Episode 1685: In Full Accord

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Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 1,685 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast

Roger Pearson: I'm Roger Pearson. 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 learn the art of 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

Scott Maderer: That the natural response in any situation would be that of loving and caring and giving. In other words, the Christ-like response. That is what I strive for. I don't always achieve it. I often fall short of it, but it's the hope that I have for myself and for the world. [00:01:00]

Roger Pearson: Welcome, and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

If you truly

Scott Maderer: 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 Philippians 2:1-13. I talk about how unity does not require uniformity in all things, but in one thing. And I also talk about how hard that is to live out in the real world Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 13 says, "If then there is any comfort in Christ, any consolation from love, any partnership in the [00:02:00] Spirit, any tender affection and sympathy, make my joy complete.

Be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, assuming human likeness, and being found in appearance as a human.

He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him even more highly and gave him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name given to Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory [00:03:00] of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence but much more now in my absence, work on your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure." In this passage that comes shortly after the one we discussed last week, Paul seems very concerned about thinking.

If you think about it, he's in prison. He probably doesn't have a lot of time to do much else but think, and maybe that's why it's on his mind, so to speak. In the few-- first few verses of this passage, he tells us that we should think alike and think as Christ does, right? Being of the same mind.

That, that's what that means, right? Think alike. Everyone should think the same way. But that isn't really [00:04:00] what that means. Being of the same mind isn't meant to stifle creativity or even differences of opinion or discussion or argument even. He's not trying to remove all of the differences in the body of Christ.

Instead, he recognizes that those differences make us the rich, diverse group that we are. Part of the excitement of living in community is finding new perspectives. Discovering the way someone else sees something may open our eyes to something new He's not really asking for uniformity in all that we think, in all that we do, in how we look, in how we act, in how we vote, in how we everything.

So then what does he mean by having the same mind? How can such a diverse collection of [00:05:00] humanity ever hope to achieve unanimity of thought? After all, we're too different, right? We have too many varied experiences and backgrounds, too many diverse abilities and thinking to ever hope to think alike on any issue, at least any issue of substance.

And Paul has a solution. He says it's real simple, or at least easy to understand. Wake up in the morning with your mind stayed on Christ. That's a famous spiritual. Woke up this morning with my mind, which I always think is a funny opening line. Woke up with my mind. Some mornings I think I don't wake up with my mind.

But it then goes on to say, not about mental health, waking up with your mind, but woke up this morning with my mind, and it was stayed on Jesus, or with my [00:06:00] mind staying on Jesus. This idea of waking up and immediately turning your thoughts to Christ. It's a act of faith. It's saying, "First, before I'm anything else, I'm a follower of Christ.

Before I'm anything else, I believe that my mind should be like the mind of Christ." And that's what Paul's saying. By the way, that doesn't say that we're gonna get it right all the time. That doesn't say that we know the right answer all the time. But we're working always, striving always, sanctifying ourselves always to think as Christ does.

We should be humble first. Paul talks about that in this too. Set yourself aside. Set aside my need to be right. Set aside my need to have it my way. Set aside [00:07:00] all of those things. Wouldn't that be wonderful if those who claim to be followers of Christ, whether in business, in politics, in the church, would set their minds on Christ and embrace humility, self-sacrifice, and a desire for unity and hope?

I don't know about you, but some do, but most don't. Most of us don't. I can't even all of the time. I don't even all of the time. That's why the song is "Woke Up This Morning," because we need daily reminders. We need to always be striving to turn our mind back to Christ. The same mind doesn't mean the same thoughts, but it does mean the same goals.

It means that love should trump prejudice. It means that sacrifice should win over selfishness. It means that giving always triumphs over hoarding. [00:08:00] It means being like Christ, becoming more like Christ on towards perfection. If we all seek the same Christ and the same kingdom and the same hope, that's what being in full accord means It means choosing again and again to be Christian first before we're anything else.

And that's what Paul is asking for. That's what Paul is hoping for. That's what Paul is praying for. That the natural response to any situation would be that of loving and caring and giving. In other words, the Christ-like response. That is what I strive for. I don't always achieve it. I often fall short of it, but it's the hope that I have for myself and for the world.[00:09:00]

Thanks for listening.

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