Sunday, September 21, 2014: Philippians 1:21-30
The Philippians would have read "striving side by side" and thought of a phalanx of infantrymen.
A multigenerational group from our church and school traveled to Kenya to visit a school with which we have a long relationship. Our group pitched in with students and villagers to make bricks for a classroom addition. In the course of that effort, we learned the Swahili word harambee, which means “working together for a common cause.”
We decided to use that word for the church and school’s annual theme. We cast about for a Bible verse to back it up and decided on the phrase, “striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,” adapted from the NRSV translation of Philippians 1:27.
The school faculty, however, did not like the word striving. While it means making a great effort, it can also mean struggling against opposition or contention. Strife is not something to be encouraged in the classroom.
