how can you manifest our belongness and unity in the Church?

Answer:

In this passage Paul calls for the church of Philippi to be unified. Even though in many ways they were a model church, they were not a perfect church. They had many threats to their unity. In chapter 1, it is clear that they were being persecuted from outside for their faith. Paul said that God had granted them to not only believe in Christ but to suffer for him as well (v.29). In chapter 3, we see that there were false teachers teaching circumcision (v. 2). In chapter 4, two women were fighting in the church possibly causing it to divide into factions (v.2). Though a model church, the Philippians had many threats to their unity. William Barclay perceptively observed this:the one danger which threatened the Philippian church was that of disunity. There is a sense in which that is the danger of every healthy church. It is when people are really in earnest, when their beliefs really matter to them, that they are apt to get up against each other. The greater their enthusiasm, the greater the danger that they may collide. It is against that danger Paul wished to safeguard his friends.1Passions which are good things can often lead to discord. Paul calls for this church to make his joy completed by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose (2:2). Essentially he called them to be unified, to be one.

Passions which are good things can often lead to discord. Paul calls for this church to make his joy completed by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose (2:2). Essentially he called them to be unified, to be one.The Philippians’ struggle with unity was not unique; there were problems with unity from the inception of the church. In Acts 6:1 one of the issues was cultural. The church was caring for Greek widows and Hebrew widows, but while distributing the food, the Greek widows were being left out. Amongst the Roman Christians, there were divisions over preference (Romans 14). Some preferred to worship on Sunday, and others practiced the Sabbath day. Some ate only vegetables, and others ate everything. These differences created division. The Corinthian church was divided over the personalities and teaching gifts of their greatest teachers (1:12-13). Similarly, each church today has the potential of disunity over such things as ethnic culture, church culture, doctrinal differences, personality differences, and personal preferences. Disunity is something the church must be aware of and wisely labor against.