Intent on One Purpose

2:2 make my joy complete by being ... intent on one purpose

Here are the four parts to Paul’s exhortation to unity in verse two:

1- be of the same mind

2- maintain the same love

3- be united in spirit

4- be intent on one purpose

Today we will focus on Paul’s fourth and final exhortation: to be intent on one purpose.

If Christians are supposed to be united by one goal/purpose, what is the goal/purpose that is supposed to unite us? As a matter of fact, Paul has just been discussing the goal of the Christian’s life. He said in 1:21 "For to me, to live is Christ" and in 1:27 "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ." The shared goal that is supposed to unify Christians is living for the sake of Christ, intent on the purpose of representing Him in this world. It is the same purpose that Jesus said should be first: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness..."

Here we have one of the great explanations as to why the church is so rife with conflicts today: Christians are living for themselves instead of living for Christ. If Christ was our goal, we would have unity. Our self-interest tears us apart:

"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:1-4)

To the extent that Christians are seeking their own worldly pleasures in this life, to that extent the body of Christ will be disunified. What is needed is not negotiation or putting aside doctrinal differences. What is needed is repentance and putting aside worldly ambitions and desires. The more Christians there are who say daily, "I am going to live my life for Christ; this world has nothing to offer me!" the closer we will be to unity in the church. Real Biblical unity, the kind that Paul is pressing for here, is based on godliness and righteousness and truth, not blind toleration of what anyone does in the name of Christ. There will never be unity between those who live for Christ and those who live for themselves. There shouldn’t be. Unity comes from being "intent on one purpose."

O great Head of the church, revive your people! Shake us and wake us by the operation of Your Holy Spirit. Show us that all the world’s pleasures are fleeting and empty. Open our eyes to the beauty and the weightiness of Your glory. Infuse the hearts of your people with a holy passion to live for You. Then and only then, O Lord, will Your people enjoy real unity. Then they will rise up as one man and say to the world, "Our God reigns!" And Lord, start here with me. May my life be a spark that gets a fire going.