United Under One Mind
“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. ”
Paul begins with ‘so’, therefore this is linked with the previous passage, and there he was calling for the Philippians to live in a manner worthy of the gospel, and he’s going to continue with this flow of thought. He exhorted the Philippians to be unified and he reminded the Philippians of the sufferings that Christians share with Christ.
Whilst Paul does not promise them relief from their afflictions, he does remind them of the comfort of being in Christ and he focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit who comes alongside us and helps us along our Christian journey. Indeed, there is an abundance of encouragement and comfort in Christ, there comes a point in every Christian’s journey where we experience the Holy Spirit giving us a little nudge of encouragement, a ‘you can do this, I’m with you’. And the comfort of knowing Christ’s love is one of the greatest experiences a Christian knows, the Spirit often lifts weary souls to look at Christ for encouragement and comfort. The peace the Holy Spirit brings is a true delight in a weary and burdened world.
Paul is encouraging the Philippians, reminding them of their common salvation, reminding them of their common experience of being in Christ, before he instructs them to be of the same mind. But he adds in ‘complete my joy’ before he instructs them, it would make Paul so happy if they would be of one mind. But what does that mean, to be of one mind? Does Paul want them to be the same, does he want them all to like the same things, and become like each other? Is the gospel a production line that produces robots that all look the same, act the same, and like the same things, thankfully the answer to that is a resounding no, the gospel works much deeper than that. The beauty of the gospel is that it doesn’t really change a person’s personality all that much, but it goes deeper, it changes hearts. The one mind that Paul is talking about is the mind of sacrificial love. This is the mind of Christ, and therefore should be the mind of the Christian.
The church is a wonderfully diverse place, where people of all shapes and sizes and personalities and ethnicities gather as one body who love. Having this mind of sacrificial service is surely the antidote to arguments or gossip or anything like that. Because the person who has this mind desires to serve. The gospel doesn’t turn us into robots, but it turns us into people who imitate Christ, and humbly serve.
May God unify us under the mind of Christ and make us into a people who love.
