This is another in a series of excerpts from The Book of Life: What the Bible Says about God’s Registry of the Redeemed from High Street Press and available at Amazon. This except comes from Chapter 14: Coworkers in the Book of Life: Philippians 4:3.

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I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I also ask you, true partner, to help these women who have contended for the gospel at my side, along with Clement and the rest of my coworkers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Phil. 4:2-4).

Habit 2 in Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is “Begin with the End in Mind.” Imagination is the root of this habit – the ability to envision in the mind what they eye doesn’t see. It’s based on the principle that all things are created twice: first, a mental creation, and then, a physical one. Just as a building follows a blueprint, reality follows imagination.

As Covey notes, “People are working harder than ever, but because they lack clarity and vision, they aren’t getting very far. They, in essence, are pushing a rope with all of their might.”

Paul understood this principle long before Covey articulated his seven habits. The apostle’s concern for all the churches – he calls it “the daily pressure” – sometimes places him in the middle of squabbles in local communities of faith (see 2 Cor. 11:28). When possible, Paul seeks to repair these fissures before they split congregations apart. A case in point: the church at Philippi.

The Philippian church is about ten years old when Paul sends his letter. In Acts 16, we learn that Paul responds to a vision of a Macedonian man, pleading with the apostle to leave Asia Minor and travel to Europe to preach the gospel. Understanding the vision as a command from the Lord, Paul journeys to Philippi. 

Before long, he establishes a community of believers there, including a businesswoman named Lydia and her household (Acts 16:14-15), a formerly demon-possessed girl (vv. 16-18), a jailer and his family (vv. 25-34), and undoubtedly others. The church grows into a strong, mature, and God-honoring congregation.

Paul visits the church on his third missionary journey (Acts 20:1-3) and then corresponds with the congregation during his imprisonment in Rome. The Philippians hear that Paul is languishing in captivity, so they send Epaphroditus, who returns with a very personal letter from the apostle. Paul assures his fellow believers he is rejoicing in the Lord. Further, he emphasizes that believers may experience true joy by adopting the attitude of Christ, who humbled himself in the Incarnation and today is exalted at the Father’s right hand.

In his letter, Paul reveals hints of fractures within the church. He offers strong doctrinal and practical instruction to counter the discord (Phil. 2:1-18). And he urges his fellow believers to steadfastness, unity, joy, peace, and moral excellence (4:1-9). These goals may be achieved only when Christians adopt the same attitude as Jesus (2:5-11).

Paul undergirds his exhortation with a reminder that the names of his coworkers – even those who aren’t getting along – are in the book of life. This assurance is meant to refocus the Philippians’ shared ministry and common destiny. To begin with the end in mind often spurs us to stop bickering, change priorities, and work together toward a common goal. 

Euodia, Syntyche, true partner, and Clement

Little is known of the four characters Paul addresses in Philippians 4:2-3. Euodia and Syntyche appear to be two prominent women in the Philippian church. They have contended for the gospel at Paul’s side and thus have become valued sisters in the faith. We can’t discern their roles in the church, nor does Paul hint at the nature of their dispute. Likely, it’s not a doctrinal debate or a moral issue, since Paul tends to tackle these matters head-on in his epistles.

This much we may surmise: the disagreement between Euodia and Syntyche is serious enough that the women aren’t able to resolve it themselves; it’s severe enough to cause the church to write Paul about it; it threatens unity in the church; and Paul asks at least one church leader to serve as mediator. 

Paul begins with the women themselves. “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to agree in the Lord,” he writes (4:2). The apostle doesn’t take sides, nor does he descend into the  details of the conflict. He simply asks these beloved sisters to “agree” (Greek phroneo) in the Lord.

Paul uses phroneo ten times in this short epistle. It means “to think,” or “to adopt the attitude.” Most notably, Paul employs this term in the so-called Hymn of Christ in Philippians 2:5-11:

Adopt the same attitude [phroneo] as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 

Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death — even to death on a cross.

For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

As Ben Gutierrez notes, Paul teaches that “if believers adopt the attitude of Christ in their interactions with fellow believers and in their daily interactions with those unsympathetic to Christianity, they will experience the blessings that living out the mind of Christ produces – joy, peace, unity, protection, contentment, etc.”

If Euodia and Syntyche prove unable or unwilling to resolve the disagreement themselves, Paul recommends a mediator, whom he names “true partner” (4:3). Various English versions render it “true companion” (ESV, NIV), “true fellow-worker” (J. B. Phillips), and “true yokefellow” (KJV). Some commentators believe the Greek gnesios syzygos is better understood as a proper name: Syzygos (comrade), truly so called (gnesios). In either case, Paul asks this “true partner,” perhaps the church’s pastor, to offer wise counsel in a conciliatory spirit.

Next, Paul presents two reasons for involving an intercessor. First, Euodia and Syntyche are Christian sisters. In a rare mention of the book of life, Paul writes with confidence that the women’s names are written there. Second, they have fought alongside Paul, Clement, and others for the sake of the gospel. Paul deeply loves these co-laborers. While he doesn’t say so, it appears he is grieved the women are at odds. 

As for Clement, nothing further is known of him other than his name. Clement is a common name throughout the Roman Empire, and there’s nothing in the text to suggest that this is the same Clement who later becomes bishop of Rome and writes a widely circulated letter to the Corinthian church. 

The Philippians know with certainty the identities of Euodia, Syntyche, Clement, and the true partner, and Paul doesn’t find it necessary to offer modern-day readers an introduction. His main concern is for phroneo – agreement – between the women, as well as unity in the local church. 

J. Alec Motyer notes: 

Where Christians cannot bear the sight of each other, they will not be able to look the world in the face either. They cannot win on the  main “front” of their contact with the world if they are secretly carrying on warfare on a “second front” of their own devising…. This is why Paul sees disunity as such a solemn and disastrous thing: it is contrary to the apostolic mind; it is a denial of the nature of the church; and it is a flaw in the church’s armour against the world.

Next: Rejoice in the Lord Always