I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Divisions corrode churches from within.
This is why Paul took seriously reports that two women in the Philippian fellowship had fallen out. He made space in his letter to “entreat” them to “agree.” And in his approach to addressing the disagreement between Euodia and Syntyche, the apostle gives us a helpful model of reconciliation. He makes it clear that we must remember we are bound together with our brothers and sisters “in the Lord.” This phrase explains who we are at our core: we are not our own; we belong to Christ.
So Paul pleads with Euodia and Syntyche to remember their unity “in the Lord” and to submit to God’s instruction as it came through the apostles, just as we submit to God’s word now in the Scriptures. The Bible is clear that as Christians, we must first love and serve God. Then, as we seek to please God, He will so work in our hearts that we desire to serve our neighbors for their good, to build them up (Romans 15:2).
When we forget that we belong exclusively to Christ, we will very quickly begin to champion our own agendas, establish our own causes, fight for our personal rights, and get on our high horses to dispute with anybody who doesn’t agree with us. Dissension among believers can cause us to grow distracted by petty and often peripheral concerns, sapping the energy of the arguers as well as all who are caught up in the dispute. Instead of reaching out, the church then becomes inwardly focused. It is utterly incongruous for us to insist on our own way when we belong to a Savior who never did so. If Jesus had thought of Himself in the way we so often and so easily think of ourselves, then there would have been no incarnation, there would have been no cross, there would be no forgiveness, and there would be no hope of heaven for us.
We should not pretend that dissent doesn’t exist among believers. It does. But as a company of the redeemed, we are to work through our disagreements on the strength and foundation of our unity in the Lord. Our focus cannot remain on ourselves. In the healing and mending of fractured relationships, we must imitate Christ by initiating reconciliation.
This is a call to all of us. If you find yourself today in the shoes of Euodia and Syntyche, then the call to you is clear, though challenging: “Agree in the Lord.” Whatever else divides, your unity with other Christians is stronger. And if you find yourself today in a church with a Euodia and a Syntyche, then you are called to act in the way Paul commanded his “true companion” to act: to help those who are divided to reconcile. True love takes the initiative. True love gets involved. True love does not allow division to corrode; instead, it pursues the unity that builds up.
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Devotional material is taken from the Truth For Life daily devotional by Alistair Begg, published by The Good Book Company, thegoodbook.com. Used by Truth For Life with permission. Copyright © 2021, The Good Book Company.
