Blog

Bill Lawrence

President of Leader Formation International

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus . . .

                                                                        Philippians 2:6

You know what it's like to be deep in trouble, when you are divided from those you want to be one with but you can't be because the differences are great and the demands you face are too much to over- come. That was the division that marked the church in Philippi, one of the five vital cities that formed a semi-circle east of Ephesus, one of the unique, cultural, and commercial cities where Paul started churches as part of his evangelistic efforts before he was arrested by Roman authorities the first time. There would be a second and final time, but that was yet to come, and Paul had letters to write and churches to plant and many to reach before he was finished.

He had impacted Philippi with the gospel, planted a church, established leadership in that church, reached other cities, and then determined to go to Spain, but he was imprisoned before he could get there. While he was in prison there was a division in the Philippian church and he wrote a letter to the leaders of that church who read it to the whole church.

So it was that he exhorted the church in Philippi when he said,

                                             Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ . . .

                                                                                                Philippians. 2:6.

Let this mind be in you . . . This was a present tense imperative that was the only solution to their division and their differences. It was not a discussion or a debate or a difference that Paul supported. It had to be resolved, and it could only be resolved if it was done with careful consideration the Jesus way.  That's why Paul directed them to think it through wisely and effectively by sharing Jesus's mind.

He doesn't take a side in this division. He never stood with one side or the other. It seems that Paul did not see it as important for him to be for one perspective or the other. In other situations he does correct  untruth, but here his concern is only for the mind of Christ. He wanted the mind of Christ to be important for all. What he was saying was Think this through and grasp what Jesus would conclude based on His teaching. Humble yourselves and arrive at a decision after carefully consider-ation.

Realize that you can only arrive at Christ's conclusions if you study His teachings carefully, thoroughly, and completely, talking calmly, speaking to one another gently while abiding in Jesus and living according to John 15:1-15. You see, nothing captures the mind of Jesus like John 15:1-15, and that's the mind that He passed on to His men in the Upper Room, the mind that He passes on to us on the night of His arrest, the very mind He wants us to have.

The core of that mind is Love another. Ultimately the key summary of all His commands, the essence of all His commands, is that we should love another, and love even those we dislike. I repeat it even as He repeated it, because it is neither natural nor possible for us to love everyone, especially those who are unattractive to us.

The problem is that we are least likely to seek Christ's mind when we most need to have Christ's mind.  We are often convinced we are right and don't want to consider the possibility that we could be wrong. Or we may be unwilling to seek Christ's mind because it will cost us greatly. It may well be that we will lose recognition or have to face the reality that we have been wrong or unjust or made a mistake because we don't want to face a humbling failure. We would rather assert our success or be honored in some way even when we don't deserve it.  

If you have the mind of Christ you are also willing to die for those who have no righteousness because that's exactly what He did--and that's exactly what Paul faced. Even though he would be released and go on to Spain, he would be arrested a second time and taken back to Rome and finally be put to death for the Gospel. His faith would cost him everything, but only after he wrote several key messages to those he served throughout the Roman Empire.

So he wrote to the ones he reached in Philippi and his word was kept and kept and kept across cen-turies, and we read it today. Thus he exhorts us to have the mind of Christ. Learn the mind of Christ so we can Live the Christ way as He thinks and lives in us and through us. This is John 15:1-15 made real through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and all of John's Word.

The mind of Christ is the way He thought, He learned, He taught, He lived, He discipled, He died, He rose from the dead, He commissioned, and He enables us through the Holy Spirit today in the 21st century to live His way. It is how He works through us today. It is His work through all who serve Him now. And He does this all over the world. What Paul commanded from a Roman prison is still in force today through you. Think His way so you can live Christ's way.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ . . .

Philippians. 2:6.