The Christian Mind

Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD. “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the Lord. Jeremiah 23.2-4

The Christian Mind
Harry Blamires (1916-)
“Nothing therefore could stand in more powerful contrast to the true Christian concept of the bishop than the current concept of administrator. If we were to think christianly about the present situation, we should say, ‘This equation between episcopal and administrative function is intolerable, and indeed represents the kind of worldly thinking which strikes at the roots of religion. It is necessary therefore to make the bishop once more a Father-in-God, by stripping from him his administrative function. A fit and proper beginning would be to nominate to the bishoprics only men of known spiritual and pastoral gifts who will refuse to be turned into administrators. But instead of thinking christianly about this essentially Christian issue, we think secularly.’”

For “bishop” in this excerpt, substitute “pastor.” Pastors today embrace various roles or titles to describe the work assigned them. Some think of themselves as coaches, others prefer to regard themselves as CEOs, chaplains, caretakers, or preachers. How many pastors think of themselves, first and foremost, as shepherds? Jesus the Good Shepherd said that He would “set up shepherds” over His flock, who would tend to His sheep and lambs in the ways He did, and which He summarized in John 10. The people of God will “be fruitful and increase” – in the Christian mind and all else – when shepherds care for them after the example of the Lord Himself, making disciples of each member of the flock through the kind of personal attention “looking well to know the condition of your flock” requires. Thinking with the mind of Christ begins with church leaders – how we think about them, and how they think about themselves.

What model defines the role you and your leaders play in your church? Does it reflect the mind of the Good Shepherd or the mind of our secular age?

Kingdom Vision
Two books can help you begin to strengthen your vision of Christ and His Kingdom. Order a copy of The Kingship of Jesus (click here) to grow in your understanding of what in the world Jesus is doing as He sits at the Father’s right hand. And what He’s doing is bringing His Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven, which is the subject of The Kingdom Turn (click here). Let these two books challenge your vision of what Christ can do as He makes disciples and builds His Church.

Renewing the Mind
We are currently running a multi-part series on Renewing the Mind in our daily ReVision series. The third installment is entitled, The Mature Mind, and is available as a free PDF download by going to the website, www.ailbe.org, clicking on today’s ReVision column entitled, “Read for Your Soul” and clicking the link at the end. I urge you to follow this entire series, and to consider using it with your leaders. If you are not subscribed to ReVision, you can do so at the website. Or you can download each week’s PDF study in a format suitable for group or personal use.

Does the Lord want to use you to help support The Fellowship of Ailbe? Please look to Him in prayer over this question. You can contribute to The Fellowship of Ailbe by using the Contribute button at our website, or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Thank you.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from The Christian Mind are from Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind (Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1963, 1978).