Odious and Soon-Touchy – Here is clear evidence of dissension in the Philippian church . . . so serious, perhaps that this breach among the community may have been the real reason for Paul’s writing. [1] Notice the sensitivity with which Paul handles this delicate situation—he affirms their value by recalling how have both have "struggled beside me in the work of the gospel." Paul names his friends and co-workers frequently, but rarely his enemies by name; such suggests that Paul viewed Euodias and Syntyche as friends and thus, could encourage these great Christians to work toward resolution.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! – What an interesting disposition of the writer—the continual reference to joy or its cognates. Such is how Paul chooses to view life! The paragraph also consists of a series of disconnected commands—gentleness, don’t worry, pray, think appropriately, do the right thing, etc.

Where’d He Get That? – The final appeal is to think virtuously. These virtues were certainly admired in the pagan world but not common in the NT writings; some of the vocabulary appear only once. So from whence comes this list? Has Paul happened upon waiting room literature? The conjectures are multiple; we simply don’t know where he comes up with such wonderful virtues to fill our head with. What is clear is how Paul christianizes the list to say in essence, that anything and everything that is praiseworthy is divine in origin.  [2]

How do we in the church handle our differences? What about our committees or teams? How does Paul advise the Philippians to deal with conflict and disagreement?

• What do you do to relieve stress and worry in your life?
• How does your thinking affect how you feel? How does it affect your relationship to God? Others?

Homily Idea: What we can learn from Euodia and Syntyche?

Block #1—Imaginatively explore what problems might lie behind E’s and S’s breach of friendship . . . weave current church conflict into the imaginative reflection.

Block #2—What does it mean to "be of the same mind?" That’s Paul’s proposal to bring closure to this rupture. Go back through the epistle to discover potential clues, e.g. 2:2 (mind of Christ) and his elaboration of what that looks like (2:3-4). Notice how being of the same mind is vitally and critically connected to "in the Lord," which refers us back to the mind of Christ who humbled himself and became obedient . . .

If Christ behaved like that [2:2ff], how must those who are "in Christ" behave? Put like that, it is clear what Euodia and Synthyche should do. If they do not do it, then they are denying that they are "in Christ . . . Should we, perhaps, worry less about who is right and who is wrong and ask instead, "What does it mean for us, as a community, to have the mind of Christ?" [3]

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[1] The New Interpreter’s Bible XI (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), page 539.
[2] Ibid, page 541.
[3] Ibid, page 547.