The signs are there but no one is exactly sure what to do. When assembly meetings conclude, nearly everyone leaves. Even if there is a break between meetings, only a few gather to chat while many sit looking at their phones, waiting for the next meeting to begin. When it does, we read between the lines of a brother’s sermon, attempting to discover whom he is targeting. Sadly, the pulpit has been turned into an opportunity to air grievances. The Lord’s Supper is filled with long pauses for lack of preparation. Hardly anything fresh is shared in worship about the Lord Jesus. Attendance at prayer meetings is poor. It’s hard to meet to pray for one another when you’re not getting along. How can a local church be saved when such things are happening? Is it too late? Is there any hope?
Sometimes we think the answer lies outside. We invite a preacher from elsewhere to speak to us, but nothing changes. We might organize an emergency prayer meeting, and it makes things worse because our public petitions can be loaded with accusation and self-justification. As strange as it may sound, preaching or praying in and of itself is not the solution as to how a church can be saved. Thankfully, the apostle Paul addressed such a situation in his letter to the Philippians. A disagreement between sisters threatened the unity of the assembly (Php 4:2). He warned the believers about selfish ambition and conceit (2:3), about grumblings and disputes (2:14). And he told the assembly, although not in as serious a situation as articulated in this article, that they were to “work out [their] own salvation with fear and trembling” (2:12 KJV). The context suggests that he was referring to the salvation (or preservation) of the assembly, which was being threatened by internal division, however small that might have been.
How were the Philippian believers, and how are we today, able to save the local assembly from division and potential collapse? Paul tells us in his glorious Christological section preceding this exhortation. The answer lies in having the mind (attitude) of Christ. “In humility … treat one another as more important than yourself. Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others … have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had” (2:3-5 NET). So I treat that brother’s opinion as more valuable than mine. I place that sister’s need ahead of my own. I’m willing to be wronged. I refuse to retaliate. I don’t push for my way but adopt the mindset of Christ who took “the form of a servant, and … humbled himself” (2:7-8).
If such an answer sounds unattainable, Paul adds this encouragement: “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (2:13 ESV). We need not necessarily look outside our own assemblies for help. The God who saved us, who brought us together, who led us to gather as a local church is in us, able to work to accomplish His will if we yield to Him. The way to save your church is not through preaching or praying or praising, but by practicing the mindset of Christ. And even if you’re the only person who does, that’s a good place to start.
