Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
The Bible says this.
It doesn’t seem like a suggestion.
Selfish ambition.
Does this mean I’m allowed to have ambition if it’s not selfish?
Is it the drive that’s dangerous?
Or just the destination?
I wonder…what might selfless ambition look like?
Vain conceit.
Do you have to think highly of yourself to have a hollow pride?
Is it just ego that gets me in trouble?
Or is it the self-absorption, too?
I wonder…what might humble confidence look like?
Paul says it this way:
Value others above yourself.
Don’t fixate on your own interests.
Focus instead on the interests of others.
And do all this with humility.
It’s interesting to me. There’s really no Greek word for “interests” found in Philippians 2. It just uses the definite article. And, yes, I did just read that on Google. And, no, I don’t really understand grammar either. But I think Paul’s just making the point:
Don’t make your life all about your things.
Make it about other people’s things.
Make others matter more.
“In your relationships with one another,” Paul says as he drives home his point, “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
So, just in case you were thinking, “Surely the Apostle isn’t telling me to go that far,” he raises the bar all the way to Jesus.
The same dude who was God by His very nature.
But didn’t use His deity for His own benefit.
Instead, He took a lower position and became like us.
And He not only looked like us. He also died like us.
But Jesus didn’t live like us.
And He didn’t stay dead, either.
The Father exalted the Son because the Son lowered Himself.
What beautiful irony.
When Paul tells us to do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit…
to value others above ourselves…
to look to their interests and not just our own…
He’s not asking us to merely play nice with others.
He’s telling us to lower ourselves.
Our position.
Our need to come first.
Our constant focus on ourselves.
So, what would humble confidence look like?
What would selfless ambition look like?
Well, it looks a lot like Jesus.