What does it take to change your mind? I’m not talking about changing your mind on little things: the car you drive, your next vacation destination, or the arrangement of your living room furniture. I’m thinking about real change — radical change, fundamental change in the way you think, which results in practical changes in the way you live.
The biblical basis of our Lenten season this year is one of the most eloquent passages in the entire New Testament: Philippians 2:1-11, written by the apostle Paul. His purpose is as challenging as it is clear. He is out to change minds. Our minds. He called Christians in Philippi to “be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (v. 2). Paul challenges us, as he challenged them, to “let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (v. 5).
The Greek word translated here as “mind” describes a way of thinking that determines action. We might call it a mindset. Old Testament writers would refer to this as a matter of the heart. Whether New Testament head or Old Testament heart, the Bible is speaking about the fundamental foundation upon which we build our lives — the internal frame of reference through which we perceive everything else.
Christian faithfulness is not about making minor adjustments on the exterior of our lives. The gospel is not a self-help manual to make life go a little smoother. Paul is not a pop psychologist offering quick tips on self-improvement. Becoming a follower of Jesus requires a radical reorientation of thinking that results in an equally radical transformation of living. It calls for nothing less than a “mental transplant,” in which the mindset with which Jesus came into this world, lived, died, and rose again becomes the mindset by which we live, with which we die, and through which we are raised to new life. That’s a tall order, indeed!
On Ash Wednesday, March 1, we are invited to enter into Lent — a season of self-examination and repentance in prayer, fasting, self-denial, and reading and meditating on God’s Word. Like the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, the forty days (excluding Sundays) that span Ash Wednesday to Easter are the opportunity many of us need to wrestle with the deep issues of our lives and discover new ways to live with the mind — the mindset, the heart — of Christ.
This year, our Sunday worship will consider the call to Christ-mindedness in Philippians 2. I hope you can be part of that challenging and sacred road to Easter. I look forward to sharing that time with you.
Grace and Peace,