Who Are You Living For?

I recently came across the story of a young man named Ray Anthony Jackson.

When he was born, his fifteen-year-old mother was unable to pay the hospital bill. Desperate for help, she called a family friend who happened to be a military veteran.

He agreed to sign the paperwork as the child's father so the bill could be covered.

After that day, he disappeared from their lives.

Years later, when Ray was in high school, he finally met the man whose last name he carried. He thanked him for what he had done and made him a promise:

"One day, I'm going to make your name famous."

Today we know him as Ray Lewis Jr. The great American football player.

That story immediately made me think about Philippians 2.

As followers of Jesus, our calling is remarkably similar. We have been given His name, and now our lives are meant to make His name famous.

Paul begins Philippians 2 with an important challenge. He writes, "If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy..." At first glance, it sounds like he's asking a series of questions.

But Paul's point is much deeper.

He's saying, "If you've truly experienced Jesus, then your life should reflect Him."

The encouragement you've received should become encouragement you give away.

The compassion you've experienced should become compassion you extend.

The comfort God has shown you should become the comfort others experience through you.

We can only reflect what we have first received.

Jesus isn't simply someone we believe in. He's the pattern we follow. As we walk with Him, His attitudes begin to shape our attitudes, and His actions begin to shape our actions.

One of my favorite pictures of this is the Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.

On a calm day, the water becomes like glass, reflecting either the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument. The pool doesn't improve those monuments.

It doesn't add anything to them. It simply reflects what is already there.

That's exactly what our lives are meant to do.

We cannot make Jesus more glorious than He already is. But we can reflect His glory so that an invisible Savior becomes visible through our attitudes, our compassion, our generosity, and the way we treat people. The world catches glimpses of Christ through His people.

Paul then shifts his attention to something he returns to repeatedly throughout Philippians: unity.

The church in Philippi had been incredibly generous toward Paul, supporting him while he was imprisoned in Rome. But alongside their generosity, signs of division had begun to emerge within the church. Before addressing the conflict directly later in the letter, Paul lays the theological foundation for unity.

I love the way I think about it:

Unity isn't something the church creates. It's something the church protects.

The Holy Spirit has already united us through the gospel. Our responsibility is to guard what God has already established. That's very different from uniformity. Uniformity pressures everyone to become the same from the outside. Unity transforms people from the inside through the work of the Holy Spirit.

While waiting in an airport in Ethiopia, I learned a proverb that has stayed with me:

"Threads united can tie even a lion." One thread seems insignificant. But weave enough threads together, and they become incredibly strong.

The same is true of the church.

The enemy may prowl around like a roaring lion, but when God's people come together around the gospel, united by the Holy Spirit and committed to one mission, there is incredible spiritual strength. Communities change. Families heal. Strongholds are broken. That's the power of biblical unity.

Of course, unity doesn't happen accidentally.

Paul tells us exactly what threatens it: selfish ambition and vain conceit.

One seeks position.

The other seeks praise.

Both are simply different expressions of pride.

Pride always damages our relationships. It weakens our relationship with God, distorts how we see ourselves, and creates division with others. That's why Paul offers a completely different path.

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others more significant than yourselves."

Humility isn't weakness.

Humility is a daily choice.

It's choosing the lower place instead of demanding the higher one. It's holding influence loosely. It's becoming more concerned with serving than being noticed. And ultimately, it's choosing "we" over "me."

One illustration that beautifully captures this comes from Africa's famous baobab tree.

It's often called the "Tree of Life" because nearly every part of it benefits someone else. Its fruit provides food. Its bark supplies fiber. Its trunk offers shelter. Entire communities often gather around it because of how much life it gives away.

That's a wonderful picture of Christian humility.

A humble life is useful to others.

• It's considerate.

• It's service-oriented.

• It's constantly asking, "How can I help someone else flourish?"

Paul concludes this section by inviting believers to completely rethink the way they value people.

The word he uses for "consider" is actually an accounting term. It means to calculate... and then calculate again. Reevaluate. Run the numbers a second time.

When we truly experience the gospel, Jesus continually teaches us to reassess the worth of the people around us. We begin seeing people differently—not because they've changed, but because our hearts have.

Every person bears the image of God.

Every person is worthy of honor.

Even when honoring someone is difficult, we can honor the position they hold, the dignity they possess, or the image of God they carry. The gospel trains us to see people through the eyes of Jesus instead of through the lens of pride.

Imagine what would happen if the church actually lived this way.

Imagine a community known for reflecting Christ instead of promoting itself.

A community marked by unity instead of division.

A community where humility consistently wins over pride.

A community where people are honored, valued, and served because they bear the image of God.

I think Paul already knew the answer.

The name of Jesus would become famous.

And that's exactly what our lives were designed to do.