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Mind Set


          In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross! (Ephesians 2:5-8)


          I can’t comprehend this passage. I know that Jesus was in the very nature God and all the rest. But, not being in the very nature God, I can’t fathom what being in the very nature God is like. The rest of it is just as beyond me. That doesn’t mean I think it’s not true, just that I can’t grasp it any more than I can truly get what it means to be a fish, a viral particle, or you.
          But Paul tells us that we should have the same mindset. Fortunately, he gives us a few clues about how to do this. He begins by telling us to make ourselves nothing. We tend to be concerned about our self-esteem, our self-image, our reputation, and our rights. We might not understand Jesus’s mindset, but we can adopt it. We can serve one another. We can obey God, and within obeying God, obey the government and each other even when it’s hard, even when it requires sacrifice.
          The combination of humbleness and obedience is an interesting one. Being humble requires that we be obedient. Being obedient requires that we be humble. They go hand in hand. But, not surprisingly, when a person is obedient to what they have learned from Scripture, the charge made against them is that they are arrogant. If a person says that X is wrong because the Bible says it’s wrong, the person is attacked for proclaiming X to be wrong. The person then has the choice, whether to be humble and obedient to what God and Scripture say, or whether to be proud and make up his/her own mind apart from Scripture. Such making up of one’s own mind is, of course, only considered making up one’s one mind if the conclusion reached concurs with the person who made the charge in the first place. Agreeing with that person is the only exercise of humility or obedience that is acceptable.
          So, like Jesus, if we make ourselves a servant, if we are humble and obedient to God and Scripture, those of the world are going to demand we pay a price, just as Jesus did. God also calls us to pay that price because no matter what the price is, He has so much more to give us than we’ve lost.

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