Tag: Likeminded

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Lord's Day Liturgy

Against Sowing Discord

Drawe one waye. Pull in the same direction. Be likeminded. These are all ways to think about Philippians 2:2.

We want to finish this focus before frustration sets up, but here are a few final thoughts for this round of reminders.

Melody and harmony. We need the sopranos to kick butt and hit the high notes, we don’t need everyone to sing soprano. We don’t even need everyone to hit their harmony pitch precisely; get close. In other words, there’s some variety and even misses that won’t mess us up. But we do have to follow the lyrics, keep the same tempo, and be on the same page.

Seeds of discord. Proverbs 6 says a vile man “spreads contentions” (verse 14, LSB). A few verses later it lists six things that the Lord hates, even seven that are an abomination to Him. The last one is “one who spreads strife among brothers” (verse 19, LSB). Or another translation, “one who sows discord” (ESV). These seeds will take root. Be careful what you sow.

Trinitarian unity. Jesus prayed that His disciples would be one, even as He and His Father are one (John 17:22). This is not only part of our joy, it’s part of the way the world knows we’re loved by the Father (John 17:23).

As we have the mind of Christ and don’t grumble or dispute with each other, we shine as lights in a crooked and twisted generation (Philippians 2:14-15).

Let us drawe one waye.

Categories
Lord's Day Liturgy

Drawe One Waye

Be likeminded. That’s Paul’s exhortation in Philippians 2:2, and it’s been the theme of these recent exhortations. Christians, and Christians in a local church, should think the same way.

In Paul’s original letter he used a form of the verb think both at the beginning and end of the verse, and this type of thinking has an emphasis on attitude, disposition, leaning.

There is another word, an adjective, in Philippians 2:20 that means equal-souled, or same-minded. William Tyndale not only translated that word as “lyke mynded,” the Oxford English Dictionary attributes the English word to Tyndale in his 1526 translation of the New Testament.

Though Tyndale invented the word likeminded, and while the KJV did later use likeminded in Philippians 2:2, Tyndale saw a different way to express the exhortation. Here’s his unique, but vivid, image:

fulfyll my love that ye drawe one waye

This wasn’t just his rough draft. He kept it this way through his final revision in 1534.

Drawe one waye. It is the picture of pulling together, of pulling in the same direction. Imagine a team of horses pulling a carriage, or oxen yoked together pulling the plow.

Likeminded is great, though perhaps a static place. Drawe one waye is dynamic, a moving and active pursuit.

Drawe one waye was the theme of our L2L leaders retreat, and it’s going to be a theme for a while in TEC communication.

A stallion running beside the team may be fast and beautiful, but no help. A workhorse harnessed in but always dragging his stiff neck elsewhere makes the whole thing harder.

Beloved, drawe one waye.

Categories
Lord's Day Liturgy

An Oar to the Head

I am giving a short series of exhortations related to being likeminded. In Philippians 2:2 Paul urges the believers to think the same way, to be thinking on one purpose.

Likemindedness isn’t blind. Likemindedness can distinguish friends from enemies, and can distinguish friends who are doing great and friends who aren’t. There is a difference between someone shooting a cannon trying to sink our boat from another boat, and someone on our boat not rowing their oar as fast as we want them to. We share the same purpose with the guy a couple seats up, even when we’re tempted to smack in the head with our oar.

Likemindedness and maturity should be in balance. Likemindedness is both a sign of maturity and a strategy for getting more mature. As a believer in the body matures, he will be able:

  • to see more of what’s wrong
  • to see more of what could be wrong that isn’t, and be thankful
  • to speak clearly to the person(s) that can actually do something about what’s wrong, and not just spread grumbling
  • to do the first three FOR everyone’s increase in blessing, and not just for the fleeting cathartic feeling of scapegoating

Other examples: teenagers with their parents, employees with their boss, citizens with their government when it’s pursuing righteousness.

In our recent study through the temptations of Jesus, remember that Satan tried to divide Persons of the Trinity. He didn’t succeed, but the church is another target. Of course he knows that if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand (Mark 3:25).

Categories
Lord's Day Liturgy

I’ve Got Your Back

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.