Surely we know better!

Philippians 2
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out[3] the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

21For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.


Paul, demonstrating the maturity of his faith by considering the needs of this young church in Philippi even as he sits in a jail cell chained to a Roman guard says, "Do as I do! Live lives that are outward-focused." Consider Jesus who did not consider equality with God as something to be held onto, but he left it all behind to bring all of us with him. That's outward-focused living! That's being others-minded! Jesus said, "Go make disciples of all nations." He didn't say gather your friends, build a club or fortress that serves your own needs and to hell with the rest of the world. That was the problem with the people of Babel. God told them to go forth and multiply and move out into all the world. Instead, they decided to hangout, drink a bud, and build this great tower into the heavenlies. I wonder what they thought God was going to say when they got up there? Did they think he would rescind his command because they obviously came up with something bigger, better, and certainly more impressive than God's stupid idea of leaving the comforts of home and their friends to go and populate the earth? "Surely we know better than God!" Sounds like something I said about my parents at the age of 16, with all of my wisdom.