Holiness and Mission. Morna D. Hooker

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СКАЧАТЬ but in questions of behaviour. As we have seen, the two belong together, and cannot be separated. For Paul, the reason is that those who respond to the gospel, and who are baptized into Christ, share his death and resurrection. They die to their old way of life, and are raised to a new one – a life that is lived ‘in Christ’.23 That is why they are now truly members of God’s people, and that is why Paul addresses them as ‘saints’, or ‘holy ones’, the term once used of Israel. The language he uses reminds us of that fundamental relationship between Christ and believers, and of the call to be holy, in a way that our modern use of the term ‘Christians’ does not.

Another way of expressing this is to say that those who are ‘in Christ’ are part of a new creation. According to Genesis, Adam had been created after the image of God, but those who belong to Christ have been transferred into a new creation,24 and they are being changed into the image of Christ25 – who is himself the true image of God.26 Look at Christ, and you will see what God is like; look at Christians, and what you should see is what Christ is like. For Paul, therefore, the Christian life was a matter of imitating Christ – or rather, of being conformed to Christ.27 And that is in fact a better way of putting it, since what we are talking about is not merely a matter of imitation – like copying the appearance of the latest celebrity – for it is not something that we can ourselves do, but rather is, for Paul, always the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian.

      If we want to see what this means, there is no better place to look than Paul’s letter to the Philippians. This brief letter has something of the nature of a manifesto. Paul is in prison, contemplating a possible death-sentence, and he shares with his friends in Philippi something of his understanding of the gospel, of what it means for their way of life, and of what it has meant for him, as the apostle of Christ. In other words, he sets out here the basis of his mission. Central to the letter is the famous passage in chapter 2 which is sometimes known as the Philippian ‘hymn’. Like a hymn – at least the best hymns – it expresses in a structured form something of the significance of the gospel. It tells how Christ,

      who was in the form of God,

      did not regard equality with God

      as something to be exploited,

      but emptied himself,

      taking the form of a slave,

      being born in human likeness.

      And being found in human form, he humbled himself

      and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.

      Therefore God has highly exalted him,

      and given him the name that is above every name,

      That at the name of Jesus

      every knee should bow,

      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

      and every tongue should confess

      that Jesus Christ is Lord,

      to the glory of God the Father.

      (Philippians 2.6–11)

      Here is a summary of the gospel – of the events that made the Philippians what they are. One of its many interesting features is the way that it is introduced and rounded off. Paul is quoting this passage, not simply to remind the Philippians of the gospel, but to point out its relevance for their lives. Addressing those who are ‘in Christ’, he writes:

      If there is, in Christ, any encouragement, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy . . . be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look to the interests of others, not to your own. Let the same mind be in you that is found in Christ Jesus.

      (Philippians 2.1–5)

For many years, New Testament scholars have debated how best to translate those last few words. The problem is that there is no verb in the Greek. Literally, it reads ‘Think this among yourselves which also in Christ Jesus.’ So is Paul telling the Philippians that they should have ‘the mind that was in Christ Jesus’ – the mind that they see reflected in the way in which he behaved?28 Or is he talking about the mind which they, the members of his body, already possess, by virtue of the fact that they are ‘in Christ’? As so often, when confronted with an either/or, the answer may be ‘both’!29 The hymn tells us about what Christ himself did. But Paul’s appeal is based on the assumption that those who are ‘in Christ’ ought to share his mind, his attitudes, his love and concern for others. The Revised English Bible’s translation attempts to convey this ambiguity: ‘Take to heart among yourselves what you find in Christ Jesus.’

At the conclusion of the hymn, he writes, ‘therefore, my beloved, . . . work out your own salvation’ (Philippians 2.12). Working out their salvation clearly means living out the gospel in their lives – not just as individuals, but as a community. It means ‘being in full accord and of one mind’, and ‘doing nothing from selfish ambition or conceit’. But this is not something they do in their own strength, for it is in fact God, Paul reminds them, who is at work in them (v. 13). Nor, indeed, is it simply a matter of their own salvation, since the result will be that they will shine like stars in a dark world – a light to others (v. 15).30

      Paul’s mission

Philippians was written by Paul towards the end of his ministry, when he was facing probable death, to Christians who had, he said, shared with him in the gospel from the day they had heard it.31 Though he may well be referring to the financial support which they have given him,32 he is surely thinking also of their assistance in spreading the gospel. In his letter, Paul not only reminds the Philippians of the gospel and its relevance for their lives, but reminds them, too, of his own ministry, which has been modelled on Christ’s self-giving;33 for this reason he urges them to imitate him.34 His purpose seems to be to ensure that his understanding of the gospel, and of the Christian community’s ministry, is passed on even after his death.35

Paul’s call to others to imitate him is based on the fact that he is himself the imitator of Christ.36 For the sake of the gospel, he has endured hunger, thirst, beatings, homelessness, slander, persecution.37 He is, he tells the Corinthians, ‘always carrying in the body the death of Jesus . . . always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake’. And so, he concludes, ‘death is at work in us, but life in you’ (2 Corinthians 4.10–12). Paul’s understanding of his apostolic role is that СКАЧАТЬ