“Finally, brothers and sisters…be of one mind”
From the last devotion we say that being of one mind is only possible if we have the mind of Christ; that is we submit to God and serve each other. But what can we do to make sure that we develop such a mind?
Paul spends a lot of time talking to the Corinthians about that very issue. “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” (1 Corinthians 1: 10).
The practicalities of being one in mind start with being careful about what we say. “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” (1 Corinthians 2: 13) and since they are spirit taught words they should produce spiritual fruit, namely “…love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” (Galatians 5: 22b-23a)
When was the last argument you saw in which the words that were spoken were out of love, joy and peace? How often have you seen forbearance, kindness and goodness in the person having the argument? When Christians have a healthy debate about spiritual matters it should be with gentleness and self-control.
When it comes to arguments, it is sometimes not a matter of working out who is wrong and who is right as does it really matter. “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters.” (Romans 14: 1) If we keep arguing over things that are not important then we are likely to cause more damage than good.
“Keep reminding God’s people of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.” (2 Timothy 2: 14) There is no way you can have the mind of Christ if you are so concerned with words and arguments that you destroy the very people you are arguing with. Our greatest concern, more than being right or wrong, should be for each other.
In fact it is preferable for us to loose an argument and win a friend than the other way around. “I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? …Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.” (1 Corinthians 6: 5,7b-8)
As Brothers and Sisters we need to be of one mind, and that often means recognising how useless our words are. Instead of winning people over with them lets use them to demonstrate our love and concern or else just keeping silent. In that way we can develop a unity of mind rather than conformity of doctrine.
God Bless,
Matt.
