This week's Bible Study - February 14, 2010
What Will It Take to Change Your Mind?
 Background Scripture:
Philippians 3:2-15; 4:8
Quote of the Week:
"There is nothing wrong with change, as long as it is in the right direction."
-- Winston Churchill
Sometimes in life, we make decisions on choices that really don't make a lot of difference. You may stand in front of a soda machines trying to decide between water, soda or something else. You might decide on a whim where you will eat lunch. In many of these choices, you don't have people pressuring you to make a decision, unless someone else has to go along with your decision. These decisions usually make very little difference, unless your eating habits become a problem in your life, which is the case for many people, I suppose.
Sometimes, you might find yourself having to decide between different models of appliances, or different types of cars or some other decision at a store. In that instance, you might find considerable pressure from a salesperson. I was on a mission trip to China in 2009 and several of us went to what we called the Silk Market in Beijing - that may be what it was really called. That place was a madhouse. There were several floors and aisles and aisles of merchandise - much of it was questionable quality. There were multiple booths with essentially the same goods and the pressure to buy from one place or another was intense. It was a bidding war, and they wanted to make it look like you were shrewd in your business dealing skills. If you buckled to pressure, you buckled a lot at this place.
There are many decisions that we will make in life. As stated, in some cases, the choice has little bearing. In other cases, people want to influence your decision. In our world, we need to realize that the prevailing winds blow away from God. If you are going with the majority opinion on most issues, you'll find that you are heading away from God. It is imperative that we realize that there is rigor required in making decisions, especially if we want to be God honoring in what we do. Don't get me wrong - we'll all make bad decisions from time to time, but the intent is for our minds to become more and more transformed into thinking as God would have us think. It will never happen by accident, and it is based on the decisions that we make day to day.
Paul gives a stern warning to watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil. I suppose it would be easier if they were dressed as dogs, or as demons. If you went through life and encountered evil people dressed in such outlandish costumes, you would probably laugh and go the other way. However, these people are often very devious and would seem to appeal to your best interests. Paul was talking about those who spoke of spiritual matters. Even today, there are those who mislead many people by wooing them down a road that 'seems right'.
Paul was saying that he was legitimate. He worshipped by the Spirit of God, gloried in Christ Jesus and put not confidence in the flesh. The Jewish religious leaders were all about ritualistic worship, but it was based on strict adherence to tradition and very much outward. The essence of Christianity changes people from the inside, although you'll still find many people who are trying to outwardly live their faith. They may have come from a well known family in a church or they may have always been involved in church matters. It may appear that they know what they are talking about, and since we cannot easily see what is inside of a person, they may have many people fooled.
Paul indicated that if there was any reason to have confidence in their flesh, he would certainly be confident. He was circumcised as a Jew 'should be'. He was of the people of Israel and not a transplanted Jew. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was blue blood, to be sure. In regards to the law, he had been a Pharisee; knowing the ins and outs of the law and what people needed to do to keep it. He had been zealous in his faith, as he persecuted the church of Christ. This was a big sticking point at the start of his ministry, as believers had to wonder if he was indeed legitimate. And, Paul was faultless according to legalistic righteousness. Isn't it interesting that he was persecuting believers, yet he was considered to be faultless? When people have it in their minds that things are as this or that, their views are certainly skewed.
Even though Paul had 'all that', he realized that anything to his profit was now considered loss for the sake of Christ. There are many that may read this lesson that, somewhere inside of themselves, they think they are 'all that'. They trust in Christ, but they put a large premium on the other things they do. It might be something in the church, or it may just be how they relate to others. When our doing and being becomes the thing we focus on, we must step back and ask if we are still doing this for the sake of Christ. Is Christ alone as your treasure, or is Christ amid a bunch of other treasures in your life?
It was not only that Paul saw his profit apart from Christ as a loss, but he considered everything else a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord, for whose sake he lost all things. There are a couple of parables that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 13. One was a man that was digging in a field (not his own) and he came across a great treasure. He buried it and then went and sold all he had so that he could purchase the field. He found something that was so worth giving up everything else. In another parable, a merchant found a pearl of magnificent value. He also sold all he had so that he could acquire that pearl. One parable had someone finding a treasure by accident and the other had someone who was very intentional. In both cases, they found the treasure worth more than anything else and they positioned themselves to acquire that treasure. Have you positioned yourself to place the knowledge of Christ Jesus above every other treasure in your life?
Paul said that he considered all those other things as a loss. In the end, he did lose all of those other things, but he kept his relationship with Christ. That is something that nobody can take away from you. Why was Paul so focused on that relationship? He knew that being found in Christ would give him righteousness through faith in Christ. Prior to that, his righteousness was based upon the law. Through Christ, he became righteous based upon faith, and as a gift from God.
We need to remember whose we are. As believers, we are righteous through the blood of Christ. All other activities in life pale in significance to what we gain through Christ. As we make our decisions, we align with Christ or something else. If our righteousness through faith is as much as we say it is, it would seem that our decisions would be based upon what we find most important and where our priorities lie.
Paul went on to say that he had not truly attained where he wanted to be. This is true of each of us. It doesn't matter if you've been a believer for 10 minutes, 10 years or 70 years. We all still struggle. Why is a lesson that talks about having to get our mind straight appeal to each of us? We all know. Each of us struggles with something. It may not be some large moral failure, but it could be as benign as things we think about other people. They aren't good enough for us or they've made mistakes or they think so highly of themselves or whatever.
Paul said that he wanted to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship or sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, somehow attaining to the resurrection from the dead. This was his chief pursuit in life. We all have pursuits. I know people that are back in school, pursuing degrees. There are people that are pursuing relationships and others that are pursuing jobs. Having a pursuit is a worthwhile thing, but can we truly say that we are pursuing Christ? Most of us have a difficult time finding a few minutes here and there to set apart some time to read God's word or to pray for others. Yet, in our true pursuits, we make time for what we desire.
Paul was perhaps the greatest missionary known to Christianity. He spread the gospel to many places and from there, it continued to spread. He certainly was the first true missionary. However, even with all that he had accomplished in life, he was still pursuing God. He had not attained. How ridiculous for any of us to think that we've gotten there and are now 'all that'! Paul pressed on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus had taken hold of him. He was very intentional. Just as that second parable, he was all about seeking God. I've found that you do not accidentally grow closer to Christ. It requires effort. Your mind must be fully engaged.
Paul continues the thought of working towards a goal. When you are working towards a goal, what is your focus? Are you looking ahead or are you looking back? I play a lot of basketball and perhaps over time, my 'killer' instinct has dropped. I remember at some point when my team would be up by a few points with a few minutes to go, we'd easily keep going. However, it seems now that I find myself looking at the clock and playing not to lose. When you start to play defensively, you will find a lack of momentum and you might find it hard to just keep going forward. The same holds true in our spiritual lives. We may be on a good roll for a while, but when we take our eyes off of the prize, we lose precious momentum.
What is it that takes our focus off? Paul mentions it in this passage and I can tell you that this is something that many Christians struggle with. Paul says to forget what is behind and strain towards what is ahead. When you look behind you, you are less steady in going forward. The things you look back to can be either good or bad. Many people have past successes - times where they feel like God has used them in a specific way. Sometimes, they have a hard time not looking back to that. Other people have past failures - times where they made perhaps major mistakes and sometimes they feel that they have somehow disqualified themselves from the race. Paul is encouraging each of us to forget the things of the past and head forward. It isn't enough to just point in the right direction, but to strain towards what is ahead. Can you honestly say that you are straining towards what God has put in front of you?
What is that goal that we are headed towards? This passage tells us to press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward. Most of us have set goals in our lives. They can be of all different types. In essence, it is not a bad idea to set goals before us, but the degree to which we strive for the goals and the types of goals that we strive for are very important. Are we striving to be Christlike in our lives? The passage tells us that all of us who are mature should take this view to strive towards the goal that God has set before us. Knowing that we are who we are, Paul adds that if on some point you think differently, that God would make it clear to you.
Where should we place our focus? It is easy to give the church answer that says we should strive to be what God has called us to be, without really knowing what that means. We know it is the right answer, but the details are beyond us. Well, this verse tells us some key things about how we focus our minds. We are to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. These are all aspects of godly living. Do you realize how important it is that you focus on the right things in your life? Our minds can either set us about growing closer to God, or they can lead us further away. Where have you set your mind? What is the primary focus of your thoughts?
Closing
As we read these passages from the book of Philippians, it becomes apparent that there are many things that can get us off track. All of these have to do with how we view these things and how much of a priority we place on them.
We are told to not put stock in who we are (of this world). You may be from a great family and a great church. Your family may be broken or dysfunctional and your church may be nothing special. Our standing is not based upon these things, but based solely on our relationship with Jesus Christ.
We are to examine our lives and to determine what we truly consider to be precious. This isn't the answer that you give to others when they ask, but what you really value deep inside of you. Paul said that he counted all other things as loss, in order to gain the relationship with Jesus Christ. What is valued in your life? Is your relationship with Christ the most important thing or is it merely one of the most important things?
We are truly in a race towards a specific goal. Are you living your life as if it is a race? Are you looking behind and telling yourself that you have already done it before, so it's not something you need to do again? Are you looking behind and seeing your failures and disqualifying yourself from the race? Or, are you simply distracted? I played basketball last Sunday and my shoes came untied several times. Honestly, I know how to tie my shoes, but they just wouldn't stay tied. I found that I was focusing more on my shoes and less on the game. Sometimes distractions cause us to be lax in running for the goal. Paul tells us to strain towards what lies ahead. Are you straining or are you merely heading in that direction?
Lastly, we are told of the importance of our thoughts. You can talk yourself out of doing many things for God if your thoughts are more about you and less about Him. Are you focusing on the things that God has called you to focus or are you focusing on other things? Many of us truly want to grow closer to God. We truly desire the treasure of Christ above all. We are engaged in the race and are straining towards the goal. Yet, often we deal with thoughts that slow us down. We should pray for one another such that we would be focused on the things that God has placed before us. If your mind is not there now, would you pray right now that God would help you to change your mind? What will it take to change your mind?
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