“Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous.”
Peter called on the Christians to whom he wrote to be “of one mind.” Does being of one mind mean that we have to agree about everything? This is a misunderstanding of what being of one mind means. Being of one mind does not mean that we walk in lockstep with each other, and that we Christians cannot think as individuals. Usually, if people are all of one mind in that way, it means that someone of great influence is in control of the group’s thinking. In a group of people, Christians included, individuals will have various opinions on any given subject. For Christians to be of one mind means that these ideas have been discussed and some consensus has been reached – hopefully brought about by the will of God. Any time a group of human beings meets, there will be differences of opinion on some subjects. Admit it, we will even sometimes disagree with ourselves. What does it mean for Christians to “be of one mind”? It means that for Christians to really be of one mind, we have to learn to disagree like Christians. How can we disagree like Christians? For one thing we have to have respect for our fellow Christians. It is difficult to have what we perceive to be the “right idea” supplanted by someone else, but a Christian is supposed to be able to humbly admit that another’s idea might be just as good or better than his or her own unless the idea is unchristian. Another thing is that if Christians have prayed as a group in order to come to God’s consensus, the Holy Spirit will reveal what the right idea, or the right course of action, should be. The “one mind” that we are to come to is the mind of Christ. The question that we need to ask, and seldom do, is what does Christ want us to do? We can be of one mind, because we can discuss different approaches and accept the right course, hopefully, without getting our egos involved in the decision. This is where the problem comes in. Many times we are not of one mind because someone has to have his or her own way all of the time. Many churches have what we call “matriarchs” and “patriarchs” who will tell you without hesitation that they have always run the church, meaning that they will do so until they die. The “one mind” becomes the one mind of which human being is running the church. Thus, church problems arise. Jesus said, “I will build my church.” This means that your church and mine belongs to Christ, not to a powerful group within the church. Paul wrote that Christ is the “head of the church.” This means that, after all is said and done, decisions for any particular church of any denomination will be determined by what Christ wants. This demands prayer, respect and humility on the part of Christians. What can help us “be of one mind”? In 1 Peter 3:8 Peter actually revealed the things that can help us to be of one mind. The first thing that he wrote about was that we should have compassion for each other. This means that we will be aware of the feelings of other people. If we have compassion for each other, we will not run roughshod over each other. The second thing that he wrote about is that we should “love as brothers.” If we love as brothers, we might disagree, but we will not “fall out” with each other. We might not accept our brother, or sister’s, idea, but we do accept and respect them. The third thing that he wrote was to be tenderhearted. This is the opposite of “hardhearted.” It is the same as being compassionate. It means that we are aware that our brother or sister in Christ has feelings and that we do not want to be offensive to him or her. The fourth thing that he wrote about was to “be courteous.” This should certainly be a virtue that Christians show for each other. Courtesy should extend to every area of the Christian’s life, wherever we are, especially in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about these things in your own Christian relationships. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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