Our Self
We all are selfish by nature. The unhappy trend in North America is that self is becoming more and more important. Reality shows on T.V. underline the growth of this attitude; that self is the primary motive of people in this culture. The antics on these shows, we laugh at, but the underlying reality is the premise that self is the most important truth. That is why we watch these shows – to witness people being selfish.
In Philippians 2 Paul is writing to the people of Philippi, who he loves. He sits in a prison cell in Rome and writes to them about their inner motives in life.
If you look closely at this passage it tells us a lot about Paul. It tells us where he is spiritually and more important it tells us what he has learned from Christ. He demonstrates that his happiness is bound up in the spiritual welfare of the people. That is a profound way to think – that he can only feel real happiness if they are spiritually well. That is the mark of someone who in fact loves them. His deepest joy depended, not on his own personal comforts, but on the spiritual progress of those whom he loved.
He asks the people of Philippi to complete his joy – not by giving him gifts, but by living together in holy love and “keeping the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
The whole philosophy of Christian life is stated in one sentence by Paul in the previous chapter. “To live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Now, in chapter 2 we learn about the pattern for Christian living, which is the mind of Christ.
It cannot be an imitation. When we think about this “mind of Christ’ we need to understand that Paul meant that the ‘mind of Christ’ was supposed to be in us, not imitated – there is a big difference.
Wendy and I were watching T.V. the other night and there was an ad on for something or other. They showed the Toronto Argonauts football team’s locker room. In it worked a diligent man of about 30. The team members call him ‘Dave the Wave.’ He was obviously different than other people because he had Down Syndrome. He was in charge of the towels and drinks for the players. As I watched the commercial I thought how wonderful it was for this child-like man to work there; these huge players towered over him and rubbed him on the head on the way by. Dave was included in some team pictures and there was this very real feeling that he was loved by all the team. His other job was retrieving the football tee after each kick-off. He would be ready and dash out for it and bring it back with tremendous pride. This is his job and he delights it.
The interesting thing to me was the reaction of the players to this man. They reached out to him because he is the definition of one who has no perception of selfishness. Every moment of Dave’s day is devoted to doing his job, which was doing for others. This gentle man, never it seems, is concerned about self. He derives his joy from being concerned for others.
When we read the first three verses of Chapter 2 of Philippians we find a very small word, with an imposing challenge to us all. “IF, you have any encouragement from being united with Christ. IF any comfort from His love, IF any fellowship with the Spirit, IF any tenderness and compassion.” This is not a conditional clause. We will notice as we continue understanding Paul that the word “if” is used by him as an argument, not a ‘what if.’ Think about replacing the word ‘if’ with the word ‘since’ and you will get the meaning right away. So, ‘since you have encouragement from being united, and ‘since’ you receive comfort from His love, and ‘since’ you have fellowship with the Spirit, and since tenderness and compassion are present, then make my joy complete by (continuing) to be like-minded with Christ.
This morning we are celebrating the Lord’s Supper. This day of all days we should be affected by selflessness. The work of Christ on the cross is the ultimate definition of selflessness. This method of looking at the world and negotiating our way through it is one of the fundamental teachings of Christ. We continue, though, to look through our own perspectives of the world and the people in it, rather than to energetically attempt to live as though Christ’s mind was our mind.
There was a girl named Maria who had broken up with Jimmy. She told him she simply didn’t want to be with him anymore. But after about a year of being broken up, she wrote Jimmy a letter. She said, “Jimmy, I miss you bad. I think of you all day and all night long. You dominate my mind and I just don’t want to be apart from you anymore. Jimmy let’s reconnect. P.S. Congratulations on winning the lottery!”
It’s amazing how willing people are to do things when there is personal benefit involved. But on a more subtle scale, what about the little decisions we make every day that don’t seem to be decisions at all. What about that sly glance to a friend about another person? How about our thoughts that never reach the light of day – all the suppositions that remain in our heads as we look around a crowd and judge, or we are listening to others in conversations and quietly make harsh mental statements. Do we have the capacity, or I should say the willingness, to approach all of our brothers and sisters like Dave the Wave? Can we picture each other, and others whom we don’t know, like children – God’s children? You see the reason the huge football players treat Dave so well is not because they feel sorry for him – but more because they see him for what he is. They see him as child-like who responds to them with love. Are we so callous that we treat eachother poorly, or have less than loving thoughts about others because they are not, let me say, defenceless. Think about this for a minute. Why do we treat very young children with nothing but love? Why do we treat those who we can see are disabled with unfettered love? Why do we treat our spouse with unconditional love? Because we are not threatened by them – they are the ones who we automatically accept, because we know they accept us. So why can we not take the same attitude with everyone? It’s because we are thinking about self – not them.
This brings us to the one of the great theological statements in the Bible. Some consider it the greatest doctrinal statement in the New Testament. The Greek word for this statement is ‘kenosis.’ It means the ‘emptying.’ This is the literal meaning of what ‘living the mind of Christ’ means. If we are to fully understand it, then we have to read this passage very carefully and appreciate what Christ demonstrated very clearly. If you hear these words and then do not look introspectively into your own mind – you will do yourself a great injustice.
When we say that we are to have the mind of Christ, it is a big pill to swallow. However, if we endeavour to discover for ourselves exactly what ‘the mind of Christ’ is, then we will walk through life with a much improved attitude and be much more joyful. There are a number of steps Christ took in order to complete His work on the cross – which gave us all forgiveness and the promise of eternal life. Before we go through the steps He took for us, think a moment about our petty attitudes and poor performance to our fellow man, and then think about being granted eternal life from God himself. Is there a very large disconnect there for you? There is for me.
To define the ‘mind of Christ’ follow me in the steps He took in order to have us forgiven and expecting eternal life as He promised.
He left heaven’s glory for us. You and I cannot even conceive of what a huge step it was from heaven’s glory all the way down to earth. Absolutely, it is beyond human comprehension to understand what our Lord did for us. He left heaven, the place He was exalted by God – He left to come to earth to fulfil God’s plan, and He came with joy. We have to, as we get off our high horses in life and become more humble and attentive to our fellow man, do it with joy. It is connected – a life in which we treat others with love is a life that will see joy.
Verse 7 speaks with clarity. “but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” His second step. He put off to the side all that He had, His reputation, His status in heaven, His proximity to God – all to begin a trajectory that would end in His service to mankind.
Now here is a bit of a complicated thought – one which I’m certain you all can absorb. When Christ came to earth He came as a man, human, blood and bones as us. Some will argue that He had no deity – that He was not part of the Godhead when He was on earth. That is not true. He was very much God and man. It is stated for us in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning there was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him; and without Him nothing that was made could be made.” Then it goes on to tell us, “and the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” What Christ did, theologically was to set aside some of his “Godness” to make the entire reason for his journey on earth successful. He set aside the “prerogatives of deity” which means He ‘emptied Himself’ of some of the abilities He possessed as part of the Godhead, as part of being God. The key here is to notice that He ‘emptied Himself’ to serve mankind. (and God) Remember ‘kenosis?’ This ‘emptying’ is what I want you to think about. For us, it is the process of putting aside our instant reactions – the ending of automatic judgment of others, the forgiving of those who have actually wronged us. The fundamental change from being centered in ‘our self.’ We have to, as Christ followers, do what He did. We have to ‘empty’ ourselves of all that which is selfish, sour and not for use to others.
You know when a weight-lifter wants to strengthen their legs, they have to do squats. They pick up the heavy weights and then bend down – up and down, up and down in order to build up strength in their legs. In order to build your hamstrings, to strengthen your legs, you’ve got to squat. Most of us don’t get low enough. We’re not growing stronger because we are not willing to bend.
You know, Christ was met with a sorry attendance when He was born. Not only should there have been a huge crowd there – the whole universe should have attended. He surely could have made all of Rome’s hierarchy and kings and queens been there in that dirty stable, but He chose not to demand anything. He was willing to be humble and lowly. He came as a servant and He left this earth as the resurrected Son of God. Between the coming and the going He was ‘empty’ of judgement and pride.
Today we come to His table to remember Him. We come with the new understanding of ‘emptying’ ourselves to do His work – the work that He entrusted to us from the cross. He left heaven and came down to earth for one purpose. He became a man, and suffered the death of a criminal for others – for you and me. Thank God for that! That is the mind of Christ. Amen
