It’s amazing sometimes how much truth and insight can be packed into a single verse and equally amazing how often I can just skip right by it. I thought this when reflecting on Philippians 1:1, one of those intro greeting verses that we read, skim and pass on as we head for the main act. Here’s the verse:

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus. To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.

In just 22 words Paul tells us about his own identity, the identity of the church and how the church was led and supported. Economical but powerful stuff.

Paul and Timothy

It’s a fairly common description that Paul uses here but we mustn’t become blind to it just because we see it a lot. Paul and Timothy are servants. They would know and have seen servants go about their business. They would have heard them call their master or mistress, ‘My lord/lady’ and responded to instructions with a ‘Yes, master/mistress’. They knew how servants depended on their masters for provision and protection, that the fate of the servants was inextricably tied to the fate of their master’s house. They also knew that the master’s voice was to obeyed, not sometimes but always. And they knew the difference between good and evil masters.

Paul and Timothy are in the service of the Messiah Jesus, God’s anointed one. This is more political than we sometimes credit it too. The Roman colony may very well acknowledge Caesar as Lord but the church in Philippi had another master: Jesus Christ.

Although they do not say directly that they are ‘servants of the church in Philippi’ they might as well have done. The saints are ‘in Christ Jesus’ (coming to that) and Paul and Timothy ‘are servants of Christ Jesus.’ It’s no great stretch to see how Paul and Timothy see their relationship to the church. They will serve them too because they are in Christ Jesus.

This is how apostolic ministry should be understood: in service of the church. They come in and are received as servants but because they are servants of Christ Jesus when they come, they have authority – they are there because Jesus has sent them.

The Saints

How comfortable you are in owning the description of ‘saint’ may very well depend on how conservative or reformed your church is. Certainly there are some that seem to prefer keeping the description ‘sinner’ instead. Or who insist on adding the adjective ‘who sin’ in case anyone was either getting too big for their boots or in danger of sliding into Wesleyan perfectionism.

I never really understood this. Christ doesn’t get any higher than He already is if we make ourselves lower than we are. I don’t know any Christian worth being called salt or light who has forgotten that they sin or that they were indeed a bona fide sinner in need of a saviour. Instead the ones, who to me, seem worth emulating the most are the ones who have understood that they are truly saints, ‘set apart for God.’ They glory in this because it points to the incredible work of Christ on their behalf, they find it still amazing to them. They are saints because they are in Christ Jesus and for no other reason.

If that is where you are (in Christ) then that is who you are (a saint). The letters recipients were at Philippi but they were in Christ Jesus. This is also important because Philippi was a Roman colony and that gave you status as a Roman citizen. To be in Philippi was not inconsequential despite Philippi being otherwise a pretty inconsequential place. To be in Christ Jesus is even more significant, conferring a heavenly status and a new identity even if we ourselves are pretty inconsequential people. We are citizens of heaven.

The overseers & deacons

Finally after introducing apostles (who are servants) and a church (who are saints) we have overseers and deacons. The church together with overseers and deacons receive Paul’s letter. Overseers are the same as elders, which is the same as shepherds (or pastors). Same thing (see 1 Peter 5:1-2), same thing. The apostles don’t just address their letter to the leaders of the church and neither do they send it just to the church body and go over the heads of the leaders. This togetherness is exactly the sort of partnership that we should expect to see – a church body together with their leaders (who are either elders or deacons) in fruitful engagement with received apostolic servants.

It should therefore be obvious that a church should have overseers and deacons. Servant leaders and leading servants who in combination guard the church and help it practically function and flourish wherever they happen to be.

It turns out there is a lot to be learned in a single verse!