A Status-Obsessed Value System

Trevi Fountain in Rome. Pope Urban VIII commissioned this fountain because
he found the previous one not dramatic enough. 

Scripture

Phil. 2:⁷ but emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave,

being born in human likeness.

Observation

This language of emptying, or “kenosis” becomes foundational to Paul’s concern about the Philippians. The concept of humility is so foreign to them that Paul places the life of Christ before them as a model. To understand how odd this idea might seem to them, listen to the words of a second century anti-Christian Philosopher, Celsus: ““God does not suffer, and God cannot be humiliated.” That’s because this kind of a move on the part of God “directly counters the status-obsessed value system” of Roman society. (Hooker 2000, 508) 

Christ’s life stands before us as a model, and it is in the midst of this modeling that we discover some of our most important theology. Hooker goes on to tell us that, “it is in his self-emptying and his humiliation that he reveals what God is like, and it is through his taking the form of a slave that we see ‘the form of God.’” (Hooker 2000, 508) There have been misconceptions around this idea of “self-emptying” throughout the centuries, specifically around the question of nature. Christ didn’t necessarily get rid of some part of himself, but instead, he “poured himself out” or became of no account. “This surely involves abandoning his rights and giving up his high status as one equal with God. The NIV’s idiomatic translation captures the thought beautifully: he made himself nothing. The word himself is emphatic in Greek. This self-renouncing attitude was Christ’s deliberate, active choice.” (Flemming, NBBC) 

Therefore, we are to understand that in a status-obsessed value system, Jesus was willing to take upon himself the characteristic of a slave, or to become a nobody. “Spurning the right to rank and reputation in the eyes of people, he identified with the lowest of the low and the poorest of the poor.” (Flemming, NBBC) He was willing to pour out all of his own resources and adopt the visible appear of a slave to save the world. 

Application

I was struck by the words from Morna Hooker, “a status-obsessed value system.” While she was speaking about the Roman world and the colony at Philippi, she could well have been describing our world today. We may not live in a society that embraces particular titles or ranks, but we have always had our own “pecking order.” Consciously, or subconsciously we measure ourselves against others in a type of exercise that we think may help our self-esteem. Girls learn to judge themselves against other girls from a very young age, often measuring their worth by their appearance, weight, ability to do a cartwheel (which I never learned!), and more. I imagine boys do the same thing, only they have their own measuring rod. Before we know it, we are adults who have an inbred judgement system, or quite possibly, a status-obsessed value system. 

My guess is that the Philippians would have stood in denial of their attitudes and that’s why Paul keeps after them in his statements. He’s been building up to this moment from the very beginning of his letter because he sees something in them that they cannot see in themselves. Far too often we cannot see what has been bred into us throughout our lives. We have brought to this moment all of our life experiences that have shaped and formed us, and that may include “a status-obsessed value system.” Prejudices against particular people may exist deep within us because of the way in which we have been formed. That’s why Jesus’ incarnation, and the likeness to a slave becomes so spectacular and provides the pathway to transformation. 

This entire passage began with, “May the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus….” When we are entirely filled with the Spirit of Jesus, then we are no longer obsessed by where we fit in the pecking order. We begin to see others through the eyes of Jesus and our hearts break at the sight of injustice. Following Jesus we pour ourselves and our resources out for use in God’s kingdom. Our lives become one of service to God and others, including those whom the world may consider “the least of these.” 

Entire sanctification is entire participation in the life of Christ; his humility, his servanthood, and his self-emptying. The entirely sanctified life finds freedom from the objectified ways in which we have classified one-another and fulfillment in a life of humility and service to others. This is the way of Jesus. 

Prayer

Lord, what a challenge to follow you. Please, search my heart and fill me with your Holy Spirit — cleanse me of inbred attitudes that may be in disobedience to your nature. Amen.