May you live in interesting times.
You may have heard that phrase as a blessing. Funny though. What you may not have heard is that the phrase originated as more of a curse than a blessing in that the opposite of interesting times is uninteresting times, as in peaceful, lack of turmoil. Whereas interesting times were considered as tumultuous and full of conflict. It is safe to say, these are interesting times. To make the times even more interesting for me, most of the tumult takes place in my own head.
My mind feels like a pushmi-pullyu, the two-headed lama in The Story of Dr. Doolittle. I try to articulate thoughts in processing today’s culture-rattling issues and I end up with my own Facebook thread of contradictory comments in my head, a thread that sounds like the dismissive dialogue of the day. A positive thought about wearing masks labels me fearful. A positive thought about not wearing masks labels me as selfish. A positive thought about protesting for racial injustice labels me anti-police. A positive thought about police labels me as racist.
It is difficult to think.
I need a brain anchor, a centering point for thoughts. Thankfully, I have one. It’s in Philippians 2.
The early church letter known as the book of Philippians was sent to believers at a time when they too were living in interesting times. Philippi was a Greek-cultured city that had been turned into a Roman colony. The lower classes maintained their Greek language and manners while the higher classes enjoyed the culture, language, and architecture of Rome. The church in Philippi, founded approximately 10 years before receiving this letter, apparently began with three sets of households, each from a different strata of Philippian culture: an entrepreneur (Lydia), representing the owner class; a jailer, representing the working class; and a “slave girl” representing the oppressed layer of society. In addition, the letter of Philippians points to a rift in the church that its congregants were navigating: the early church issue as to whether Gentiles converting to Christianity should become Jews first (and thus, be circumcised) and then Christians. It is safe to say: these were interesting times.
In the second chapter of Philippians, Paul tells this group of Christ followers, a group obviously made up of many different layers—culturally, economically, spiritually—how to navigate the pushmi-pullyu mind field of culturally diverse and divisive times: be of the same mind. Hmmm. Okay. That sounds a bit like comedian Steve Martin’s old bit about how to get rich. “First, get a million dollars.” Paul, however, offers good explanation on how to do it, using the greatest example of all time. Jesus. In fact, it’s made very clear that culturally diverse and divisive times give opportunity to show evidence of the Divine through one of the biggest miracles God pulls off on a daily basis: unified minds.
First, we are given an instruction. Take a quick micro retreat and read Philippians 2:1-5 below, making a special note (mental or physical) each time you see references to “mind” as well as references that connote oneness or unity.
Philippians 2:1-5
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves…
Okay. The instructions for unity are pretty obvious: be of the same mind, have the same love, be in full accord, be of one mind, have THIS mind among yourselves. It’s the phrase “this mind” where we are given the nitty gritty on how to pull this off. Paul goes on to explain just what “this mind” is. Continue your micro-retreat by reading these verses below and note (again, mentally or physically) everything that Jesus did and everything that God did.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
By my count, Jesus stepped through seven layers of humility, each layer being of a more humble nature than the previous, with the last layer being the ultimate act of humility: death on a cross. This is our example. This is our example for how to live from one minute to the next. This is our example for how to interact with people who think differently. This mindset is to be our daily, maybe hourly, goal.
I recently did a mind exercise with this passage, journaling the text as if I was writing it as a personal diary, being mindful of the progressive sequence of humility. I found it pretty convicting, so I thought I’d share:
Barry, though you might think you are right;
Though you might think you are on the right side of an issue;
Though you might think you are on the winning side of a conflict, even the righteous side of a conflict;
Don’t hold too tightly to what YOU think.
In fact, empty yourself.
Lose the need for vindication.
Let go of your selfish ambitions.
Ask yourself of anyone around you:
-How can I serve you?
-How can I help you?
Of anyone you interact with, or disagree with:
-First: seek how to empathize.
-Maybe ask: How can I understand how you feel?
As you interact with people who are different than you socially, economically, in personality, in ethnicity, ask:
-How can I enter into your history, your experiences?
-How can I see the life journey that has shaped you and formed your perspective?
-How can I lay my interests down and lift your interests up?
-How can I do the right thing, even though it will cost me something?
How can I lay everything down and walk away with:
-nothing to prove;
-no reason to have to persuade;
-no reason to have my ideas vindicated, or be proven right;
-no reason to be nervous.
Then, this is where the fun begins. Jesus stepped through the various layers of humility to the lowest of the low, then God exalted Jesus to the highest of the high, where every knee should bow and tongue confess. Now, I’m not expecting that, but after I step through my own layers of humility, I’m in a place where God can use me. Now people have a better chance of seeing God through me.
I’m thinking that’s a pretty good spot to live in.
So, how can I make this happen on a daily basis? Three mindful takeaways from Philippians 2 emerge:
- Empty
- Empathy
- Exaltation
- Empty my mind of my own agenda.
When I interact with someone who disagrees, my first response can’t be: How can I prove you wrong or How can I win you over? But rather, How can our commonality in Christ win the day?
- Seek empathy.
Empathy is the essence of the Christian faith. It’s what the incarnation, the backbone of the Christian faith, is all about. I love this quote from George Washington Carver:
“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these.”
― George Washington Carver
- Lean into exaltation.
When we empty ourselves of our own agendas and fill ourselves with empathy for others, we put ourselves in position for God to use us. Stepping through the layers of humility shown to us in Philippians 2 sets up the best part of this passage: God doing the action. Speaking from personal experience, much of the stress in our lives comes from our own selfishness.
Funny observation. Look closely at the empty and empathy. Do you notice that the two letters that make the difference in those words spell the word ah? When we empty out our personal agendas and interact with people out of empathy, we have effectively loosened our white-knuckle grip on our lives and opened the doors for God to work. This takes the pressure off and makes our hearts say, “Ahhhhh!”
These are interesting times, the kind of times that offer unprecedented opportunity to show the miraculous work of God through unified minds. Let’s open up and say “ahhh!”
Note: Check out InWord’s small-group study on Philippians here: Learning To Be Like Christ.