Living with the Mind of Christ - eBook [ePub]: A Lenten Study for Adults

By Rev. Dr. James A. Harnish

This is the 11th year for a thematic Lenten study offering. This study will include 7 sessions, one for each Sunday in Lent, including Easter Sunday. Each session features a scripture reference, a personal reading and questions for personal reflection or group discussion; suggestions for ways to deepen the Lenten journey or a focus for the coming week may also be included.

This particular study is based on Philippians 2:1-11 (“Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…”). The goal is to discover what it might look like for us, in very practical ways, to live with the mind of Christ.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Release date: Dec 1, 2005
• ISBN: 9781426719790

Rev. Dr. James A. Harnish

The Rev. Dr. James A. Harnish retired after 43 years of pastoral ministry in the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He was the founding pastor of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando and served for 22 years as the Senior Pastor of Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He is the author of A Disciple’s Heart: Growing in Love and Grace, Earn. Save. Give. Wesley’s Simple Rules for Money, and Make a Difference: Following Your Passion and Finding Your Place to Serve. He was a consulting editor for The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible and a contributor to The Wesley Study Bible. He and his wife, Martha, have two married daughters and five grandchildren in Florida and South Carolina.

Book preview

Living with the Mind of Christ

Living with the

Mind of Christ

A Lenten Study for Adults

JAMES A. HARNISH

ABINGDON PRESS / Nashville

LIVING WITH THE MIND OF CHRIST

A LENTEN STUDY FOR ADULTS

Copyright © 2005 by Abingdon Press

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Abingdon Press, P.O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37202-0801, or emailed to [e-mail].

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data

Harnish, James A.

    Living with the mind of Christ : a Lenten study for adults / James A. Harnish.

        p. cm.

    ISBN 0-687-49651-9 (binding: pbk.; saddle stitched : alk. paper)

    1. Lent—Prayer-books and devotions—English. 2. Bible. N.T. Philippians II, 1-11—

Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Bible. N.T. Luke—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.

  BV85.H347 2005

  242'.34—dc 22

2005024208

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1946, 1952 and 1971 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked JBP are from the New Testament in Modern English, translated by J. B. Phillips, copyright 1958 by J. B. Phillips.

05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

With gratitude for Peter and Elizabeth Storey, courageous disciples who live with the mind of Christ

Contents

Introduction

First Week in Lent

Love: The Power to Change Your Mind

Second Week in Lent

Servanthood: Breaking the Me-first Mind-set

Third Week in Lent

Faithful Suffering: The Foolishness of the Cross

Fourth Week in Lent

Surrender: The Moment of Letting Go

Fifth Week in Lent

Humility: Moving Up by Coming Down

Holy Week

Obedience: How Far Will You Go?

Easter

Glory: Unexpected Glory!

Introduction

What does it take to change your mind? I'm not talking about changing your mind on little things: the model of your car, the destination for your next vacation, or the arrangement of the furniture in your living room. I'm talking about real change, radical change, fundamental change in the way we think, which results in practical changes in the way we live.

The biblical basis for our Lenten journey this season is one of the most eloquent passages in the entire New Testament, written by the apostle Paul and recorded in Philippians 2:1-11. Paul's purpose is as challenging as it is clear. He is out to change our minds. He called the Christians in Philippi to be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind (v. 2). Paul challenges us, as he challenged them, to let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus (v. 5).

The Greek word that is translated in English as mind describes a way of thinking that determines action. We might use the word mind-set. This refers to the fundamental foundation upon which we build our lives, the internal frame of reference through which we perceive everything else. It's the hard drive of our internal computer that directs all of our actions.

Make no mistake about it: The Christian faith is not about making minor adjustments on the exterior of our lives. The gospel is not a self-help manual to make life go a little smoother. The apostle is not a pop psychologist offering quick tips on self-improvement. Becoming a follower of Jesus requires a radical reorientation of our thinking that results in an equally radical transformation of our living. It calls for nothing less than a mental transplant, in which the mind-set with which Jesus came into this world, lived, died, and rose again becomes the mind-set by which we live, with which we die, and through which we are raised to new life. And that's a tall order indeed!

The traditional liturgy for Ash Wednesday invites us to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word (Book of Common Prayer [New York: Seabury Press, 1979], 265). Like the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness, these forty days (from Ash Wednesday to Easter, excluding Sundays) are the opportunity