Everything's Possible - Day 2

Philippians 1:1 This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus.
I am writing to all of God’s holy people in Philippi who belong to Christ Jesus, including the church leaders and deacons.

2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Yesterday, we did a lot of the background work for this little letter, but today, I’d like to jump into the exegesis of this text a bit more so that we can understand all of the nuances in Paul’s writing. Paul was very good at the Greek in which he wrote, so paying close attention is important. 

First and foremost, we see that the letter is written by Paul and Timothy, his frequent travel companion. Timothy is a half-Jewish believer who met Paul in Lystra (Acts 16:1) and worked closely with him in his ministry. Timothy becomes like a son to Paul (1 Timothy 1:2). 

In this letter, like in the letter to Rome and the book of Titus, Paul does not refer to himself as an Apostle but rather as a doulos or “Slave.” Actually, the word “bondservant” is probably the best translation of this word. It is a “slave” or someone bound to another, in this case to God, but it is not a slave by compulsion, but by choice. This word, actually coming from the Hebrew, would have been well known to the Philippians; it would have been used to translate the term “servant of Yahweh,” the “slave” of the Lord. It carried a sense of distance and dependence on God while at the same time being a bit of an honorific title for those in special service to God. 

This connotation worked in Paul’s usage as he and Timothy are “slaves” of Christ Jesus, bound to him as a slave would be bound to a master, and also servants, choosing to serve the Lord. 

But then he addresses those to whom he is writing. In this translation, we see it as “church leaders and deacons.” Some translations have it as “saints,” which is a carrying forward of an Old Testament term used to designate Israel and was used by New Testament writers to connote those in the church. “God’s holy people” is a proper and succinct translation, so I am glad the NLT translates it this way. After greeting the church folk, he greets the church leaders or overseers. There are a few interesting things about this. 1) This greeting is plural, so it does not seem there was one person who was leading the church, but rather a group of people. And 2) They greet these leaders after they greet these church people and never really mention the leaders again. Perhaps this is due to his familiarity with the church itself or that this letter was always meant for all of the people in the church, not a single leader or even a group of leaders. 

There is more to unpack in these first few sentences, but we should move on at this point. However, I will suffice it to say that he greets these church members and these overseers of the church with a two-fold greeting that holds both the Greek and the Hebrew meaning: Grace to you and Peace. (Charis and Shalom).  And of course, this grace and peace comes to us from Christ Jesus, our Lord, and his Father, who was pleased to express his fullness in his son. 

1. Would you consider yourself an overseer of the church, a member, or a visitor? 
2. Why did you pick the one that you did pick? 
3. How can you move into more leadership in the church? I am sure that any church you attend can always use more help!