The Family Business – Bible Study – Philippians 1: 3-6

Written by Dave Urbanski

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Did you grow up amid a “family business”?

When you think about it, most small businesses (and even big businesses) have their foundations in family. When one person starts a business and has a family, often sons and daughters and other relatives get involved and work for the family business. And it’s no surprise why: The owner of a family business can count on employees who are relatives to be particularly loyal, hard working, and in possession of a bigger vision than run-of-the-mill employees.

That’s because when you’re in the family — and the family business does well — you and every other family member benefits.

It was much the same for Jesus on earth. Growing up the son of a carpenter, Jesus most definitely learned his family’s business and helped his earthly father, Joseph, to succeed for the benefit of his earthly parents and siblings. But Jesus also was about the business of another family — the family of his Heavenly Father — which was about the spread of the gospel that would become the salvation of the world.

And just as it was for Jesus being about his father’s business, we believers in Jesus also must be about our savior’s business while we walk this planet. Some of us are students, others are employees, and still others are in charge of family businesses. But those statuses are secondary to our true vocation: Workers in our eternal family’s business established by Jesus Christ.

Pastor Scott offered us a great tip in this regard from John 5 after Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and was then accused of wrongdoing. Jesus’ response? “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” In other words, if we put our efforts into what we can see God already doing, we will have success. Indeed, that’s part of where the excitement of the Christian life dwells.

And what kind of workers are we in God’s “family business”? Well, Pastor Scott defined our vocations as “distributors of the gospel” — the Good News. We don’t “convert” anybody. We have no power to make anyone believe Jesus is the Son of God. No, all that power belongs to the Lord alone. All we have to do is plant the seeds of the gospel so that those who ARE ready to receive the words of life can do so and believe.

But have you noticed that despite our very limited responsibility here, being a “distributor” of the gospel is far from an easy task! Sharing the gospel with others can be HARD! Personal sin and needing an eternal savior is not something most folks are ready to hear — or want to hear. Evangelism is not viewed by non-Christians as a good thing. Christians who spread the word of Christ often are viewed as “holier than thou,” “close minded,” “judgmental,” and even “hateful” — hateful that we believe the words of Jesus, who made it clear that he is the only way to heaven. No other belief, no matter how sincere, will cut it. (Not the basis for winning popularity contests, is it?)

So while God is ultimately the one who changes folks’ hearts, the Lord wants to bring us along in partnership and speak his words to others so that they might believe. And no, it’s not an easy job — but man, what an exciting and adventurous job it can be! Think about it: Carve out some free time in your day and then ask God to lead you to others he wants to hear the gospel — and watch what happens. I know from personal experience that such a prayer is the world championship winner of affirmative answers from the Lord. And where will that lead you some random afternoon? Only the Lord knows! Perhaps it will end in conversations that never get off the ground because folks you meet aren’t interested in Jesus — but maybe you run into one person who is ready. And wow — such an encounter will be life changing, not only for the hearer, but also for you. That’s part of what an adventurous Christian life can be!

We know from last week’s opening study of Philippians that it was like that for Paul in his evangelistic efforts. Every encounter for him — Lydia, the jailor — was an opportunity to spread the gospel. 

And this past Sunday, we saw a bit more of Paul’s heart in verses 3 to 6: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

Here we see three attitudes that make our family business more effective: Thankfulness, joyfulness, and confidence.

Paul in this passage talks about remembering — and Pastor Scott reminded us that our memories may not so pleasant and create problems for us in the here and now. They can make us angry, sad, and anxious depending on what kinds of negative things we’ve gone through. But Paul had what Pastor Scott called a “selective memory.” Paul certainly had some painful memories of his own to deal with, but still he made a decision to thank God amid his memories. Thankfulness and gratitude, as we’ve been learning, are key processes on the way toward spiritual health. Paul CHOSE to remember thankfulness and gratitude; and only the Lord knows how many things we could name on a gratitude list if we placed pen to paper. (Speaking of — what’s stopping you from making that list right now?)

Paul follows that with the second crucial attitude: Joyfulness. As we were reminded of last week, joy is much deeper than happiness because joy can happen no matter how difficult our present circumstances are. Let us, therefore, focus on joy as we express our gratitude for how much the Lord has given us.
Third up is confidence. There’s nothing wrong with having confidence in yourself — but watch out! If you become too “successful” in the process, you might begin to think, “What’s the point of God when I can do it all on my own?” And of course, none of us can go through life that way. Instead we must learn the humility of getting out of the way and letting Christ’s light shine. But Paul was confident solely in the Lord: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Such an attitude produces hope — the idea that none of us are “done” while living on earth. Yet God knows all of this is working within us and will give us opportunities to grow.

Pastor Scott also pointed out the “God factor” in each of the three attitudes (thankfulness, joyfulness, confidence). Each is based in what the Lord can do through us. So if you’re discouraged today about anything falling under this umbrella (finances, work, etc.) then we must always come back to the idea that each of us is in possession of a partnership in the gospel with the Lord. And then when we get together as a church body — watch out! When we’re actually being the church, great things can happen. The kind of genuine “real church” stuff that leads to growth and service and actually being the people of God.

Who doesn’t know Ephesians 2:10? “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” That potential block of free time you can spend spreading the gospel. How great is it that the Lord already knows about “your idea” and is setting up every encounter for you in advance! 

Indeed, God is at work — and all we must do as workers in his “family business” is follow his lead.