Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.
Philippians 3:15-16
If we are mature we will present ourselves in the attitude of being learners in our sufferings. We will not think we have it all together. Since we know this about ourselves we will continually press towards becoming like Christ in the way we think and live. We will not be stuck in our past failures or successes but will look to the future of accessing His resurrection. If we think anything else about ourselves, God will reveal this lesson to us the unyielding teaching of reality.
The things we have learned in Christ in common with our brothers and sisters are what we are to focus on in our lifestyle. We are not supposed to live edgy, controversial lifestyles. We are to live inside the known parameters set by the common agreement of the community until we sort things out. We also can’t command that people live inside the questionable areas that are being decided on by the larger community of Christ. What we know we should stick with so that we all say the same thing to our neighbors. We should be honest about what our personal conviction is and what is clearly the reign of Christ.
For example, I don’t drink alcohol at all because of a personal conviction I have. I think it is generally a good idea not to drink because of the difficulties I have seen it cause in others lives. Others I know drink wine with meals or have a beer now and then. They think this is OK and for them it is. What we both have to agree on is that it is wrong to be drunk. What we both must agree on is that we can’t demand that all Christians everywhere take the same stand we do concerning consuming alcohol. Paul teaches we are to have our freedoms in private so that we don’t lead others astray – either way. We don’t impose some personal code of ethics on a brother or sister that is scripturally open, nor do we flaunt our personal freedom in an area to provoke them to sin.
Maturity in Christ will cause us to have this attitude about scripturally undefined areas of life. Our goal will be to press into what God has called us to so that we can be like Jesus and attain His resurrection in our lives. Everything else comes second to that. We will put away any activity that interferes with that goal.
Sounding The Same,
Pastor Jason
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