Philippians 2 And Lessons on Humility, Privilege, and Race in The Church

Karl Barth said that pastors should preach with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, because the Word of God must speak to our lives and our world today. I think that idea applies to all Christians as we study the Bible, asking God to help us find application to current events in our lives and in the world around us.

As I read through Philippians 2 this morning, it seems that we could not have a more relevant word for white Christians in this time. Paul starts out reminding us that through Christ all of us have received comfort from His love, tenderness and compassion from Him. The gospel has blessed us so much. God has seen all of our sin, all of our brokenness, and done away with it at the cross and given us new love, new life, new power, and new hope. We have been treated far better than we deserve and been given far more than we could ever ask or imagine in Christ. We have a good name from God, and we have a sure inheritance in the future. And Paul tells us in Philippians 2:1-4 that this good news needs to translate into our relationships with one another. We are to be like-minded and have that same love for others in the Family of Christ. 

What does that look like? Well, Paul says it looks like putting ourselves in the shoes of another and putting their needs, their feelings, their hurts above our own. We are called to live with great humility and consider others above ourselves. Today, June 4, 2020, I think that this means white Christians must to consider the viewpoints, experiences, pain, and weariness of African Americans over and above our own opinions. It means we need to put their voices over and above our own desires to fix this current unrest and just have everything calm down, put them over and above our fear of chaos. It means listening and not telling black people how they should feel or how the riots don’t solve anything. It means hearing the message beneath the protests and the expressions of anger. It means just taking it, not defending ourselves, when an African American friend feels free enough with us to vent their anger and frustration at this world and systems, at white people, at the Church. It means surrendering rights and privilege in order to lift others up.

To be of one spirit, one mind (Philippians 2:2) means that as  the Body of Christ, if one part of the Body hurts, the rest of it hurts with it. When I slam my thumb with a hammer, my whole body responds to its pain. When my toe hurts from running, my limp affects everything from my foot on up. We must hear and feel the pain of our Body and respond, not seek to numb it out and make it go away.

And I know that living with this kind of humility and empathy seems hard. I know that we resist the notion that there is privilege with being white, and we have been taught to embrace the narrative that says that the playing field is equal in the United States for all who work hard. Applying Philippians 2 today runs contrary to our flesh that wants to defend, to  justify ourselves, to insist that we are “one of the good guys.” Humility runs counter to our flesh’s desire to be self-righteous. And the longer this situation stays at the front of the consciousness of our nation, the more tempting it will be to say, “Can we just move on?”

I want to urge us to resist that temptation and to learn to rely on Jesus, who is the Humble One within us. He is both our example and our actual power to live out this high calling of love. If you and I want to talk about defending our rights and insisting that we are doing the best we can, we need look no further than the description of Christ in Philippians 2:5-11.

One of the most beautiful things about God is that what He calls us to do as disciples, He actually lived out first (and perfectly) through Christ. If anyone was privileged, it is Jesus. Jesus is one with God, created all things, has existed from all eternity in the perfection of heaven surrounded by adoration and worship. He is the almighty Son of God, perfect in all His ways. And yet He laid aside His privilege, “not counting His equality with God something to be used to His own advantage. But He made Himself nothing” and came to earth as a human being. Jesus didn’t use His advantages and His position to benefit Himself; He used it for others.

For whites, when we want to resist the idea of our privilege, remember that it is not a bad thing to have privilege or to admit that it exists. We just need to use it to benefit others, to open doors that are closed, to give voice to the voiceless so that all people enjoy the same opportunities that you and I enjoy. 

Remember, Jesus did it first. Jesus, who had never needed anything or ever known weakness, began life as a helpless baby. He grew up to be a man who walked this earth in humble dependence on the Father. He grew tired, hungry, angry, sad, fearful. He blessed the poor and the rich, He showed kindness to all. And He trusted God so much that He gave away what was most precious – His very life. And He not only gave His life away, but He did it in such a way as to enter into the most shameful and public punishment reserved for the worst criminals.

And Jesus was one of the good guys. He was the ONLY good guy! But He saw fit to so fully identify with humanity that He valued us over Himself and secured our forgiveness through the cross.

And on the other side of that was praise and exaltation for Jesus. Because He set aside His rights and His comforts and His life, God blessed Him. He showed us that the path to blessing is not hanging on tightly to all that we can, but in love giving itself selflessly away.

You might say, “Well, even if you’re right, that’s Jesus. And I’m not Jesus.” But Paul tells us in verse 5 that the call is, in fact, to live like Jesus. We don’t get a pass because of our humanity. And yet we also learn in Philippians 2 that we are not left to do this on our own. Philippians 2:12-13 tells us not only to obey the word, but to remember that it is God who works in us to fulfill His good purpose. Jesus, the Humble King, lives in you. He can lead you and me on the path of humility. He is the Better Listener, Better Friend, Better Love-er, Better Advocate. Christ in you is the hope of glory.

At our church we say before the sermon that the Word of God is alive and it will change your life, that it is not just to be read or preached, but it is to be lived out. This is a moment where the clear teachings of the Bible and the clear needs of our world line up in a very relevant manner. Will we as white Christians have the humility to be led by Christ in a new way? Let’s learn to listen, to pray, to have our hearts broken, and to advocate and act for justice and transformation in our world. And let’s recognize that because of the privilege of our race, we can check out of this conversation and this movement at any time, but that is not an option for our African American brothers and sisters. So let’s lay aside our right to check out and stay the course, run the race, and look to the interests of others.

Pastor Marshall Benbow