The Mind of Christ, Given to You

Every Easter I struggle to comprehend how Jesus was able to wait in the darkness, watching the torches descend from Jerusalem, knowing those soldiers were coming for him. When I am in Israel, the Garden of Gethsemane is the place I most often struggle with tears. I can see the gate in the city wall the soldiers used. Jesus could have escaped, but he chose not to.

Jesus experienced a struggle between his mind and his earthly body, so he prayed for the strength to remain in the garden. His mind, strengthened by God’s, enabled Jesus to wait. That process in the Garden of Gethsemane may be one of our most important lessons of Easter.

According to 1 Corinthians 2:16, “We have the mind of Christ.”

The mind of Christ gives a new perspective

Paul was writing to the church in Corinth. Let’s just say that those early Christians struggled to think and act like Jesus. The culture of Corinth was similar to our own, only worse.

Paul taught the Corinthian church one of the most important lessons in Scripture about the Holy Spirit. He said, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

When we think with the mind of Christ, we won’t think like the world. We will see things from a spiritual perspective and our views will change. We will understand things like Christ would and perceive situations with his thoughts.

When last did you watch the news and view those stories and images as Jesus would?

The mind of Christ authors our words

All of us have conversations that feel above our spiritual pay grade. I still get caught off guard sometimes. Someone is in great need, and God has given me an appointment to answer. There is a verse I try to lean on and teach others to lean on as well. It should be our prayer and our purpose in every spiritual conversation we enter into. Paul taught, “We impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

This is a whole sermon, but I will teach that verse like this:

  1. We don’t want to speak our ideas. Human wisdom will not lead people to know God.
  2. We do want to pray for, and yield our minds to, the mind of Christ, his Holy Spirit.
  3. The Holy Spirit will author our words, be our wisdom, and teach the truth that person needs to hear.
  4. The key: Those who think with the mind of Christ will be able to interpret spiritual truths to someone else. And “you have been given the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Christ doesn’t always change people’s minds

Sometimes your Spirit-led conversations don’t change a person’s mind. That doesn’t mean you didn’t speak the thoughts and words God authored. If you were prayerful and allowed the Spirit to empower your mind and author your words, then “well done, good and faithful servant.”

You aren’t responsible for a person’s response to God’s truth. You are only responsible to speak the truth, led by the mind of Christ, his Holy Spirit. Paul taught the Corinthian church, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one” (1 Corinthians 2:14–15).

Jesus couldn’t convince the Pharisees he was their Messiah. We won’t convince everyone either.

The Easter story doesn’t end with the empty tomb

It may seem like Easter is over and it’s time to move on to other subjects. Christians rarely celebrate Pentecost as a holiday, yet it is the real ending to the Easter story.

The tomb was empty; Jesus was resurrected. But Jesus returned to teach his followers until his ascension. The ending of the Easter story was the beginning of the Christian movement in the world. At Pentecost, the disciples of Christ received his Holy Spirit. They received the mind of Christ.

You can think, talk, and walk with the mind of the Lord

It’s easy to feel like Jesus ascended to heaven and then left his work to his followers. He didn’t. Jesus didn’t leave his work to us; he went to heaven so he could do his work through us. The body of Jesus was resurrected, but then his mind, his Spirit, returned to indwell those who would believe in him.

Human beings don’t teach spiritual truths, speak spiritual words, or love people as Jesus did. Jesus teaches, speaks, and loves through the person who will yield his or her mind to the Holy Spirit.

Paul said, “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

This week, maybe today, Jesus will give you a chance to speak to someone, or treat someone, like he wants to. Before you say a word, pray that Christ’s mind will do the talking and caring instead of your own. It could make all the difference.

We have been given the mind of Christ. In gratitude for Easter, let’s use it!

It Was a Life Lesson

I have always appreciated the speaker I heard one Sunday night about thirty years ago. He taught me a lesson that changed my life, and one I have passed on to others many times since. I wish I knew his name, but I look forward to the moment in heaven when I can tell him, “Thank you for blessing my life.”

The lesson he taught that night was that we should never just sit and feel sad or helpless as we watch the news. Every day, there are pictures and reports of people who need our prayers. The news we watch on television is a list of God’s prayer requests. If there is a need, God wants to help. And, sometimes, God wants us to help. When you pray your way through the news, the Lord will tell you when and how.

The early Christians in Jerusalem were starving and in trouble, so the apostle Paul took up a collection from the Christians who weren’t. The words he spoke are so familiar that it requires some effort to make sure they sink in. But there is a fascinating lesson about God in these words, and we would be wise to rethink its truth.

Paul wrote, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6–7). There are a lot of ways to give generously. We can pray without ceasing for the lives of the people we see each night on the news. We can pray they know God. We can pray for their families, friends, and churches to provide and help. We can pray for God’s calling in our own lives.

Paul also said, “You should give what you have decided in your heart to give.” Paul said we shouldn’t give out of reluctance or because someone talked us, or guilted us, into giving. I’m sure all of us have put money in the plate that we didn’t feel that great about giving. God wants us to give out of a sense of generosity. “God loves a cheerful giver.” Those are the words that we forget to take to heart. They have commonly been used by the church to accomplish something that required a financial pledge. But, take a minute and think about those words again. “God loves a cheerful giver.” When was the last time you were excited to help? When was the last time God asked you to give just because you were praying and your heart was nudged? Isn’t that the gift you still feel good about giving? That’s because you have been blessed.

Here is the “feel good” promise from God’s word to all who have given with a generous, inspired heart: “God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). Each time you give as God leads you, you have accomplished a good work that God is able to bless.

I’m writing this blog post to pass on the same lesson I was taught more than thirty years ago. And that is to pray your way through the news, the emails, and the “asks.” You are supposed to give when God prompts your heart. Those prompts receive his abundant blessings. The Corinthians weren’t starving, but the Christians in Jerusalem were. So, Paul told them to give from all they had, with cheerful generosity. God loves those who give like that.

Paul then quoted a lesson from Psalm 112. Paul was teaching the Corinthians about the timeless nature of God’s heart. He said, “As it is written: ‘They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever’” (2 Corinthians 9:9). God has always loved cheerful givers.

Two hurricanes have left a LOT of people without a home and without hope. There is a way to help them that will help your soul and life as well. God loves a generous heart. Christmas is around the corner, and there will be a lot of gifts to give. But today, there are people who just want a place to call home again. There are families who just want safe drinking water and a place to wash their clothes. And there are groups of people who have left their homes to go and help. Should your family help?

Jim and I enjoy giving to the Texas Baptist Men. They bring physical and spiritual help to people who have been touched by disaster. They continue to go long after the news has stopped reporting the needs to rebuild homes, churches, and lives. I share this with you not because I think you should give, but because I think you should give if God prompts. God loves and blesses a cheerful giver. The way to be cheerful about a gift is to be called to give it.

That is the lesson I was taught by the Holy Spirit one night in Midland, Texas, by a man whose name I might never know this side of heaven. I’m grateful to him for being used by God to bless my giving and my life. The way I say thank you for his lesson is to give it to others cheerfully. It is easier for me to watch or read the news now because I know God is using those men and women to help, and Jim and I are blessed to help them fulfill their calling.

If God has prompted you to cheerfully give to Texas Baptist Men, here is their link:  Texas Baptist Men

When the Whole World Agrees

Churches all over the world prayed. The breaking news was reported in every language. The boys were coming out of that cave and they were safe. The whole world responded with jubilation and praise for the rescued and for the rescuers. It is easy to agree when we all believe in the same outcome.

I was struck by the contrast in the news reported. People everywhere cared about those boys in Thailand and wanted them to be saved. But, after the lead story united the country, the next stories divided. Our Supreme Court candidate is a positive for some, a negative for others. There are decisions to make about the children of immigrants who remain separated from their parents. Another angry, and probably frightened, police officer’s actions are recorded on a cell phone. And all of us will be impacted in some way by the higher tariffs on imported goods.

But, the most compelling story is the rescue of those boys. I like what that says about our world. We disagree about a lot of things, but we all agree that we should fight for the lives of those children. That outcome is worthy of our best efforts, and we can be unified by a shared goal.

I’m ready for Christians to be unified again. There are a lot of debates among us that remain unresolved because we each have our own opinions of right and wrong and our own values based on personal comfort and security. Jesus knew that would happen to us so, as he waited for the soldiers to come and arrest him, he prayed that his disciples would be unified. His prayer was preserved in Scripture so that we would understand how that unity is possible. Jesus prayed to God, saying, “I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:23).

A disciple of Christ will impact a lot of people in a lot of different circumstances. But we have one message that will always unify us and dignify Jesus. Jesus called it the gospel message, the good news that is for everyone. When we are one with Jesus like he was one with God, we will show the world that God so loved every person, he sent his Son so they could be saved (John 3:16). People need to know how much they are loved by their Creator.

I imagine those boys are going to be amazed at the interest the world has taken in their lives. Two weeks ago, only a small number of people knew their names and cared about their lives. Now, an entire world wants to know more about them. But, two years from now, who will continue to care? I imagine those divers who risked their lives for those boys and many of the reporters who camped at that cave will still care. The families and their friends will still care. And God will love them in the coming years, as much as he loves them today.

There is a popular Pinterest quote by Dr. Frank Hayden that says, “I cannot make a difference in the world, but I can make a world of difference in a few people’s lives.” Jesus taught the same lesson when he said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). It is easy to feel powerless when we focus on the big picture. Most of us will never have a national impact with our lives, but Jesus said all of us would have an impact as his disciple—if we follow his lead.

Those boys will remain the focus of world news until reporters have exhausted the story. Soon, another story will become the most compelling news in the world. But Jesus walked this planet more than two thousand years ago, and he is still impacting the world every day. Jesus has disciples who are still his followers. Individually, we aren’t changing the world, but each of us is making a world of difference to some.

If you are one with Jesus, your life will impact someone else today for a kingdom purpose. How do I know that? Because Jesus said, “For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:20). When you are one with Christ, then Jesus will say something through you today, and his words always have an impact.

It is easy to be unified when we all share the same desired outcome. Everyone you meet today is going to heaven or to their death. That is the outcome that should unify and guide our lives today. Disciples are one with Jesus and share his priorities. Jesus said, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

You might not impact the world today, but you will impact heaven, forever. I think we can all agree with the importance of that outcome.