Welcome to the inaugural post of the "Thinking JESUSLY".
Since March 2014, I have been chasing a goal to lose 55 pounds and in
doing so, I have pursued a regimen that would help me reach that goal at some
point. My previous attempts had failed
because I was half-hearted concerning what was needed to make it happen. Thus these efforts to lose weight failed
because my heart was not in it. This
changed when a doctor told me (what my wife had been telling me
all along); I had piled on MUCH more weight than I needed and it was becoming a
problem. I was about 35 pounds above the
normal range for someone my height and potentially pre-diabetic. Sobering thoughts indeed.
It was a moment that (hopefully) forever altered how I looked at myself and had been acting. Those revelations moved me to start watching my caloric intake, improve my diet, weigh myself
daily and pursue a consistent exercise regimen. The results have been gratifying. As my mindset changed, the desired changes began to
happen. Almost two years later and, as of this writing, I am at 171 lbs, my life changed for the better. And it all began with someone pointing out what should have been obvious.
Those who are followers of Jesus also need a similar watershed moment. Consider Paul's counsel as given in letter to the Philippians:
Philippians
2:1-13
2 Therefore
if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being
like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let
nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look
out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form
of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no
reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness
of men. 8 And
being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the
point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has
highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of
those under the earth, 11 and that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in
my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling; 13 for
it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
Thinking
‘Jesusly’
In the passage the apostle Paul challenged the Philippian church to adopt a countercultural mindset. The counsel is just as pertinent today (if
not more so) to the way we “do life” as believers today.
The countercultural impact the writer speaks
of is only made possible by being able to think like Jesus. Jesus’ life and ministry didn’t look much like in contrast to the religious folk of His day nor of ours. Our concern for the trappings of the religious
life and the contentment to be found in adhering to a nominal religion is
seductively appealing but it doesn’t get us any closer to the countercultural
impact so needed in this and every other age.
Paul directs his readers to consider
what's needed to accomplish their mission to the world - Jesus’ life paradigm. Jesus viewed the world from a unique
perspective; one that gave him insight into what God wanted about and how
people thought. Stepping into midst of 1st
century religious and civil politics, He knew that a shift of the life paradigm
was was required.
A paradigm shift,
in this case, means a change to the way we view all of life. It determines how we think
and act towards and interact with the world around us. A classic example of this was when Jesus challenged
his hearers to love their enemies. It
was not only strange for them to hear the words “love” and “enemies” used together in
the same sentence, but it seemed downright wrong.
If we can’t hate your enemies, then who can youhate? Well, it appears, if we are thinking Jesusly, the correct answer to that question is "no one."
In his book “Think Like Jesus” author
George Barna, of the public opinion institute that bears his name, speaks of the way we view life and affects our decisions and follow
through. This “Life Lens”, as he describes
it, provides a way of viewing our lives and responding to challenges
appropriately. When our minds are set to
think “Jesusly”, we see people differently than our own fallen nature would naturally lead us.
In essence, having the mind of Christ
changes the baselines and parameters of our lives where we are given permission
to love our enemies and challenge the conventional wisdom of the day. Paul alludes to this in I Corinthians 2:14-16:
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things
that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot
understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person
with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not
subject to merely human judgments, for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord so
as to instruct him?” But we have the
mind of Christ.
In spite of being right-minded (as opposed to being
wrong-headed), there continues a need for a balance between the two spiritual
blessings of God’s Grace and Truth.
Truth has never been a problem for most believers, who seek it like a
beachcomber with a metal detector.
It is a demanding task but truth by itself can lead to behavior that is
demeaning. The Mind of Christ is such
that grace and truth work as an equally yoked team effectively working side by
side to accomplish the appointed task. How well is the church doing in
this? An indication that something is
amiss can be seen in the polling data from respondents when asked their
response hearing the names “Christian” and Jesus.
For Christian, the
words “Judgmental, intolerant, cliquish, unloving” are but a few of the pejoratives
used in their responses. It is unknown how
many respondents ever actually met a “born-again” or evangelical
Christian of any type. Perhaps their
views came from seeing Westboro Baptist Church members’ tactless and hurtful
antics at a military funeral. Or perhaps their
views were formed by what the media has often unfairly attributed to people of the evangelical stripe. Regardless, the result was high negatives in perception.
When it comes to
Jesus however, the pendulum swings the other way. Jesus is admired, loved and thought of much more highly. He
is viewed as a great moral teacher, a good person, revolutionary and/or the Son of God. Though some opinions offered may be limited and/or wholly adequate, none the less they are, on the whole, positive. This begs the question, how can Christians
and/or the church fare so poorly in these surveys while Jesus’ ratings are so
high.
Though this is not "new" news, it does seem to continue to catch people off guard. If believers want
to be perceived in a better light, it is time for us to be more like that
light. Jesus said “I am the light of the
world.” We need to allow the Mind of
Christ to remake us until we begin to look like the one we follow.
During 2016, I am leading an
expedition of explorers, primarily into the gospel record, to see what it means to “Let this
mind…”, the mind of Christ, be in us.
The posts made to this blog reflect these efforts and I invite you to
join us, to comment on content and hopefully find insights into this
daily process of opening our minds to Him.
