This passage seems to interrupt Paul's spiritual instruction in order to introduce two men who will visit the Philippians shortly. The Philippians already know both of these men, so Paul is not introducing them; rather, he is recommending them as models to imitate. This is a specific example of what he exhorts them to do more generally later in Philippians 3:17. These passages imply a relationship between spiritual maturity and modeling.
Imitating competent models is an essential form of learning any complex skill or quality. When my father was teaching me to drive, he not only verbally instructed me before and while I was driving; he also made me watch him closely while he drove and had me tell him about the things I noticed. The latter was just as important as the former.
Of course you can misapply this principle.
The Bible urges us to observe and imitate people who are Christ-like and possess godly character (see 1 Corinthians 11:1 and Philippians 2:5).
You can also practice godliness imitation humanistically, by simply applying your moral will-power. It is God who transforms our characters through His Spirit (Philippians 2:13), and our responsibility is primarily to depend on and cooperate with His Spirit's transforming initiative. But God provides us with access to human models of godliness, and His Spirit transforms us as we practice what Paul writes in Philippians 3:17.
Timothy and Epaphroditus are godly models, whom Paul urges the Philippians, and even us today, to observe and follow, and to model to others in four specific features of godly character:
Read Philippians 2:19-24. Timothy was a member of Paul's church-planting team. He was from south-central Turkey, and he was with Paul when he first came to Philippi and started this church. He was much younger than Paul, as their relationship in Scripture was depicted to be similar to a father and son. Yet Timothy had become a godly man, in part by imitating Paul (see 2 Timothy 3:10-12a). Now the Philippians, and us, can become more godly by imitating Timothy in two ways:
The first way is to practice genuine concern for other Christians' spiritual welfare (see Philippians 2:20). Timothy is Paul's "kindred spirit" in this regard. When Paul describes this character quality elsewhere, he likens it to the concern that good parents have for their own children's welfare (see 1 Thessalonians 2:7-12). Good parents do not hover over or spoil their children, but they are deeply concerned for their safety, nourishment, and character development, and they make sacrifices to provide for these needs. This is Jesus' attitude toward all of His children (Philippians 2:21b), this is the attitude Paul modeled to the Philippians, this is the attitude Timothy had toward them, and this is the attitude he wants all of them to learn from Timothy.
What is implicit Paul makes explicit in 2:21 – many true Christians do not have this attitude. The rest of the Christians Paul was with were preoccupied with their own interests. It is not clear who the "all" is in this passage – maybe he had already sent the other members of his team elsewhere to work on other tasks. If so, it was a big sacrifice for Paul to send Timothy, but he made it because of his own concern for their welfare. It is also slightly unclear as to what "their own interests" were. Perhaps they were legitimate in themselves – family, work, leisurely activities, community involvement, or even fellowship, but their orientation was self-centered, leaving no room for intentional, consistent, and creative other-centered concern (re-read 2:3-4).
Tragically, much American Christianity actually promotes self-serving spirituality. Meaning, a form of spirituality that focuses inordinately on personal well-being but leaves out this kind of other-centered concern. Paul says that this is the goal of Christian spirituality (see 1 Timothy 1:5). An example of this:
Years ago, a girl, who was raised in this superficial kind of Christianity became involved in our church. She seemed to really be perplexed and processing a lot about our church culture. One day, she said to me, “Now I see what you are trying to do. You are trying to teach people how to live a lifestyle based on love. I never understood that was the goal of being a Christian. I thought it was to live a nice, quiet life, have a stable job, be nice to others, and have a family.”
This girl grew up experiencing what she thought Christianity should be like but gradually began to internalize that it is not just about how your life looks; it is about the love of Jesus permeating all you are and all you do.
Is your spirituality a means to polite and socially acceptable self-advancement, or is it a supernatural way of life that develops you to be genuinely concerned for one another's welfare?
By God's grace, the church as a whole has many "Timothy's" – people who work at full-time jobs, raise families, care for aged parents, etc. – and also genuinely care for the spiritual welfare of the brothers and sisters in their faith communities, and even beyond. They are by far our most precious human resource!
Do you know any of these people? Do you observe them and allow God to motivate you through them? They tend to be much more joyous than people who care mainly about their own interests. Do you ask God to enable you to model this to others – or do you say: "I'm glad you do this for us, but I do not want to learn to live this way?"
The second way to imitate Timothy’s godly character is through service in furthering the gospel (2:22). This means that Timothy not only cares about Christians' spiritual welfare, but he also cares about non-Christians' spiritual welfare, and he demonstrates this concern by communicating the gospel to them.
"Gospel" means good news. It is good news that God loves us and wants to have a loving relationship with us. It is good news that He sent Jesus to pay the penalty for all of our sins that separate us from God. It is good news that we need only receive Jesus in order to be permanently forgiven and be reconciled to God.
Have you responded to this good news? Once we understand the goodness of this news, it is easy to understand why God wants us to further this good news to others!
This is the fourth time Paul has emphasized this priority so far – first by commending them (1:5), then by sharing his example (1:12-18), then by encouraging them (2:14-18), and now by pointing out Timothy's Christlike example.
Which is more important – a few gifted preachers and extroverts who like talking to strangers, or many ordinary people who share Christ in their small spheres of influence throughout their daily lives?
Paul was one of the former, but not Timothy. Timothy was not a bold preacher or one to blatantly call people out on their sins – he evidently wrestled with fear and timidity like many of us (see 1 Corinthians 16:10 and 2 Timothy. 1:7). Yet he allowed God to work His concern for lost people into his heart, and he shared his faith with people in alignment with his own personality, abilities, and opportunities. He was a model that most of the Philippians could imitate.
By God's grace, many believers across the world already live this love-oriented lifestyle toward their neighbors, coworkers, and communities – praying regularly for God-given opportunities to share about Jesus when given an opportunity and serving them according to the ways God has gifted them.
How do you respond to these models? Have your hearts become numb and you feel uncomfortable about their zeal? Or do you observe them closely and let God motivate you through them, asking God to enable you to model this to others?
Read 2:25-30. Epaphroditus was from the church in Philippi. He was the courier of their monetary gift to Paul, and he is now the courier of this letter to them. Paul says we should "hold people like him in high regard" (2:29). What is it about him that we should imitate?
The first thing we should learn to imitate is serving with other teammates by being a fellow worker and fellow soldier for God’s kingdom. Epaphroditus probably learned this from Paul's example. Paul was extremely gifted and very tough, but he always worked with a team. The only times Paul would be doing work alone was if there was no other choice and if the spiritual needs of others required it (see 1 Thessalonians 3:1).
Teamwork takes a lot of work. It requires mutual submission, healthy accountability, taking time to build trust, learning to healthily resolve conflict, and lots of ego-subordination. Maybe that is why many sincerely committed Christian workers in the American church tend to operate on their own, in conformity to the culture's radical individualism. To an extent, this can be valued as more efficient. However, this comes with a high price – needless burnout, inferior ministry fruit, and sometimes even terrible scandals that disgrace Jesus and His church .
One of the great strengths that a church can have is a sense of team-ministry – elders working as a team, church leaders working together, ministry team leaders collaborating well, and so on. As a family and community of believers, we ought to value effectiveness over efficiency – and effectiveness comes through teamwork. Many leaders could go off on their own, and many might be tempted to do just this; but we realize we are far stronger, safer, and more effective when we work as teammates.
If you are involved in a church community, you have access to models of this attitude and lifestyle. Do you value them? Do you observe them? Do you ask them why they are committed to this way of living and working? Do you ask them for feedback on how you can become a better teammate?
The second thing we can learn to imitate from Epaphroditus is how to sacrifice in order to help other Christian workers and ministries (2:29-30). Epaphroditus volunteered to take a long and dangerous trip so that Paul could afford rented quarters during his house-arrest and carry on his ministry while he awaited trial (see Acts 28:30-31). Epaphroditus evidently got sick during this trip, and almost died before he recovered. Paul calls this "the work of Christ," and he calls Epaphroditus' willingness to risk his life in this work something they should hold in high regard and emulate.
Genuine concern for other Christians should extend beyond our immediate circles to sacrificially help other Christians to advance in their ministries: this can include financially supporting them, praying for them, encouraging them, advising them, and so on. This might look like prayer meetings, service work abroad, financially supporting workers abroad and other global partners, serving on short-term trips, hosting Bible studies, and so much more. These all involve sacrifice; Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:3 to be like a soldier for Christ and join him in suffering.
When English citizens complained about sacrifices during the Nazi blitz, the common response to explain the necessity of those sacrifices was: "There's a war on." These sacrifices must be made so that other workers get the support they need to carry on. And it is worth it because the Lord provides for us, and will eventually take us home forever when the war is over, which will more than make up for whatever sacrifices we made in this life!
We have many great models of this way of life. People who work full-time jobs, raise their families, reach out to their neighbors, serve in their churches, all while making many sacrifices to help other Christian workers and ministries stay in the battle. How do you respond to them? Do you observe them and allow God to motivate you, or do you constantly worry about "doing too much" when you are not really tempted to that extreme? Do you ask God to enable you to model this to others, like your children, or do you urge your children to follow our culture's model of sacrificing for worldly goals? Remember: This is not the path to misery – this is the path to real joy (2:19-20)!
