Episode 1663: Set the Mind

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 1,663 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast

Sean Tepper: I'm Sean Tepper. 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. Having the ability to invest with confidence on your own 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.

Scott Maderer: That includes help from the Holy Spirit, help from Christ, help from God, and yet I do. And yet I have that opportunity every day to acknowledge that there is a God, and it's not me. And that's what it means to set your mind on Christ.

Welcome, and thank you for joining

[00:01:00] 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 calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your

influence so that you can impact the world.

In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about Romans 8:1-11. I share what it means to have a mind set on Christ, and I also talk about how that doesn't mean we should think less of ourselves, but rather we should think of ourselves less. Romans 8:1-11 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.[00:02:00]

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, He condemned sin in the flesh so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason, the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God.

It does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. For those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh. You are in the Spirit. Since the Spirit of God dwells in you- Anyone who [00:03:00] does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

A lot of times when we look at Romans, which last week and this week I've looked at, a lot of people treat it as Paul's most coherent, systematic system of theology. And there's truth to that to some extent. It's an introduction to the Christians in Rome. It's a theological resume. But I don't think we should treat it as some sort of academic exercise.

This isn't a paper that Paul wrote for theology class. [00:04:00] Instead, with this writing and pretty much all of the writings of Paul, it's his preaching, it's his writing, all contains an invitation into the new life in Christ. Paul definitely carries his faith and an invitation to his faith on his sleeve. And he shows it, offers it, gives it away, shares it every way and every chance he gets.

It's arguable that he didn't ever set out to build a church or an institution, but rather he did set out to make disciples of Jesus Christ. I don't think he was after an organization, but he was inviting people. And he not only invites people, but he then goes on and describes a process. He doesn't just say the what, he gives us the how.

And this passage is a large part of that how. But I don't [00:05:00] know about you, it strikes me as somewhat confusing. I know it's one I've wrestled with over the years. Paul says, set your mind. So obviously setting our mind on something is part of the process. But then it goes on and talks a lot about flesh and spirit.

We need to wrestle with this and understand what this is talking about as we become disciples of Christ. There are a lot of places in the Bible where there's these polarities, these this or that. And that includes here, flesh and spirit. And Paul uses them a lot. But I think at first we have a surface reading of it.

I know for me, I read it at first whenever I was younger, and it just seemed straightforward, right? Flesh, sinful flesh, a-anything to do with the body, anything to do with corporality, anything to do with living as a human or [00:06:00] pleasures of the body, uh, e-even just things like enjoying food must be bad, evil, and sinful, and distracts us from living a life of the spirit.

That was my surface understanding. But then I recognized as I read more and learned more and studied more that God himself chose to take on flesh in Christ, which sort of seems contradictory if God is saying flesh is sin. And as well, I've seen people use this idea as an excuse to not care for people's actual needs.

To, to say feeding someone or giving someone shelter, taking care of a community in that way, to, to c- take care of people physically in the world is somehow [00:07:00] a problem. And yet Jesus himself says caring for others, and that included and focused on physical care for the least of these, is to care for him.

He talks about taking care of people in this world, taking care of their flesh. So maybe that surface reading isn't enough or isn't all of the meaning that there is meant to be there. But go back to the beginning. It said, "Set your mind." Set your mind. Is, is this about fixation? Is this about obsession? Is he saying that over-observing any one thing is the problem?

Sort of, but also sort of not. Think of it less as fixation and more filtration. It's the way through which you see the world. Think of, in psychology, they call it a [00:08:00] cognitive bias. If you have a particular worldview, then it affects how you gather information, how you actually see the world. You have a tendency to see things that confirm that view and ignore things that disconfirm that view.

It's a human thing. We do this in the world. So what Paul might be saying is if your mind is set first on Christ, if Christ is the center of your world, then the way you see the world is through the spirit But if your mind is set on yourself and your needs and your security and your benefit and your good, then that's what you'll see first.

The way you see the world, it comes through that lens of what you put [00:09:00] first. Do you put God first or do you put yourself first? You know, Warren had that great expression, being humble is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less. Y- humility is that idea of recognizing that you don't know it all.

You don't have it all together. You can't do it all on your own. But that doesn't mean you have to say, "Therefore, I'm not good at what I do." You can't recognize your own giftings. You can. That is what this argument is about. That is what this passage is about. The fact that it's not telling yourself you're worthless, but it is looking at yourself and saying, "I can't do it by myself.

I need a community around me. I need other people, and I need God most [00:10:00] of all." Paul goes on and says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. This isn't a special club. Instead, it's a way of living. It's how you are in the world. In fact, if you are thinking of the Spirit first, then you are caring for those around you who have less.

You are picking up the towel and the basin and washing your neighbor's feet. You are taking care of the sick, caring for others. That's the unity of the Spirit, and that is what life is. That's the echo that Paul is saying. I don't know about you, but Paul goes on to say, "We're not in the flesh." And I think that sometimes gives me a lot more credit than I deserve because let me tell you, I struggle.

We all struggle. I do have days of [00:11:00] pride and days where I think I can do it all on my own. I do have days when I think, "This is ridiculous. I shouldn't need help." And that includes help from the Holy Spirit, help from Christ, help from God, and yet I do. And yet I have that opportunity every day to acknowledge that there is a God and it's not me and that's what it means to set your mind on Christ.

Thanks for listening.

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