October 15th

Welcome to Corinth

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10

What do you think of them? You know who I'm talking about. I'm talking about those other so-called Christians.

They think they know everything about the Bible, like they have the corner on truth, but we know better. After all, our church is bigger, our pastor is better educated, and we aren't as weird (or stiff, or old, or irrelevant) as they are. Surely, we have the better church.

Is this how you think about Church? Is Church, to you, only the building you go to on Sunday mornings? Or perhaps you think Church is an organization to which you have a membership, which you got because you wanted to vote in the congregational meetings and have a say in how things are run.

If this is what you think about Church, then you need to shift your thinking.

To start with, there should be no divisions within the Church, and in using the capital C, I mean the universal Church over the entire world throughout all time. We are one body, not a bunch of buildings. We are an organism, not an organization. We are an identity, not merely an assembly.

And we are to have one mind among all of us. How is this possible? Paul tells us just a few verses after our main verses for today, saying, But we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).

We have the same mind with one another because we all have the mind of Christ. We are His body and He is our head.

So what do you think about other Christians, especially from other denominations? It is true that many denominations do not represent Christ at all anymore, but that should not be our first concern. Our first concern should be to think of other Christians (or even those who call themselves Christians, yet are not) the way that Christ thinks about them.

If we are to have the mind of Christ, then we have no business thinking any thoughts that He is not thinking. When we take up this attitude toward one another within the body of Christ, then we will begin to truly become one body. And not only that, but we will begin to become all He created us to be.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for giving me Your mind! But I confess that I don't feel like I have Your mind much of the time. Please help me to think only the thoughts that You think, especially toward everyone else in Your body.

Amen