Changing our minds
by Norma Koehne
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‘Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2:5b).
I almost hesitate to write about this wonderful hymn of praise to our Lord and Saviour. How can I ever hope to emulate his servanthood, his obedience, and his willingness to suffer the ultimate horror, separation, from his loving Father, all for my sake and yours?
Yet this is what Paul is urging us to do, to change our mindset from love of self to love and service of others. We receive encouragement, comfort, tenderness, compassion, and love from our gracious God. All of these qualities are ours through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we practice them, then we are a blessing to the world around us.
In our modern era, I don’t think we recognise how we are bombarded with mindsets, in what is called hegemonic understandings, through the media and all the current favourite ‘isms’ of the day, which underpin so much of education and daily life. For example, we have humanism, which ‘worships the creature rather than the creator’ or postmodernism, which says that your ‘truth’ is as valid as anyone else, and there is no ultimate truth. The list is endless, and as Christians, we have to be alert to weed out those aspects of modern society’s beliefs and ways of acting that do not conform to the mindset of Christ. Sometimes they even work to destroy our faith.
Being a Christian has always been counter-cultural. It was for Jesus and the early church, and people lost their lives for their faith. It takes courage to stand up for your faith. I remember some years ago hearing about a group of Christian students who confronted their law lecturer, who had said his class was unbiased and that people could say what they thought without censure. They told him that wasn’t true, and if they put forward a Christian point of view, they would be mocked and humiliated. I’m sure matters have not improved.
Father, thank you for all the gracious blessings you heap on us. May you, Holy Spirit, guide us as we battle the spirit of our age and strive to be more like Christ in all we say and do. Amen.
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