Philippians 1:3-6 and sometimes through 8 has appeared below my signature on more letters than I care to admit. It has been my signature verse for decades.
As you can easily see it lends itself to such use. Paul, wants to let the Christians in Philippi know they are special to him and an essential part of his ministry. That is much of the reason why I first started using it as a signature verse in my own ministry and later private correspondence. Little by little it began to take on a significance bigger that the subject matter of some of those letters.
You see, I wanted the recipients of my letter to feel that I not only liked them but appreciated them as well . . . . so much so that whenever they came into my thoughts I paused and thanked God for their roll in my life and ministry.
I also wanted them to know that I believed God had bigger and better things for their lives. It allowed mt to say that while they were not perfect God was not finished with them and that He was still working in them as well as myself to bring us to the place where He wanted us to be.
However, somewhere along the way I found myself not only penning those words but practicing them as well. It was when I made this passage an actual practice in my life I began to experience a new kind of relationship with God and also with the brethren.
By temperament I have never been a person to hold on to a grudge or an offense. But I also was not a person to take criticism laying down. I have kept a journal since my college days when Dr. Al Collins suggested it was a good idea. I did it so I could have the facts of every interaction at my finger tips. This too has been a valuable practice, but I digress.
The problem with my signature verse was that I didn’t actually do it. I just used it so people would think that’s what I did and because I had noticed that other pastors had made it their practice. However, somewhere along the way I started to practice what I had been saying I was doing but was not.
In the beginning I prayed prayers of thanksgiving for the lives of the people who I loved (family) and who I believed liked me. In short it was all about family, friends and colleagues. This proved to be easy since I wasn’t writing a lot of letters in the early years of ministry. After all, I was something of a novice in those days. It also proved to be a great tool for helping me focus on this group of people in a different way. Little by little the passage was beginning to grip my life and effecting the way I related to people in general.
I discovered that the passage had gone from being a simple signature sentiment to becoming a part of who I am. Actually doing it was changing my life.
It was about this same time that I was discovering a side of ministry no one tells you about. I don’t know whether it is a sense of idealism, over-confidence but I never realized how intense opposition in ministry can become. Early in my ministry I had an incident in which a couple of deacons had been conniving to effect my resignation. I discovered their activities on the night before I left to go to Alabama to preach a revival meeting. I remember telling the Chairman of our Deacons he’d just have to handle it without me as I had been working and praying about this meeting for weeks and would not cancel it because of two disgruntled deacons. I remember telling him, “M.A., I have all the confidence in the world in your judgement and I will let you handle it and know that whatever you decide I will honor.” For some reason I then suggested a prayer and I literally prayer Philippians 1:3-8.
When I returned from that meeting all was well. That was the first time I remember praying for God to bless people who opposed me and intended harm to me and through me my family. It also marks the very moment when I learned the power in Jesus’ statement, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; . . . .” (Matthew 5:44).
As I thought on the instruction to pray for my enemies I realized that my enemies would rarely come from outside the body of Christ. They would be members of the congregation who for reasons sometimes they themselves did not understand would make accusations that were not true; they would turn differences of opinion into personal attacks; occasionally a false sense of what the Lord wanted done; and, in some cases fear of losing power or control.
As a Baptist I knew that in small to mid-size church there seemed to be only two kinds of pastors. Those who had been fired and those where were going to be fired. I also know most young ministers like myself would have to wade through this early ministry risk pool until we reached a stable and mature congregation. I have counseled and known fine men who were competent preachers who were destroyed as they sought to defend themselves against innuendo and outright slander.
This group became the perfect candidates for me to include in practicing my signature verse. As I made the signature verse the pattern for my prayer life I found myself able to thank God for the support those people had given to the ministry . . .my ministry; to express gratitude for their roll in shaping my faith; and for challenging my integrity.
It was at that moment in Kilgore, Texas out behind the old Fellowship Hall with M.A. Smith God brought to my mind a verse from Exodus 14:14 where He promised Israel that “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” I intuitive became aware that God had called me to “preach the Gospel” not battle the saints even when they wanted to battle me.
Of course letting the Lord fight the battle did not exclude speaking to, praying with and praying for those who meant me or my family harm. That was how I could know if there was any validity to their charges and/or accusations. In every case I learned something and the biggest thing was that if I let the Lord fight the battle He would deliver me from my enemies. Every time, including the most hurtful experiences, when it was all said and done I prospered (validation) and those who opposed me suffered loss.
If we who are the called out ones of the Lord would only learn to let the Lord fight our battles more of these disputes would resolve in a better way . . . . His way.
I need to point out one additional fact: I have been delivered from the anger, bitterness, and resentment that comes from being harmed as I have been enabled to forgive and deal constructively with both friend and foe.
For me Philippians 1-3-8 became more than I signature verse . . . it became a practice of life. I found it has enabled me to be faithful to my calling and it opened the door to allowing the Lord to fight my battles. I must tell you that is easier to say than to consistently practice Indeed it runs contrary to my natural impulses. Oh, it was always easy to practice this with those who supported my efforts . . . it was those who didn't support our efforts that gave me difficulty.
So for those who know me and who have asked me the secret . . . well now you know how it came about in my life. It has been said that "practice makes perfect" and that is certainly true in this case. But, thanking God for and asking God finish the work in both those who supported me and those who opposed me brought me significant freedom to act.
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