“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Paul’s interest is not simply in mere maudlin uniformity but in harmony corresponding to truth. The idea is that the church is to have genuine unity, not superficial unity. The “same mind” is internal the frame of mind or state of mind. “Same judgment” is an external estimate of something based on truth. “Mind” looks at the state of mind. “Judgment” is an opinion.
PRINCIPLE:
Attitude and judgment are crucial to unity.
APPLICATION:
Christians should have the same attitude as Christ.
Php 2:5-8, 5 Let this mind [attitude] be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
The attitude of Christ was humble. He gave up His rights and privileges. He gave Himself for others. Believers should not go to church with an attitude of entitlement but humility.
Christians are not to think alike about everything holding the same opinions about every issue. Unity comes from the capacity of attitude and judgment. True accord comes from the church operating in the same sphere of “mind” and “judgment.”
Believers should sync their attitudes with the leaders of the church, who also have biblical attitudes and perspicacity of judgment from the Word. This does not imply that leaders of the church should be autocratic in every issue in the church; it does indicate that leaders have the right of judgment derived from God’s Word. Obviously, individual members have the right to individuality. Otherwise, that would be wretched slavery of thought.
The appeal is to unity in variety, not unity in uniformity. Unity in diversity is divine doctrine; uniformity is the world’s doctrine. The point is not to produce cookie-cutter Christians who are carbon copies of each other. Chapter 12 indicates that God’s doctrine is unity in diversity. The one unifying factor among Christians is the person and work of Christ.
Eph 4:3, …endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The church is a symphony. A cacophony is a discord. A church should get behind their leaders in harmony, each believer filling his role by playing according to the score of truth. They should say the same content, not the same words. The ego must move out of the way. Allegiance to human leaders must be set aside for loyalty to Jesus. The party-spirit mentality is carnality (chapter 3).
