Philippians 1:15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

Philippians 2:1 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
 6 Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
 7 but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness.
 8 And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!
 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
      and gave him the name that is above every name,
 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

Sometimes, our self righteousness rooted in our pious Christian beliefs lead us to think that we can be like God. We use our knowledge of the Bible to elevate ourselves over those we deem to be ignorant or less read. We boast of our wide understanding of His word, and somehow, that makes us feel good or better about ourselves and who we are. Motives behind our desire to preach are tricky. I know I've thought I knew the motives behind those that I've listened to. Unfortunately, it sometimes does affect how I perceive the message that person is giving. Nonetheless, regardless of who gives the message and why they might be giving it, the message stands on its own. Truth is truth, regardless of who speaks it.

Thankfully, after Paul wrote chapter 1:15-18, he followed up on his thought in chapter 2:1-11. It's here that he proposes what he feels would be the right attitude or the true motives behind our actions. This doesn't just apply to those who are involved in preaching the word (which should be all of us to some degree), but it also applies to our everyday lives and our interactions between one another. Paul says that we should be in relationship with one another as we are in relationship with Christ. Instead of elevating ourselves over people through our self-righteousness, we should strive to be in relationship with people just as we are in relationship with God.

Being self-righteous is futile, as Paul points out, God never intended for us to be able to reach parity with Him. Instead, he became human, he became like us and humbled himself to the point of death. He did so that we may understand who He is more than be who He is. He showed us the path to God the father by becoming human as we are, and by giving his entire life for us. Likewise, we should also give our lives to each other. So being like God through our understanding of who He is isn't about elevating ourselves over others, but it is about putting others' interests over our own. Considering others' needs and putting importance on them as Christ did for us. It means getting to know your neighbors and being there for them and with them through the good and the bad. It means going out of our way to help someone in a crisis. It also means putting away our bitterness at times in order to be able to celebrate with each other in good times.

So in order to understand who God is and in order to be as much as He is, we need to follow the example Jesus laid down for us. It pretty much comes down to this, love one another. Otherwise, we are acting in "vain conceit" or "selfish ambition". Think about it; if we are not acting out of love for our neighbor, then for what reason are we doing what we are doing? Do we read our Bibles to benefit God? Is God impressed by our knowledge of His word? Or is He more concerned with how we follow through with what we know? What good is self-righteousness? It serves no one but oneself; therefore Paul calls it what it is, "vain conceit" and "selfish ambition." So it's not religious piousness and knowledge of his word that brings us closer to who God is, but rather selflessness and putting others before ourselves that lead us to a greater understand of who He is.

Philippians 3:

 1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

 2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
      If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.

 7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

I really like this part. Here, Paul explains to us that he's been there, done that. He's tried the self-righteous way. He calls it "confidence in the flesh". He explains how when it comes to being religious and following all the rules and being assured in oneself that they are good and blameless, no one else could have argued a stronger case for themselves as he can. The circumcision was done at the exact right time (I'm not sure what the significance of this is) and he was part of the tribe responsible to become priests. He was born into the optimum religious environment. Furthermore he points out how he was a pharisee, people known to be the most aggressive abiders of "the law" which refers to the old testament law. Then he tells us about his passion, or his zeal. He was so convinced of his own convictions that he persecuted the church to the point where he would kill church members. He was so concerned about his "flesh" spirituality that he couldn't even stand people corrupting his presence. And finally, he admits that he was so stringent on following the law, that he was pretty much faultless.

Paul is saying that when it comes to that "flesh" spirituality, he was leading the pack. But he doesn't totally denounce his past, rather, he's qualifying it saying, "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." He acknowledges that there were benefits to his past ways; Paul says, whatever my profits were, whatever I gained, however good my flesh spirituality made me feel,  it wasn't nearly as good as what I've got now with Christ. He follows up with, " I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." In comparison, it's a no-brainer; to the guy who lead the flesh spirituality movement, who was at the top of the totem pole, having all of that was nothing in comparison to having even the slightest relationship with Christ.

Pretty much what Paul is saying that if you are not convinced from all his arguments before, he can tell you through first hand experience that living that kind of lifestyle isn't as good as living in relationship with Christ. In fact, he even goes as far as to say that it leads you to losing out. You lose out on all that God has in-store for you when you are too busy chasing your own spirituality. Why give up that which already makes you feel good? Well, Paul answers it through his own experience. "You think you feel good now?" he says, "Just wait until you try this!" Philippians is almost like a sales pitch. I'm interested to find out what the product does.