Tag Archives: Weakness

The Mind of Christ

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“But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16)

That is not a throwaway line at the end of Paul’s argument; it is the conclusion. It is the great contrast he has been building toward. There are, in the end, only two ways of thinking: the way of the world, and the way of Christ.

And they are not merely different. They are opposed.

The Way of the World

Worldly thinking is not always loud or obviously rebellious. Often, it is subtle, respectable, even admired. It plans carefully, calculates outcomes, and prizes control. It seeks strength, influence, and self-preservation. It measures success by what can be seen: results, recognition, security.

It asks questions like:

  • What will work?
  • What will advance me?
  • What will protect me?
  • What makes the most sense?

There is a certain wisdom to it, at least on the surface. It can build impressive structures, achieve measurable success, and even appear moral. But Paul reminds us that this wisdom is ultimately “of this age,” and therefore passing away (1 Cor. 2:6).

At its root, worldly thinking assumes that we are competent judges of reality. That we can, by our own reasoning, chart the right course. That the cross (weakness, sacrifice, dependence) is unnecessary or, at best, inefficient.

In other words, it is wisdom without the Spirit.

The Mind of Christ

Then Paul says something astonishing: “But we have the mind of Christ.”

Not will have. Not might have. Have.

As Richard Pratt notes, this is not because believers are naturally wiser, but because the Spirit of God dwells within them, revealing the mind of God through the apostolic word. The Spirit does not improve our old way of thinking; He replaces it. He teaches us to see reality as Christ sees it; to evaluate life according to a different standard altogether.

And what does that look like?

It looks like the cross.

The wisdom of God is revealed precisely where the world would never look: in weakness, in suffering, in what appears to be defeat. The cross is not merely the means of our salvation; it is the pattern of our thinking.

The mind of Christ:

  • Sees strength in weakness
  • Sees gain in loss
  • Sees life through death
  • Sees glory in humility

Where the world says, “Protect yourself,” Christ says, “Deny yourself.”

Where the world says, “Assert yourself,” Christ says, “Humble yourself.”

Where the world says, “Win at all costs,” Christ says, “Take up your cross.”

This is not natural. It is learned… taught by the Spirit through the Word.

A Necessary Surrender

But here is where it presses in on us.

To have the mind of Christ is not simply to think differently in theory; it is to relinquish our confidence in our own reasoning. It is to admit, often painfully, that God’s ways are right and ours are not.

That is what makes this so difficult.

We prefer strategies we can control. We gravitate toward outcomes we can predict. We trust what feels effective. But the Spirit leads us again and again back to the same place: the cross.

And the cross dismantles our pride.

It tells us that our wisdom could not save us.

It tells us that our strength was not enough.

It tells us that God’s power is made perfect in weakness.

And then, by the Spirit, it begins to reshape how we think.

Living with the Mind of Christ

What would it look like to live this out?

It means we begin to evaluate our lives not by worldly success but by faithfulness.

It means we are willing to look weak, if that is where Christ is honored.

It means we trust God’s Word over our instincts, even when it cuts across everything we would naturally choose.

It means, quite simply, that we begin to think like Christ.

Not perfectly. Not consistently. But truly.

And that is Paul’s encouragement: those taught by the Spirit are no longer bound to the judgments of human wisdom. They are being conformed to something better… to Someone better.

So when you find yourself wrestling between what seems right and what Christ has said, do not be surprised. That tension is not a sign of failure; it is evidence of a new mind at work.

Stay there. Sit under the Word. Ask the Spirit to teach you.

And remember: the goal is not sharper thinking by worldly standards, but deeper conformity to Christ.

After all, we have His mind.

SDG

Missing the Heart of the Matter

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I have purposely stayed out of the current political and cultural conversations that have carried the headlines since the latest school shootings.  I’ve been heartbroken at the pain that the families and survivors of this violence have felt, and heartbroken over the levels of vitriol and derision that have escalated in our “debates” about the solution to our cultural crisis. I sympathize with those who are frustrated by the empty promises of “thoughts and prayers” when thoughts and prayers don’t lead to compassionate and sensible responses.  And at the same time, I am dismayed when genuine “thoughts and prayers” are ridiculed and rejected.

I’ve stayed out of the conversation because I haven’t had much to add. Then today, in studying for a lesson from 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, I read the following from John MacArthur*.  I think he summarizes what’s really wrong in our culture, and what we need most.

How much closer to peace is man than he was a century ago – or a millennium ago? How much closer are to we eliminating poverty, hunger, ignorance, crime, and immorality than men were in Paul’s day? Our advances in knowledge and technology and communication have not really advanced us. It is from among those who are intelligent and clever that the worst exploiters, deceivers, and oppressors comes. We are more educated than our forefathers but we are not more moral. We have more means of helping each other but we are not less selfish. We have more means of communication but we do not understand each other any better. We have more psychology and education, and more crime and more war. We have not changed, except in finding more ways to express and excuse our human nature. Throughout human history wisdom has never basically changed and has never solved the basic problems of man.

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?”

Where have all the clever arguments and impressive rhetoric brought you? Are you better off because of them – or simply more self-satisfied and complacent?  Don’t you see that all the wisdom of your wise men, your scribes, and your debaters is folly? Nothing really changes. Life has the same problems; men have the same struggles.

Could the apostle have written anything more appropriate for our own day? Where have our great thinkers – our philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, economists, scientists, and statesmen – brought us? Never before has mankind been so fearful of self-destruction or been so self-consciously perplexed, confused, and corrupt.  Modern human wisdom has failed just as ancient human wisdom failed, except that its failures come faster and spread farther.  The outer life improves in a material way, while the inner life seems to have correspondingly less meaning. The real issues are not solved.

Human wisdom sometimes sees the immediate cause of a problem but it does not see the root, which is always sin. It may see that selfishness is a cause of injustice, but it has no way to remove selfishness.  It may see that hatred causes misery and pain and destruction, but it has no cure for hatred. It can see plainly that man does not get along with man, but does not se that the real cause is that man does not get along with God. Human wisdom cannot see because it will not see.  As long as it looks on God’s wisdom as foolishness, its own wisdom will be foolish. In other words, human wisdom itself is a basic part of the problem.

Peace, joy, hope, harmony, brotherhood, and every other aspiration of man is out of his reach as long as he follows his own way in trying to achieve them. He who sees the cross as folly is doomed to his own folly… The more man looks to himself and depends on himself, the worse his situation becomes. As his dependence on his wisdom increases, so do his problems.

This is God’s plan, as the words “in the wisdom of God” indicate. God wisely established it this way, that man could not know Him by the wisdom of the world. Man cannot solve his problems because he will not recognize their source, which is sin, or their solution, which is salvation.  Man’s own sinful nature is the cause of his problems, and he cannot change his nature. Even if human wisdom could recognize the problem it does not have the power to change it. But God has the power. God was well-please through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. He chose to use that which the world’s wisdom counts as moronic, as foolishness, to save those of the world who would simply believe. Believing implies complete assent to all the truth of the saving gospel. For those who will exchange their wisdom for His, God offers transformation, regeneration, new birth, and new life through the power of the cross of Jesus Christ, His Son. This “foolishness” is man’s only hope.

* MacArthur, John F. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: 1 Corinthians (Moody Press, Chicago. 1984) pg 42-44.