-Orginally posted on 5/12/2005
I have been grappling with Philippians 2:1-11 for some time now. Paul has set before us the attitude, or mind set (phroneite) of Jesus Christ which we, as believers, are commanded to have. This attitude is not one of selfishness or empty-conceit, but of humility (v.4). Then in verse 4 Paul says, “do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. (NASB)” The NIV reads, “Each of you should look not only (emphasis is mine) to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” This verse is the principle statement for the practical illustration Paul uses in verses 5-11 of the attitude of Jesus Christ. The question then is why have our English versions placed the adverb “merely” or “only” in the text when it isn’t there in the Greek? The adverb monos does not appear in the Greek text; it literally reads, Let each of you not look to your own interests, but to the interests of others. This little addition changes the meaning of the text. By adding “merely” or “only” we are in essence saying, “Look out for your own interests but don’t forget the interests of others.” This seems to be inconsistent with the rest of the passage.
In Dr. Dennis Kinlaw’s book, The Mind of Christ, he address this issue in Philippians 2:4. He believes the reason the adverb is added is, “Because we twentieth-century Christians don’t believe the Lord can deliver us from self-interest, so we insert our assumptions into Scripture. (101)” What would a society look like if its citizens lived without “self-interest”? We are living in a society where Social-Darwinism is the philosophical paradigm. In other words, grab all you can get for yourself, because only the strong survive. This runs counter-culture to the rejectable, humble, incarnate Lord Jesus Christ, “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (2:6-7)” Do we truly believe that we can live without self-interest?
Ron,
As this blog has already archived, this may be a futile response, but you got me thinking, and I had to do some research.
Let me start by saying this. To live like Christ is to live for others. Christ was selfless in nature, and thus we should be too.
Also, we are a sinfully selfish nation, and sinfully selfish world.
In regards to the scripture you referenced.
According to Young’s literal translation, it says: “each not to your own look ye, but each also to the things of others.”
So then I have to translate Young’s, and I get this.:
“Look not to your own things…” Matt’s uneducated translation
If we stop and look at that, it would seem that we are to have no self-interest.
If I translate the rest of the verse, however, it says this:
“Look not to your own things, but also to the things of others.”
What I grapple with is how can you look “also” to the things of others, if you have absolutely no self interest?
I agree 100% that the adverb chosen, for whatever reason, was a poor choice. Merely suggest that our own interest may outweigh an interest for others. It could be perceived as meaning that after we are satisfied with our own selfishness, then we should worry about others. However it is taken, it does suggest that we are to look at for ourselves first, and then others.
If Young’s is at all accurate (as I can’t read the original text), it would seem to me that it tells us not to look out for our own interest, but also the interest of others. So in that case the first emphasis is away from self, and then toward others. One could also say that it implies to consider others better than yourself (humility); or even just to consider other before yourself. The word “also” implies that we are to look out for our own interest too though doesn’t it? I don’t know?
As far as a total denial of self-interest, I don’t believe that we can, nor are we really supposed to have no self-interest. We are to place others before ourselves, but not totally reject our own desires.
How far do you go in the concept of no self-interest, and where is the balance?
In my Crown Financial teaching I take people through what the Bible has to say about investing, and saving. I will give you a few of these examples for my reasoning.
Unless otherwise noted, these are all KJV scriptures.
Genesis 41:34-36 “34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.
35And let them gather all the food of those good years that come, and lay up corn under the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities.
36And that food shall be for store to the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; that the land perish not through the famine.”
This shows that we are to have some self-interest so that we don’t starve. This is actually a lesson the storing of surplus. If we truly had not self-interest we would not eat until there was no one left to go hungry, and if anyone went hungry it would be us. (I will get into greed, and what God says about sharing in a second).
Proverbs 21:20 “20There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.”
Now, I realize that this is telling us not to be foolish in “spending” all that we get, but again, it says that the wise desire treasure, and save oil.
Proverbs 30:25 “25The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer”
Again we see that even the ants know to store food.
Now let’s talk about selfishness.
Luke 12:16-21, 34 “16And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
34 – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Then what I would teach a student would be what is a spiritually acceptable goal for saving. We see this in the following scripture that we should save so that we can provide, not only for ourselves, but others.
1 Timothy 5:8 “8But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”
So here we see that to deny yourself or your family then you deny faith. Although it does say “especially of those of his own house, so we are again told to place others in front of ourselves.
1 Timothy 6:9 teaches us that it is wrong to save for the purpose of getting rich.
There are righteous desires, and unrighteous desires. While we are to put others first, we are not taught to deny, or flee from unrighteous desires. Some desires that we have, God gives us.
When Salomon asked for wisdom, when he could have asked for long life for his children, or he could have asked for something for others, God applauded his request because it was righteous, even though it was something of self-interest. (I know that it could be argued that he wanted wisdom so that he could help others, but he didn’t ask God to give others wisdom)
Well, this post is getting too long to retain the interest of most readers, so I will wrap it up.
We are taught throughout scripture that we are to live for others, and place others first. After we place other before ourselves, I don’t think that we are told that we can’t have self-interest. We just need to determine what is good self-interest, and what is wrong.
A total existence without any self-interest is not only impossible, as we would soon die from starvation, I can’t find any scripture to back up a total denial of self-interest. I am speaking physical and mental self-interest though, not spiritual. I think the Bible is clear that we need to totally deny the flesh, and accept the Spirit, but that is another topic for another day.
Thank for the intrigue Ron,
-Matt Gaiser
Matt,
Thank you for grappling with the text. You are asking very good questions. I too have struggled with this text. But don’t miss the issue at hand.
Paul is in prison and is writing a church to encourage them. Sounds pretty selfless to me. He talks about his desire to go to heaven rather than continue with the earthly ministry (1:21-30), sounds pretty selfless to me. He talks of Christ, as our example, pouring HImslef out on the behalf of others…to the point of death, sounds pretty selfless to me. The is a definite contrast in the Greek text in 2:3 and 2:11. In 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit (kenodoxia- “vainglory”, “empty praise”), but in humility let each of you regard one another as more important than himself”. This word is the motivation of a selfish person, but it also reflects the reality that in God’s eyes it means nothing. In 2:5 we are given a command to have the same attitude of Jesus Christ then we are given His motivation…”others”. This illustration of Jesus is climaxed by the the fact that it brings “glory” to God. “Glory” is “doxia” in Greek. Notice the spelling keno-doxia vs. doxia. When we are motivated by our own interests we have empty glory, when we are motivated by the Spirit of God we bring Him true glory.
This says nothing about survival of the physical. We are to eat, drink, etc. Jesus did that, right? Although he ministered even while hungary. Others were His motivation. What is our motivation in life? Keep reading Philippians 2:3-11, there is a paradigm for life here in this passage.