The Attitude of Christ

As I was attempting to write my sermon, Sherri turned a show on called “How Not To Become Shark Bait.” Some of the things these guys did for the sake of science was totally outrageous. My first thought was, what would possess people to find out what causes shark attacks? They could be killed or severely injured or maimed. The point is, these guys are not only scientists, but thrill seekers as well. Part of the reason is because it’s an adrenaline rush. However, the main reason behind what they’re doing is to find out what causes people to be attacked by sharks. The aim is to warn people what not to do in order to be safe. They find out what is more tempting to a shark that confuses a person with food. Most sharks do not want to eat people, but they get confused because something a person is doing is confusing them with a fish or animal. These guys are trying to help people stay safe when they swim in the ocean. This is their main goal; save lives.

As Christians, what is our motivation? In our text for today, Paul tells us our motivation should be to have the same attitude as Christ. This begs another question then. What exactly is the attitude of Christ? Paul outlines this in our text for today. Let’s read Philippians 2:1-11.

2 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

In our unity with Christ, which takes place when we accept him, Paul outlines six things that we should have in our repertoire: encouragement, comfort, fellowship, tenderness, love and compassion. Christ offers us these gifts when we accept him as our savior. Paul is telling us that if we have any of these from Christ, then we need to be in the same mindset.

Our mindset when it comes to life is extremely important. Paul is telling us that these six things naturally come from Christ. It is almost one of those captain obvious moments. What Paul is telling us should already be known to us…as a matter of fact, we have covered this subject in other areas of scripture.

Paul is utilizing this fact to hone in his point. Although the Bible as a whole did not exist as we know it today. However, they did have Matthew, Luke, Acts, and possibly Mark. Paul had already written 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Romans, Philemon, Colossians, and Ephesians. With all of these letters circulating around the various Christian churches in Asia Minor and parts of Europe, knowledge contained in the letters would have been known to believers across the region. Keep in mind literacy was very low, but the letters would have been read aloud during either a worship service or a special occasion.

Knowing some of the New Testament letters in fact had been written, we can understand that Paul is emphasizing what other authors had already written. Not only this, but Paul re-emphasizes being one is spirit and purpose, which is what we talked about last week. The reason we should be this way, Paul points out in the very next verse.

Selfish ambition and vain conceit are two things that we are told not to partake in. Ambition we know as someone who strives for power, fame or position. Politicians, a lot of reality show stars are some of those who have selfish ambitions. When we were kids we probably all had dreams of one kind or another. I know when I was a kid I wanted to be a music star or actor. However, sometimes people’s dreams get the better of them and they pursue their dreams without regard to anyone else.

In school, one of our classes is Church Leadership and Administration. In this class, we discuss many issues that go on within the confines of pastoring a church. One of the things we talk about is issues within leadership of the church. The teacher, who happens to be a pastor as well, warned us of situations that arise in church where this issue of selfish ambition arises. Professor was quick to say that this issue does not exist in all churches, but more so the larger the church is. The reason this happens is because people are vying for power and control within the church.

There is a fictional story in the play “The Judgment Seat” about a father. He has died and is facing God in Judgment after his death. He thought that what he was doing was right. However, his motivations behind becoming a deacon of the church, the ministries he supported and issues with his family were all self-motivated. He was a deacon because he wanted the power and stature within the community. He did not support different issues, mainly ones that cost a lot of money primarily because he would be the one fully to support it. He never really, truly accepted Christ as his savior…he did everything for the wrong reasons.

Naturally, this is an extreme case. It is dramatized because the aim is evangelism and examination. Before accepting a leadership role in the church, we need to examine ourselves for the reasons behind what we are doing. Are we taking a leadership role out of lack of people to do it? It very well could be because there is nobody else to do it. Maybe it is because we want power. Maybe it is because we just want to serve Christ in the way he is calling us.

The other issue Paul is addressing is vain conceit. In other words, thinking too highly of our own worth…we are talking in abundance and going far overboard. People who think they are the cat’s meow…a lot of famous people fall into this category. Perception can be tricky in this area and we must be cautious. Just because we think someone is stuck up or “conceited”, does not mean that is always the case. We have to take into account our perspective on any given situation.

We need to remain humble in our circumstances and consider everyone else better than us. If we can look at others as being better, then we will also be able to consider their interests before ours. In other words, we are all taken care of by everyone else and we would not have to worry about our own selves. Our own interests would never be of concern because they would always be taken care of by others.

Our motivation for what we do, Paul says, comes back to the fact that our attitudes must be the same that Christ’s is.

Christ was a selfless servant. He was by his very nature, God, created in a human form. He did not consider himself God, but humbled himself to be a servant. He was a servant until the very end, which even meant death on a cross.

Because Christ did what he did, he was elevated to the highest place and every person on the face of the earth will confess that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord. Whether we choose freely to confess this in our time here on Earth, or are made to say it at the end of days when it is too late, we will confess his Holy and Mighty name.

The attitude that Christ had while living on Earth was always that he came to serve others. Even in the words of Jesus, Mark 10:45 says: 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” With this said, if Christ is God and we are surely not, and he came to serve, we need to have the same outlook to the world. We need to look at life from the perspective that we are only here to serve God and others in our lives. Our dominant motivation should be this. Everything we do should contend with this attitude of service.

Sherri and I recently had the opportunity to go through Emerson Eggerichs book, conference, and small group study titled, “Love and Respect”. It is a phenomenal marriage builder for couples. Whether you’ve been married 50 years or 5 days, every couple needs to go through this conference to experience what the other sex really thinks. There are some things that I question doctrinally, but overall it is a very good marriage builder. The basic overview is that women give and need primarily love and men give and need primarily respect. Obviously, there is more to it than this, but Emerson toward the end focuses on a point within the relationship. He says something to the effect that marriage should be a game of who can out give the other person. Self-sacrifice and service should be the motivation behind our attitude toward our marriage.

This is a great point no matter what relationship it is. Whether you are in a marriage, friendship, family or most importantly, in a relationship with Christ, we should have the self-sacrifice and service motivation behind our attitude.

So, how’s your attitude? As many parents say, do you need an attitude adjustment? Would God say you do? If Jesus walked in the sanctuary, what would he say about your attitude? Would he say you need a little improvement, a lot of improvement, or no change? My bet is that there is not one person here that could not use at very least a little improvement. Please, take the time this week and consider undertaking an evaluation of attitude this week.

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