The mind of Christ

For "Who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. – 1 Corinthians 2v16

I like to know stuff. I like to know what is going on and I don’t like when I am involved in a discussion I know nothing about. I had a discussion with a fellow church planting pastor yesterday about why God does some of the things He does and why he appears, some times, to our minds at least to be unfair and inconsistent. As always the discussion stirred my own heart and mind.

As part of the discussion this verse came up, “If we have the mind of Christ shouldn’t God make sense to us?” This verse says, as clear as it can, that we have the mind of Christ. Yet later, Paul tells the church at Philippi to “let this mind be in you which was all so in Christ Jesus.” There is clearly some aspect where we have to apply the mind of Christ that He has given us.

I see a couple of things come to mind here. First, it is obvious that “having the mind of Christ” does not mean that we are omniscient. If that were the case we would be God ourselves and would never have to seek His wisdom and would have no need of study, prayer, or Bible study. Having the mind of Christ cannot mean that we are even going to understand God completely.

I think that ties into the second thought. The problem is, as Paul is preparing to point out, that though we have the mind of Christ. As long as we live in this flesh we are never going to fully have the mind of Christ. We are not going to know everything.

One thing we do know is this – what the world calls foolishness we know is wisdom and strength. I don’t know everything, but I do know the power of the cross.