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Title: Let Your Attitude Conform to Christ's Attitude - it's something we all have, it's a frame of mind, or way of thinking that affects our thoughts or behavior. Webster's Dictionary defines it as a mental position, or a feeling in regard to a fact or condition. In everyday language when we say a person has an attitude the connotation is usually negative. But it can be positive. Medical research has shown that our attitude affects the speed and extent of recovery from serious injuries or illnesses. It's often a factor in determining what type of treatment a person receives. Psychologists tell us our attitude affects how we see who and what we are, and sociologists say that by knowing a persons attitude they can predict rather accurately how that person will respond in certain situations and under certain conditions. You've heard me use it before, but Listen again to this poem. Oh, what a happy child I am, How many blessings I enjoy (Bernard Ruffin, Fanny Crosby. p. 28) That poem expresses the wonderful attitude of a blind eight year old child facing a sightless future. Instead of becoming bitter about her condition and the trials she faced she maintained a positive attitude. Because of her attitude Christians the world over have been blessed. Listen to these words: "A wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, He taketh my burden away; He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved, He giveth me strength as my day." Or how about, "Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Savior am happy and blest: Watching and waiting, looking above, filled with His goodness, lost in His love." , "This is my story," she wrote, " this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long." In addition to "He Hideth My Soul and Blessed Assurance," you know her other great hymns, " Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior," "Rescue The Perishing," "Praise Him, Praise Him," and many more. Her name was Fanny Crosby. Attitude is obviously important for everyone, but it is especially important in the life of the believer. If we, as believers, are going to fulfill our potential as Christians it is essential we have the right attitude. Jesus faced the same trials, hardships and temptations we face and the Bible tells us the attitude He exemplified is the ideal which we are to follow. In chapter two of Philippians, after encouraging the believers at Philippi to seek unity, Paul deals with the proper attitude for the Christian. In verse five Paul insists our attitude should conform or be the same as that of Christ Jesus. In these verses he shares three ways in which our attitude is to conform to that of Jesus and these are not new. You've heard them before. The first one Paul has already mentioned in the previous verses. Our attitude should conform to that of Jesus in the matter of humility. Paul in v. 6 said Jesus nature was that of God. He existed in the form of God the NAS says. Paul was declaring Jesus was equal with God in every way. He was not just an inspired prophet or enlightened teacher He was God in the flesh, God incarnate. The Shema (shema means hear in Hebrew)in Deut 6:4 says, "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" (NAS). Mark's gospel records that Jesus quoted this when answering the question about the greatest commandment, (MK 12:29). Rather than denying the oneness of God the New Testament continually affirms that truth - God is one divine essence and being. What the New Testament also teaches most clearly stated perhaps in the first chapter of John's gospel and what Paul affirms in this verse is that the essence is identical in God the Father and God the Son, as well as God the Holy Spirit. Yet even though he was God he did not regard this equality as something to be grasped or held onto like a prize. It was not something to spare him from humanity. Instead Christ voluntarily laid aside the prerogatives of his divine nature, not the divine nature itself. He chose to be born in a stable rather than a palace, He chose to be a carpenter's son rather than a king's, He chose a donkey rather than a king's chariot, He chose a crown of thorns rather than a royal diadem, He chose a cross rather than a majestic throne. In the incarnation Jesus never ceased being God, but He made himself poor that we might become rich (II Cor. 8:9). His ministry was not focused on who He was, so much as what he came to do. He did not spend time moaning or complaining about the fate which awaited him, or the trials he would face. He was preeminently above such things, yet He humbled himself in order to come down to mankind and meet us where we were. Newsweek Magazine in 1984 carried an article describing the surprise of the citizens of an Atlanta neighborhood seeing then mayor Andrew Young hanging off the side of a city sanitation truck. The mayor worked from 7:30 AM until 2:30 PM as a sanitation worker, picking up garbage. In an effort to better understand the feelings of city workers he had voluntarily laid aside the prerogatives of the office of Mayor. (Newsweek 1984) Humility is not an attitude which is highly regarded by world standards. The world view is to look out for yourself and to get ahead at all costs. This is not the rule of life for the Christian. The "Golden Rule" is the rule for the Christian life and Paul described that in verses 3 and 4 when he wrote: "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not {merely} look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others." (NAS) That's what Jesus did for us. Those of us who are Christians are to humble ourselves just as Jesus did. We are to live the gospel message as well as take that message to the world. Our position in the body of Christ is one of kinship, we are heirs of the kingdom, but that position is not to be used as a shield from the world, but as a light to the world; not to make us better than someone else, but to make us servants of others. The second way our attitude must be conformed to the attitude of Christ is obviously through serving. We have heard that message throughout the Scripture. Paul said not only was Jesus by nature God, but He voluntarily took on the nature of a servant by being made in human likeness. That means he not only took on the external characteristics of humanity, but also the essential nature of humanity as well. In the incarnation a human nature was inseparably untied with the divine nature in the one person Jesus of Nazareth, yet with the two natures remaining distinct, so that the one person Jesus Christ is fully human and at the same time fully divine. And in taking on the human nature Jesus made it clear He came to serve rather than to be served (Matt. 20: 28). The creator of all that exists, the commander of the hosts of heaven, the King of kings and Lord of Lords girding Himself with a towel to wash the dirty feet of His disciples. The majesty of heaven shedding His blood to cleanse me from my sin. As we have said before the same kind of attitude must be a hallmark of all true believers. We must display the servant's heart in and through our lives, and our greatest example is Christ Jesus our Lord. We are not called to be great Christians nor even to have great churches. We are called to be obedient to the will of God. I think it was Winston Churchill who said there are no great men, only ordinary men who rise to meet great challenges. The same might also be said of Christians, there are no great Christians only ordinary Christians who are willing to be servants to be used by God, and be obedient to the will of God.That's the third way we are to be conformed to the attitude of Christ through obedience. Paul wrote Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross. Though Jesus could have at any time said that the price was too great, the cost of servanthood too high, He prayed instead not my will but thy will be done. He was obedient all the way to the slaves death on the cross and could confess in John 10:18 that no man took His life from Him, but He laid it down himself, willingly. That's the kind of attitude that led to the modern missions movement. It's the kind of attitude that sustains Kansas/Nebraska missions work. It's the kind of attitude that brought Ann and Adoniram Judson to Burma in 1813. During the trip Ann lost a child born prematurely and almost lost her own life. When the young Adoniram Judson went ashore full of enthusiasm he was told there was nothing for him in Burma, he should return to America while he still had the fire of his faith. He replied, it was God who had sent him and it was there he would stay. In the face of hardship, danger and even death the Judson's were obedient to God's call. Today our missionaries in places like Indonesian, Africa, South America and other places around the world, and even in Nebraska still display that kind of obedience. Did you read the poem in Your Church on Mission with God from the bulletin last week. It was written by Manaseh Mutsoili, a Baptist pastor in western Kenya based on Isa 6:8. He wrote: Here am I, I will go and tell all the tribes. Paul says that we are to have the attitude of Christ. It is one of humility, service and obedience. Does your attitude conform to that of Christ? I challenge you the Word of God challenges you to make it so and surrender all to Him. Will you? [Back] |