A mind of our own

Recently, J.T., a 3-year-old member of our parish, visited me in my office. His daddy was along.

“Tell Pastor Karen what we did yesterday,” his dad said.

“I can’t remember,” J.T. said.

“Yes, you can; remember?”

“No, I can’t,” J.T. said. “I don’t KNOW; Daddy, you think FOR us.”

J.T.’s words were endearing – but they also have a little to suggest for the Church. God’s people are an independent people, who, as far back as the Garden of Eden, want to think for themselves.

While it is right and good for J.T. and the rest of us to have minds of our own, we as faithful people are also called, as Paul puts it, to “let the same mind be in (us) that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). As good a gift as our minds are, they can lead us astray, toward the ways of brokenness, pain, hurt, suffering and even death. To “live and die in Christ” is to take on our Lord’s mind – to let his mind be our own.

This message is excerpted from “Taking on our Lord’s mind” by Karen Bates Olson in the January/February 2018 Gather magazine.

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