Having One Mind

Over the past couple of months I have been preaching through Paul’s letter to the Philippians. If you have read this letter yourself, you will likely remember Paul’s repeated theme: rejoice always. Each Sunday we have been in Philippians I have asked the congregation to repeat those words in order that we might firmly cement this basic instruction into our minds. This is incredibly valuable for us since we live in a broken world, surrounded by, and experiencing ourselves, sin, suffering, pain, sorrow, and hardship, among the many other trials of this world. The joy Paul talks about, of course, is not a denial of these things. It is a joy that transcends the sufferings of this world, that enables us to embrace our suffering and say, “Yes, I suffer now, but Christ will carry me through, and one day all will be made right.”

As you know, that is easier said than done. Sometimes we even have a tendency to use that statement as a quick attempt at consolation when we see other people suffering. But what does that accomplish? All too often, I think, the result is a hardening of our hearts. We do not truly come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ in the midst of their sorrows and sufferings. Instead, we use such platitudes to avoid uncomfortable situations for ourselves while doing nothing to actually help the other person.

This is where the rest of Paul’s letter to the Philippians comes in. Although “rejoice always” may be the main, overarching theme, there are other crucial concepts that Paul builds on in order to make this main theme mean something that really matters. One of these other themes has really stood out to me: being of one mind.

Specifically, Paul tells us to have the same mind, or same way of thinking, that Jesus had (see Philippians 2:5-11). The idea here is to look at Jesus: eternal God who humbled Himself in order to serve his enemies (us) in the most humiliating way: suffering and death on a cross. In our rebellion and suffering, Jesus was willing to become like us and experience human life in this broken world. He experienced our suffering so that He would be like us, able to truly represent us on that cross. His humility, suffering, and death meant life for us.

Now, how does that connect to how we live in relation to one another? Well, we are to have one mind, the mind of Christ. Throughout the letter Paul expresses this a few different ways. Consider the following two verses:

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, fulfill my joy, that you think the same way . . .

 (Philippians 2:1-2, Legacy Standard Bible).”

Paul is directly connecting comfort, love, joy, affection, sympathy, and even participation in the Spirit with Christians having the same mind. In fact, he goes on to tell us that having the same mind means, among other things, shared humility, shared love, and shared beliefs. Most importantly, it means being like Christ, as mentioned above.

Later on he uses the same phrasing to address a conflict in the Philippians church:

“I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to think the same way in the Lord (Philippians 4:2, LSB).”

We do not know exactly what the issue was here. Were these women in conflict with each other, or perhaps with others in the church? Did they believe wrongly about Jesus? Were they overwhelmed by their own sin? Or perhaps it was persecution that they were facing that they viewed as greater than their unity with (and in) Christ Jesus? Each of these options, and many others, are types of suffering that could rightly fit here, and could easily lead to thinking separately, and thinking unlike Christ.

What this means for us as followers of Christ is that we are to think in the same way, in the way of Christ, and let that new thinking define how we live with one another in this broken world. Having one mind does not mean sharing short platitudes to avoid each other. Rather, it means both weeping and rejoicing with one another. It means praying with each other. It means being in the Word, and studying the Word, together. It means coming to a unified understanding of what the Bible says. It means serving the Lord together, both within the confines of the Church, and without. And it means bringing glory to the name of Christ as one body.