the Bible and Christians are really arrogant. First, they are saying that I might be an enemy of God. Second, they are saying that this will lead to me being destroyed.”

Yes. These are hard words, but I want you to notice how Paul is not proudly pointing his finger and looking down his nose at these people. He says that he says this “with tears.”

Paul and Christians cannot claim any moral or intellectual superiority. Rather, our hearts break for those who miss out on WHO they were created to know. Which leads me to our final reality.

Reality Four – The MESSIAH

Let’s look at Philippians 3:20–21.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

God saw his enemies who were pursuing the things of this earth, and trying to earn their own salvation through good works. He did not send us a prophet with steps to our better life, or a book of rules to live by. He sent us himself, our Savior, Jesus. He put himself in the closest proximity he could by living among us. Not only that, he came in even closer proximity by sending his Spirit to live in us and gave us one another as citizens of heaven and models of the Messiah.

We are shaped by his life, death, and resurrection. We are shaped by his Spirit who lives in us. We are shaped by those who are citizens of Christ, who are living lives “worthy of the gospel.”

And this is such good news for us because we are imperfect models; we fail at this again and again. People looking to make an impression on others need Jesus to be shaping them through what he did in the gospel, what he is doing through the Spirit, and through seeing others living as citizens of heaven.

One day Jesus will return, and we will no longer need to shape one another, because when we see him; we will be fully shaped by him.

1 John 3:2 says we know that “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

What an awesome reality. One day we will be like Christ. Not just imitators, but like him, because we won’t be seeing imperfect pictures of him, but will be seeing him.

Maranatha! Come quickly, Jesus.

And he hasn’t come yet. So the command to “imitate me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example that you have in us” still stands.

Here are four questions for us to prayerfully think about as we consider how to obey that command:

As I ask these questions to you, I want you to know that many people have prayed for you in this sermon, and I am expectant that the Holy Spirit is going bring to mind what you should do, because he loves you. So let’s listen to him as we consider these questions. 

Here are the four sets of questions to ask the Lord:

1. Lord, what is an area in my life that you want to me to grow in so that I can experience more of you?

• Maybe you want to grow in your prayer life and dependence on him.
• Maybe you want to grow in your consistency in God’s word and daily listening to him.
• Maybe you sense the Lord wants to grow you in contentment in your stage of life.
• Maybe he is calling you to grow in sharing your faith with others.

2. Lord, who have you put in my life, in this church, or maybe my small group for whom you have me given grace and growth? What sacrifices do I need to make or ask them to make so that I can be shaped by them?

Then on the flip side of this, let’s ask the Lord these two questions:

• Lord, what is an area of grace in my life that has allowed me to experience more of you?
  • Maybe it is in personal holiness and purity.
  • Maybe it is hospitality.
  • Maybe it is in listening to the perspectives of those who are of a different cultural background than you.

• Now ask the Lord if there is someone for whom he would like me to intentionally pursue to pass this grace on? Who can I ask to join me in the pursuit of Christ, through this area of life? 

So, when you are getting up and leaving today, rather than asking “What did you think of the sermon,” maybe consider asking one another one of those four questions. “What did God put on your heart as an area of growth or an area grace?” “Who did God put on your heart as a person who could help you grow, or whom did God bring to mind as someone you could intentionally pass this grace to?”

We are going to close with the song “We Will Feast in the House of Zion.” Let’s consider this vision of our hope that one day, after pursuing Christ through our struggles and imperfections, we will all be gathered around the table of Jesus and be feasting and enjoying him forever.

Let’s pray.

Benediction

There are many avenues at Bethlehem for getting into relationships where you can be shaped by one another. The main one is small groups. These function like smaller spiritual families where we can watch those who are imitating Christ. If you’re interested in small groups, we have a Small Group Connect Lunch after church. I would encourage you to go. 

I’m going to send you out with another example of Paul calling the church to be shaped by Christ through imitating him. 

He says in Philippians 4:9, “What you have learned and received and heard, and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of Peace will be with you.”

So Bethlehem, may the God of Peace be with you as you are shaped by one another for Christ. Amen