Philippians 2:2 – Disposed to one

…Fill my joy full, that you may be mutually disposed having mutual love, joined in soul, being disposed to one thing…

In the previous verse, Paul had written “as” (or “if”) four times and mentioned four qualities that he gratefully recognized in the Philippians. It began with “consolation in Christ” and through “consolation of love” and “communion of spirit” it ended with “pity and compassion.”

If the mentioned qualities were found among the Philippians, what could stand in the way of unity among themselves? Yet the Philippians apparently still lacked this and this tempered Paul’s joy. Hence the appeal to his readers to complete his joy by being mutually disposed. Opposing the earlier fourfold “since” is here a fourfold appeal that has the literary structure of ABBA: the former (“mutually disposed”) corresponds to the latter (“disposed to one thing”) and “mutual love” corresponds to “joined in soul”.

To be mutually disposed is not a call to uniformity. That everyone thinks and acts the same does not exist and is only a dream of dictators. Unity is not sharing the same opinion but sharing the same attitude: being oriented to the one God and bowing to his Word.

Delen: