I want to take a short series of exhortations to talk about being likeminded as a church.
Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (Philippians 2:2 KJV)
The ESV translates the beginning and end as “of the same mind” and “of one mind.” The LSB translates as “think the same way” and “thinking on one purpose.” All of those translations do good work, and likeminded is a good one word summary.
I think I have been thinking about this wrongly for some time, even a number of years. While I am still eager for each man to answer the Lord as his judge (Romans 14:4-5), to know and stand with conviction, there is a kind of disagreement that is not great, even if it can be held in love. To the degree I can tell, it wasn’t the modern spirit of diversity that got into me as much as it was a reaction against watching men lord their views over others with the word “biblical” and acting as if they couldn’t even see the other person’s perspective.
And really, in an assembly of believers, giving some attention and reminders on a subject like this probably needs more regular maintenance than our cars need oil changes.
We cannot go behind each other’s backs and say it’s for the sake of likemindedness. There is no one here that needs you to go behind their back. The body is subverted, not strengthened, when we go behind a brother’s back. We must be committed instead, “I’ve got your back.”
We are one body, says the Lord. Let us seek the blessing of being likeminded.