Episode 1289: Be of One Mind

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,289 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] Ryan Englin: I'm Ryan Englin with Core

[00:00:08] Matters and the Blue Collar Culture Podcast. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent, and your treasures to live out your calling.

[00:00:20] Having the ability to grow my yourself and your business is key. And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the Inspired Stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.

[00:00:38] Scott Maderer: And I think what Paul is talking about is what we call confirmation bias. In modern terms, we listen only to the ones that already believe what we believe. We only listen to the side that we already believe in. We only listen to the arguments that we already believe are true. We reject anything [00:01:00] that challenges us to look at something in another.

[00:01:03] Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true call. In the Inspired Stewardship podcast, you'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:34] In today's spiritual foundation episode, I talk with you about First Corinthians chapter one verses 10 through. I share how this doesn't mean we are all the same or all totally agree, and I talk about what this means instead and how it means staying connected even in disagreement. So First Corinthians chapter one verses 10 through 18 says, now I appeal [00:02:00] to you brothers and sisters by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose.

[00:02:12] For It has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. What I mean is that each of you says, I belong to Paul, or I belong to Apollos, or I belong to Zeus, or I belong to Christ. Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of?

[00:02:33] I thank God that I baptized none of you except Christmas and Gais so that no one can say that you are baptized in my name. I did baptize also the household of Ste. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else for the Christ, did not send me to baptize, but to proclaim the gospel and not with elegant wisdom so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

[00:02:57] For the message about the cross is foolishness [00:03:00] to those who are perishing, but. Us who are being saved. It is the power of God. Have the same mind. Yeah. I am a Methodist and right now if you're paying attention to the news, you know that a lot of Methodist churches are leaving. really in the scope of thing.

[00:03:21] It's a relatively small number, but there's a lot of infighting going on among the Methodist, and my church is going through the itch share of that kind of discussion as well about staying Methodist or Disaffiliating. And what does that look like? There's a lot of hurt feelings. There's a lot of bad blood.

[00:03:40] There's a lot of arguing. There's a lot of fighting. There's a lot of. Misinformation and rumor on both sides of the issue, whether they feel strongly one way or the other. And this text is one of those that when it starts like that be of one [00:04:00] mind this just seems like something that's completely out of reach.

[00:04:05] Maybe it feels like something that, it's just not, that is important. It's more important to be right to, to stand firm, to hold onto the principles and the doctrines and the beliefs and this or that. It being of one mind doesn't seem to have the same sort of feeling as being right.

[00:04:27] And yet Paul is taking this. Seriously if you look at it in one sentence, he's saying, be in agreement. No divisions among you, be united in the same mind, be of the same purpose. All of these are basically the same idea being repeated over and over again. Because what Paul is saying is what's tearing the church apart is the fact that they don't agree.

[00:04:55] This is the beginning of this passage in [00:05:00] Corinthians. Now, unfortunately, it doesn't go on and tell us what does that mean to be of one mine? Does it mean that we have to agree on every single point of doctrine and ethics and meaning? Does it mean that we have to read the scriptures in exactly the same way every time?

[00:05:21] Does it mean that there's no room for differences or nuance or change that you have to apply the word to your life in exactly the same way that I apply the word to mine? That you have to hear the same message that I hear and believe the same thing that I. There are people that would argue that this sort of lock strip of doctrine is exactly what Paul's thinking about and talking about, but even there, could there be differences in application or in priorities?

[00:05:57] Could there be differences? Because after [00:06:00] all, when we're dealing with human beings who are made differently, who have different experiences, different histories, different families, different origins, different beliefs, different understandings, even different interpretations, how could there not be difference?

[00:06:17] And yet, where is the line? How do we know that we've drifted from the thought process that Paul is calling for? Backing up a minute let's think about what Paul might have had in mind when he was telling the church in Corinth to be of the same mine. He starts the address and he addresses them as brothers and sisters.

[00:06:43] He uses a familiar reference. references them as. Even when trying to correct your behavior or their thinking about their behavior, he's still saying, brothers and sisters, you are connected. You are united. You are of one [00:07:00] family, not created by blood, but by belief in Christ Jesus. Even if you're in conflict, even if there's a fight going on, even if you're disagreeing with each other, there still needs to be a sense of connection, a belief in c.

[00:07:17] maybe being of the same mind here, is that we all agree that our primary effort is in building up the body. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one, so does that mean that we surrender truth or we surrender, that we favor sticking together no matter what. And I would say, I don't think that's what Paul is asking.

[00:07:43] I don't think Paul is writing this letter to correct behaviors and understandings that he argues are wrong or not of Christ. Instead, it means that, . Even if we're making our arguments, there are behaviors we will not accept. [00:08:00] That's fine, but we still seek reconciliation and new understandings. We won't act to tear one another down.

[00:08:08] We won't call names and point fingers. We won't spread rumors and disinformation, and we certainly won't tell others, not in the community what terrible people we're saddled with in this family of Christ. There's a call to hire behavior. No matter how frustrated or upset we get, there's nothing here about giving up on trying to find and come to a common place.

[00:08:37] It's about listening as well as speaking. Where does that come from? It talks about I belong to Paul, or I belong TOSAs, or I belong to Apollos or Christ, and it even puts Christ in that list. And I think what Paul is talking about is what we call confirmation bias. In modern terms, we listen [00:09:00] only to the ones that already believe what we believe.

[00:09:03] we only listen to the side that we already believe in. We only listen to the arguments that we already believe are true. We reject anything that challenges us to look at something in another way. We stay within our own echo chambers, repeating our understandings and our beliefs, rather than digging into the source of those beliefs and being willing to be challenged to another way of thinking or applying.

[00:09:33] Maybe that would apply to Paul ssas and Apollos. But what about Christ? Because I, isn't that the whole point we're followers of Christ. Isn't that the common ground amongst we should all be unified? It doesn't that seem like that should be the antidote? If we can all look to Christ and agree there, then.

[00:09:52] Then we can call on Christ to be the arbiter of our disputes and our disagreements and our interpretations and what I believe and what you believe [00:10:00] and it'll all work out except even there. We all too often claim Christ as the one who agrees with me, but not with you. And therefore, to disagree with me is to disagree with Christ.

[00:10:13] In other words, the other side is not just wrong, but they're anti-Christ. And that's the worst insult that we could throw at them. Instead of recognizing that Christ is not our property, no matter how right we might be or might feel we are, we cannot claim that only we follow Christ. Even as we seek to communicate the Christ, we have come to know.

[00:10:41] It's hard to know why. Paul then goes off and talks about baptism and what he did and did not do, but perhaps it's less to do with talking about baptism, but rather he's trying to say thi this is something that we need to look at, but it's not [00:11:00] about our internal squa. only. It's about also how do they present to the wider world?

[00:11:06] What do others look at when they look at us? They don't get wrapped up in the detail of the theology, behind the debate. Rather, they just see, how do we treat one another when we disagree and it reflects badly on the larger family of the church. Now, maybe that's a little bit of a leap. But I would argue that we do need to come back and find the common ground, and even if we don't agree, we can still serve together side by side in ministry and in love of Christ Jesus.

[00:11:39] Even if we don't believe that theology or the meaning of this passage or that passage is the same, we still can be of one mind. Thanks for listening.

[00:11:57] Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired [00:12:00] Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook.com/inspired steward.

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[00:12:48] the

[00:12:48] Scott Maderer: world.