So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Philippians 2:1-3
Suppose the saints of Christ were to take this passage seriously. What would a community and the church look like? If we take it all together we would see a bunch of Christian folks who were striving to lift one another up, to give them glory, in the Name of Christ. They would be working hard to support one another, to make the lives of their friends and neighbor as comfortable as possible. They would be looking out for one another. They would actively pursue thinking the same way about God and about his creation…to have one mind.
Because the goal of every Christian in the community would be to strengthen the Biblical ties that bind them to one another, the whole community would be transformed as the Christians love one another and care for one another. God would grant repentance to the non-Christian world as they see the winsome lives of Christians living what they claim to believe. The families would be strong because the members of the families would be working to help one another be the best they could be for the honor of Christ. Wives would make their husbands glorious. Husbands would be making their wives beautiful by loving them and laying down their lives for them. The politics of the community would change as well, and the civil realm would be transformed as people cared for the poor, the homeless, the infirm, and the outcasts.
Worship would be transformed as well. In the same way that in the Godhead there is diversity and unity, the church would take all the various worship forms of the people and work hard to blend them into one Biblical and godly expression of the Godhead itself. The Baptists from one neighborhood would bring their particular brand of preaching. The Black Pentecostals would bring their excitement for the things of God. The Presbyterians would bring their penchant for getting the theology right. And on and on it would go. But because everyone would be thinking the others are more important than themselves they would lay down what they thought were their rights and privileges and worship would slowly be transformed into something glorious and wonderful. With each person bringing something to share and to contribute to the glory of God.
Because in Christ all are one, all cultural differences would eventually be brought into conformity with the mind of Christ. This would include all cultural and racial differences. As people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds came together to worship the triune God the things that divide them would eventually be eradicated and they would come together in every way and in the end all would be one, in Christ. There would be no racial discrimination, no religious discrimination, no ethnic discrimination, no social or economic or cultural discrimination. All would be one in Christ.
I guess we have a long way to go. But the command is there: “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”
Suppose the saints of Christ were to take this passage seriously. What would a community and the church look like? If we take it all together we would see a bunch of Christian folks who were striving to lift one another up, to give them glory, in the Name of Christ. They would be working hard to support one another, to make the lives of their friends and neighbor as comfortable as possible. They would be looking out for one another. They would actively pursue thinking the same way about God and about his creation…to have one mind.
Because the goal of every Christian in the community would be to strengthen the Biblical ties that bind them to one another, the whole community would be transformed as the Christians love one another and care for one another. God would grant repentance to the non-Christian world as they see the winsome lives of Christians living what they claim to believe. The families would be strong because the members of the families would be working to help one another be the best they could be for the honor of Christ. Wives would make their husbands glorious. Husbands would be making their wives beautiful by loving them and laying down their lives for them. The politics of the community would change as well, and the civil realm would be transformed as people cared for the poor, the homeless, the infirm, and the outcasts.
Worship would be transformed as well. In the same way that in the Godhead there is diversity and unity, the church would take all the various worship forms of the people and work hard to blend them into one Biblical and godly expression of the Godhead itself. The Baptists from one neighborhood would bring their particular brand of preaching. The Black Pentecostals would bring their excitement for the things of God. The Presbyterians would bring their penchant for getting the theology right. And on and on it would go. But because everyone would be thinking the others are more important than themselves they would lay down what they thought were their rights and privileges and worship would slowly be transformed into something glorious and wonderful. With each person bringing something to share and to contribute to the glory of God.
Because in Christ all are one, all cultural differences would eventually be brought into conformity with the mind of Christ. This would include all cultural and racial differences. As people of different ethnic and racial backgrounds came together to worship the triune God the things that divide them would eventually be eradicated and they would come together in every way and in the end all would be one, in Christ. There would be no racial discrimination, no religious discrimination, no ethnic discrimination, no social or economic or cultural discrimination. All would be one in Christ.
I guess we have a long way to go. But the command is there: “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”
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