When people think like us, we sometimes say we are like-minded. We believe similar things and act a lot like one another. As believers, we are told to “have the same mindset as Christ” (Phil. 2:5). In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, we find another embedded hymn (vv. 5–11), calling us to have the mind of Christ (v. 5).
Throughout the Bible, we are commanded to think well, remember God, and be sober-minded. The believer is called to have a sound mind and not to be deceived by the intoxicating influences and ideologies of the world. In Philippians 2, Paul calls the Christians in Philippi to unity, urging them to be “like-minded” (v. 2). But this unity is different from how the world, or even some in the church today, might define it. This is true unity defined by an uncompromising truth and love.
To have the mind of Christ means to have a love for God and others where we do nothing out of selfish ambition but “in humility value others above” ourselves (v. 3). It means we have the seed of truth embedded in us, for if we are truly born again, we have a truth “not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). We cannot have true unity or love without the truth from One whose name is Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11). “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6).
With true unity, we are able to sing with one mind, one heart, one voice, and one message, proclaiming the gospel until the day we see “every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:11; Rom. 14:11; Isa. 45:23). May we always sing with the mind of Christ.
Do you have the mind of Christ, rooted in His truth and His love? How does being “like-minded” change the way we think, act, and even worship?
This world is full of counterfeits, but You, Lord, are Faithful and True. Guide us into all truth and unity among believers, so that we may sing to You with one heart, one mind, one voice. Amen!
Dr. Brian Lee is a professor of Music at Moody Bible Institute. He serves in music ministry at Maranatha Bible Church in Chicago and is an active classical pianist as a soloist and chamber musician.
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