"Let this mind be in you....."

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 1^st 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.