Are You Conducting Yourself in a Manner Worthy of the Gospel?

Before I get to the questions, I must address why this is so important. You must recognize that you have been called to a higher purpose. I honestly believe that sometimes we forget that being a Christian is a high calling. I am not saying this to create an air of arrogance in you, but to remind you of the honor and privilege it is to carry the name of Christ. Let me remind you of these verses.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Think of what you were and what you are now. Think of the trajectory your life was on before Christ and now how God has changed you because of Christ. He has called you to a higher standard. This means that whatever happens (and whatever means just that) we must conduct ourselves in a manner that is worthy of the calling we have received. Let me put this in even plainer language, possibly the way some of your moms or dads might have said it. 

“When you go outside this house, remember who you are and who you represent. I don’t care what happens, you conduct yourself and behave in a manner that is worthy of the name you represent.”

This is the high calling that God has called us to in Christ Jesus. Now onto those questions.

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Let’s look again at this verse in Philippians, this time looking at the entire verse.

“Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).

If you are going to conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel then you must become a person who is a unifier. It can become so easy sometimes to hold onto our positions, even at the expense of our brothers and sisters. Sometimes we forget how serious God takes this. In Proverbs 6, God lets us know about things he hates and here is one of them.

“A false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths], And one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers” (Proverbs 6:19, AMP).

Let me say this plainly and clearly. God hates people who seek to create division, especially among his people. You cannot walk worthy of the gospel if you are not seeking to bring unity in the body of Christ; it simply is not possible. To take it a step further, if you are causing the disunity, then according to Proverbs, this is something God hates. If we are going to represent Christ well in the earth, which is our charge, then we can only do that when we are united. Here is what Jesus said about division.

“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand’” (Matthew 12:25).

To be a unifier means you gather other believers around the most important purpose and mission we have. That mission is preaching the gospel and making disciples.

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“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (Philippians 2:3-4).

I know we don’t talk about pride that much anymore, and in some instances, we tend to celebrate pride instead of recognizing how dangerous and damaging it can be. These two verses in Philippians are all about the sin of pride. I know we don’t think of it like this too often, but pride is sin. When you go back to Proverbs 6, pride is another thing God hates.

What makes pride so dangerous is many times it is subtle and people who are engaged in it may not even be aware of it. Sometimes we even celebrate our pride in spiritual language. If you remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18), his prayer was laced with pride. Most of all, pride is divisive and at the real root of it, pride is idolatry because we often worship the thing we are most proud of. This could be our family, our country, our accomplishments, our church, our leaders, it doesn’t matter what it is. Anything other than God first, is pride and it is idolatry.

If we are going to conduct ourselves in a manner that is worthy of the gospel, then we must filter everything in our lives through the lens of God first. This means God’s glory is first, his will is first, his purpose is first, his agenda is first. He alone must hold this first place and if he doesn’t it is pride. You cannot walk worthy of the gospel with this living in your heart.

The other way pride prevents us from walking worthy of the gospel is it causes us to think more highly of ourselves than we should. This can cause us to think we are better than others, which in itself is another form of idolatry. Let’s make sure we are putting on humility, not just looking to our own interests but the interest of others.

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If there is one example we can take from Jesus’ life, it is that he took on the nature of a servant. We are reminded of this in Philippians 2. 

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8).

The one who was God became a servant. The one who had the seat of honor took the low position. The one who was Lord of all became servant of all. If he can step off his throne, then we can step off ours. Think about it in this manner. The creator of the universe, the one who spoke and it came into existence, got off his throne, got on his knees and washed the feet of the very disciples he created. This is what it means to walk worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If he can do this, surely we can serve one another in humility and in love. Quite honestly, we have no excuse for not doing this.

4. Do You Have the Right Attitude?

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing” (Philippians 2:14).

The last question I want you to consider is how you approach the things you must do in life. Do you come at them with the right attitude? Part of conducting yourself in a manner that is worthy involves having attitudes that are worthy as well.

If you have been around someone who is a grumbler, a complainer, or who loves to argue you know it is only a matter of time before you have had enough, and you don’t want to be around them. If you are this person, then that is how people feel about you, even if they never tell you. As you can see, this type of person cannot represent Christ well at all. Make sure in everything you do you check your attitude in doing it. This one thing alone can speak volumes to who you are and where you are in Christ.

Final Thought

I want to leave you with one last thing to consider. When you walk worthy of the gospel, you bring glory and honor to the name of Jesus. Sometimes without saying a word, this can be the greatest testimony and can open doors to share the gospel with others. At the end of the day this is what it is all about. As you face life today, remember to conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel. Make sure you bring honor to the name of Jesus and know for certain the way you conduct yourself will go a long way to making that happen.

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