站立得稳
有时候，基督徒看起来有点摇摆，有些人对此强烈批评。在某些情况下，由于担心“文化战争”给教会带来麻烦，一些基督徒敦促人们参与强硬的政治活动，以达到他们的目的。
不要搞错了：保罗告诉腓立比信徒要站立得稳，不要在福音上妥协。我们需要面对敌人，但我们要用与福音、与耶稣相称的方式去面对他们，耶稣乃是甘愿受苦，而不是以怒气抨击。“凡事不怕敌人的惊吓，”保罗说，实际上是说：“没有确信的人才会害怕。但如果我们确信，我们已经在耶稣里赢得了胜利，就没有什么可惧怕的，而我们的确信会向敌人证明，他们已经失败了！”
腓立比书这些经文带来的挑战令人畏缩。在罗马帝国统治下，对教会的敌视已成为国家政策。对于保罗的首批读者来说，要做到不惧怕是很难的。没有人想要苦难，然而保罗说腓立比会众“蒙恩”受苦，就好像这是一个恩赐。
这就是保罗看待苦难的方式。为耶稣受苦，并且像耶稣 – 没错，这是个恩赐。比起我们因惧怕而把苦难加给他人，这会帮助世界更清晰地看见耶稣。
神啊，求祢增加我们对祢的信心，好使我们在逆境中站立得稳，并向世界展现出我们在祢里面确实的信心。奉基督的名祷告，阿们。
腓立比书 1:27-30
27 只要你们行事为人与基督的福音相称，叫我或来见你们，或不在你们那里，可以听见你们的景况，知道你们同有一个心志，站立得稳，为所信的福音齐心努力，
28 凡事不怕敌人的惊吓，这是证明他们沉沦、你们得救，都是出于神。
29 因为你们蒙恩，不但得以信服基督，并要为他受苦。
30 你们的争战，就与你们在我身上从前所看见、现在所听见的一样。
Standing Firm
"Stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you." — Philippians 1:27-28
Sometimes Christians appear a little shaky. Some lash out at critics. In some cases, because of fears that a “culture war” might cause trouble for the church, some Christians urge people to engage in hardball politics to try to get their way.
Make no mistake: Paul tells the Philippians to stand firm and not to compromise the gospel. We have enemies to face. But we have to face them in a way that is consistent with the gospel and with Jesus, who willingly suffered rather than lash out in anger. “Don’t be scared of those who oppose you,” Paul says, in effect; “fear is for uncertain people. But if we are certain that we have already won the victory in Jesus, then we have nothing to fear, and our confidence proves to our enemies that they have already lost!”
These verses from Philippians deliver a daunting challenge. For Paul’s first readers, this was not easy to do in the Roman Empire, where hostility toward the church became state policy. Nobody would want to suffer. Yet Paul says that suffering was “granted” to the Philippians, as though it was a gift.
That’s the way Paul saw it. To suffer for Jesus and like Jesus— well, that’s a gift. And it helps the world see Jesus more clearly than if we try to inflict suffering on others because of our fears.
Increase our confidence in you, O God, so that we can stand firm in adversity and display to the world the certainty of our faith in you. In Christ, Amen.
诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳
编辑进度:
发布时间:
繁體版:
Line:
栏目:
机构:
作者: