The Mindset of Jesus

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6        Who, being in very nature God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be used to

    his own advantage;
7        rather, he made himself nothing

    by taking the very nature of a servant,

    being made in human likeness.

8        And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross! 

9        Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,

10      that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11      and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father. 

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

 

14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain. 17 But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. (Philippians 2:1-18, NIV)

 

 

REFLECTIONS:

A number of years ago, I was on vacation with my parents in Hell, er, I mean Branson, Missouri. While there, we visited a number of "shows" that I'll generously describe as painful (at least to someone under 75 years old, which happened to be the median age of the audience). But, remarkably enough, there was one particular show that I greatly enjoyed, a show that actually astounded me in many ways. It was called The New Shanghai Circus. Throughout the show, we sat spellbound as dozens of Chinese gymnasts ran, jumped, twirled, tumbled, and flung themselves around at what seemed like the speed of light. It was a complex and intricate display of agility, strength, and athleticism. At times, things were happening so fast that it seemed like it was about to come undone—but they were able to pull it back together and stun the audience with their skill. Everybody had to know exactly where to be and what to do so that the next move would work out right, and the next, and the next. It was like watching a highly complex piece of machinery with all its cogs and wheels working together in perfect harmony.

 

That's a bit like what Paul is urging in this passage today. On stage, the gymnasts were not out for their individual glory at each other's expense; if one single gymnast had tried to steal the limelight from the others, the whole thing would have fallen apart. The show only worked because everyone was working together toward the same objective. That's how the church should be, too.

 

The great majority of churches are quite homogenous, but PRF is different. We are very unique congregation made up of folks from a wide variety of church backgrounds and denominations. Because of this, there are big theological differences between some of us. In our church, there's a wide variety of preferences regarding the style of worship, not only musically but when it comes to freedom and tradition and liturgy. Our church is made up of folks from a wide variety of political persuasions, some quite liberal and some very conservative. These are just a few of the areas in which there are pretty stark differences in our congregation. With so much that separates us, so many varieties of opinions and preferences, how can we even begin to think it might be possible to continuously live the way Paul describes in verses 1-4: thinking the same, loving each other completely, regarding everyone else (and their opinions!) as superior to you and yours?

 

The key, of course, is that everyone must be focused on something, or (more properly) Someone, other than themselves. Our focus must be upon Jesus Christ himself, the king, the Lord, and the embodiment of the Gospel. 

 

On the night of his arrest, Jesus repeatedly urged his ragtag group of followers to learn to love one another (John 13:34-35; 15:12,17). He demonstrated, in a very practical manner, what his selfless, others-centered way of love looked like by washing the feet of his disciples (as Beth so beautifully wrote about yesterday). And then, after teaching about love, and after painting a very poignant portrait of love, he then prayed for his disciples (John 17:1-18) and he prayed for us (John 17:20-26). And what did he pray for us? He prayed that we would be brought to “complete unity,” a unity based on brotherly love. In fact, he prayed that there would be such a unity among us, such a bond of love, that we would experience the same sort of unity that he and his Father had known from all eternity. Wow! 

 

Jesus expresses through his prayer that he longs for us to experience the sort of unity that Paul describes in our passage for today. He deeply wants us to experience a dynamic, harmonious unity in which we all work together for the greater good. And he expects us to strive together to make this love-based community a reality in our lives and community.

 

So, practically speaking, what must we do to experience the type of unity described? Along with keeping our eyes focused on Jesus, the basic command that drives this whole Philippians passage is simple yet hard: we must be "like-minded" (verse 2).

 

Of course, if that meant that person A changed his mind to agree with person B, just at the moment when person B was changing her mind to agree with person C, while at the same time that person C was struggling to think in line with what person A had been thinking a moment ago… then the whole thing would become like a silly and pointless party game. But, that's not what Paul has in mind. Unity by itself can't be the final aim. After all, unity is possible among thieves, adulterers, and many other types.

 

No—what matters is that Christians, like the Chinese gymnasts all focusing single-mindedly on the show, should focus completely on the divine drama that has unfolded before their eyes in Jesus the servant-king, and is continuing now in its final act with themselves as the characters.

 

Bringing our thinking into line with one another wouldn't be any good if we were all thinking something that was out of line with the Gospel. The love that we must have is the love that the Gospel generates and sustains. Our inner lives, which are to be bonded together, must be the inner lives that reflect the Gospel. Our minds and our hearts must be fixated on the Truth of who Jesus is and what he has done on our behalf.

 

As we center our minds upon the reality of the Gospel—as we meditate upon the ways in which Jesus set aside his glory and came to earth as a man, a man who rejoiced to serve others, a man who joyfully laid down his life for those who despised him (verses 6-8)—as we fix our minds upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be changed. Our inner being will be trans-formed and we will be empowered to begin to see others through the eyes of Jesus. And when we begin to see others as Jesus sees them, we will find it increasingly easy to set aside our "selfish ambition and vain conceit" (verse 3). When we begin to look at others through the lens of the Gospel, we begin to notice their beauty and value and significance, and so we begin to find it increasingly natural to look to their needs and interests above our own (verse 4). As we keep our eyes focused upon Jesus, meditating upon the ways in which he set aside his own desires for our good, we become inspired and empowered to walk in his way of others-centered, selfless, submissive, sacrificial love. All grumbling and complaining is set aside (verse 14); instead, we "hold firmly to the word of life" and demonstrate through our words and actions that we are a changed people (verses 12-13), a people who "shine" with the glory of Christ (verses 15-16). And, just as Jesus laid down his life for us, we joyfully pour out our lives on behalf of others, giving every part of ourselves as a sacrifice to strengthen and build up the faith of those around us (verse 17).

 

 

POINT OF ACTION:

In his book Celebration of Discipline, Richard Foster writes: "In submission we are at last free to value other people. Their dreams and plans become important to us. We have entered into a new, wonderful, glorious freedom—the freedom to give up our own rights for the good of others. For the first time we can love people unconditionally. We have given up the right to demand that they return our love."

 

 

PRAYER:

Father God, thank you for the freedom we have found in submission. Give us more and more genuine love for the people in our life. Keep reminding us that as deeply as we can love and care for our fellow human beings, that it is a mere shadow of the love you have for all of us.

 

 

WHO AM I?

I am Tres Sansom, and I'll admit that Branson is a nice place to visit. It's located in a beautiful section of the Ozark Mountains, surrounded by rolling mountains that are covered with colorful trees of all types: maples, ashes, oaks, and hickories. There are a lot of family-friendly things to do in Branson; but I was always stuck going to shows that seemed to be geared toward folks two or three times my age. There are definitely a lot of great places to eat in and around Branson, including my favorite—Lambert's Café, the home of throwed rolls. (The food at Lambert's is honkin’ good, but my favorite thing about the place is that they let me eat for free. When we went to pay, they left my meal off the ticket, stating that I didn't need to pay since I brought my own chair.) But, by far, my favorite thing about visiting Branson is seeing it in the rearview mirror.