The Mindset of the Messiah: The Secret to Unity

I think we can all agree on the fact that the church needs to be more united. Ephesians 4:3-6 says,

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

1 Corinthians 1:10 says,

“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.”

If you continue reading past verse 10, you see that the church was being divided based on leaders. Some people claimed to follow Apollos, some people claimed to follow Paul, and others, Cephas. It’s just like what we see today: different denominations, each with its own beliefs. However, in the end, we are one body of Christ and that's what matters the most.

There are many more verses in the letters to the different churches in the New Testament encouraging them and us to seek unity and peace. Thankfully, Romans 15:5 gives us insight on how we can achieve this among God’s people.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The extent of unity described in these two verses talks about having the same beliefs (that is one mind), and one voice. If you've ever been part of a choir, you know how hard it is to get every single chorister to be on the same time. There's always a little mix-up somewhere along the way, and it takes a great deal of effort to overcome that. And as you would expect, the bigger the choir, the more difficult it is to achieve that harmony. So, imagine if all the 2.382 billion Christians in the world could speak with one voice, what would we have to do to achieve such a beautiful harmony?

The first part of the passage, verse 5, says

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had."

We need endurance, encouragement, and the same attitude of mind toward each other that Jesus Christ had.

The first two are pretty self-explanatory, we definitely need patience and motivation if we are to continue working towards this great goal. The big deal here would have to be having the same mindset that Jesus had. We already know we are meant to imitate Jesus; we are Christians after all, which literally means Christ-like, but what is this mindset that we should have towards one another that Jesus had that this verse is telling us is the key to unity?

Philippians 2:5-8 says,

“ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

This mindset is one of humility in our relationship with each other. Verse 3 of the same Philippians 2 says,

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility, value others above yourselves.”

Of course, along with humility, comes all the other virtues like love, gentleness, kindness, goodness, and so on, and if you think about it, it makes sense! If everyone was humble and nobody thought of themselves to be better than others, we wouldn't have people trying to compete for spiritual seniority or superiority. If we all loved each other, we wouldn't have all these petty quarrels and arguments that disrupt the peace in the church, we wouldn't have people invalidating others.

While these verses were written specifically to address unity in the church, the principle can also be applied to unity in the world outside of the church. Be humble, endure, encourage, and be encouraged.

Peace and love of Christ be with you all!