2 I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. (Phil. 4:2-3)
Throughout Paul’s epistle to the Philippians there are a number of references concerning the need for, and importance of, unity. In the opening chapter he charged them to strive together for the faith of the Gospel (1:27), and in the opening verses of the following chapter he called them to make his joy complete by being of the same mind (2:2), and to do nothing out selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind to esteem one another better than themselves (vs.3-4). So, although the Philippians were in many ways a model church, between the exhortations for unity and humility, one could ‘read between the lines’ and suppose that there was some issue that Paul was confronting. Well, such a supposition is confirmed in the second verse of chapter four. There we see what was, at least, the primary interpersonal issue that Paul had on his heart. He wrote, “I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”
