The 'Mind of The Church', the 'Mind of Christ'
Gamma Gamaliel
Shipmate
In my own church circles there is talk of developing an 'Orthodox mind', or thinking 'Orthodoxly' as it were - of the 'Mind Of The Church'.
We're pretty 'collective' that way ...
And we have a Greek word for it of course, Phronema which is often expressed as The Orthodox Mind.
It tends to be seen as developing a 'built-in' way of thinking that goes beyond intellectual propositions and assent to particular doctrines.
That can apply to Christianity as a whole of course and I am not claiming uniqueness for this concept. I am sure other Christian traditions have their equivalents or do it without thinking (ha ha, see what I did there?) or having a particular name for it, Greek or otherwise.
We read in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that we 'have the mind of Christ'.
My question is this: to what extent is the 'mind of Christ' and the 'mind of the Church' (and yes, we have to think how we define Church of course) commensurate?
If Christ is the 'head' of the Church (and yes, these are metaphors) then that's where our thinking should come from.
So far, so good.
But we all fall short. It's all work in progress.
To take my own Tradition as a case in point. If we think that to be Orthodox means to be superior to everyone else or to look down on others then we aren't really developing Phronema at all. And yes, that happens all too often.
Of course, we all 'see in part and know in part' but I think we'd all agree that we should be striving to exemplify the Sermon on the Mount, the moral teachings of Christ and showing his love and compassion to a broken world.
Not pointing fingers at other people.
Of course, our Lord Himself 'got it right' and we can't because we aren't Christ - but hopefully we are being gradually conformed to his likeness, 'transformed by the renewing of your minds.'
I want to broaden this out more generally and not restrict things to my own Tradition. How can we 'achieve' and 'maintain' the 'Mind of Christ' individually and corporately? The Baptist tradition for instance, has particular insights and views on this from a congregational perspective.
Religious orders may have something specific to bring to the table.
There must be all manner of perspectives on this from which we can all learn.
Over to you.
We're pretty 'collective' that way ...
And we have a Greek word for it of course, Phronema which is often expressed as The Orthodox Mind.
It tends to be seen as developing a 'built-in' way of thinking that goes beyond intellectual propositions and assent to particular doctrines.
That can apply to Christianity as a whole of course and I am not claiming uniqueness for this concept. I am sure other Christian traditions have their equivalents or do it without thinking (ha ha, see what I did there?) or having a particular name for it, Greek or otherwise.
We read in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that we 'have the mind of Christ'.
My question is this: to what extent is the 'mind of Christ' and the 'mind of the Church' (and yes, we have to think how we define Church of course) commensurate?
If Christ is the 'head' of the Church (and yes, these are metaphors) then that's where our thinking should come from.
So far, so good.
But we all fall short. It's all work in progress.
To take my own Tradition as a case in point. If we think that to be Orthodox means to be superior to everyone else or to look down on others then we aren't really developing Phronema at all. And yes, that happens all too often.
Of course, we all 'see in part and know in part' but I think we'd all agree that we should be striving to exemplify the Sermon on the Mount, the moral teachings of Christ and showing his love and compassion to a broken world.
Not pointing fingers at other people.
Of course, our Lord Himself 'got it right' and we can't because we aren't Christ - but hopefully we are being gradually conformed to his likeness, 'transformed by the renewing of your minds.'
I want to broaden this out more generally and not restrict things to my own Tradition. How can we 'achieve' and 'maintain' the 'Mind of Christ' individually and corporately? The Baptist tradition for instance, has particular insights and views on this from a congregational perspective.
Religious orders may have something specific to bring to the table.
There must be all manner of perspectives on this from which we can all learn.
Over to you.
Comments
Christ's self emptying
Christ's servanthood
Christ's Obedience unto death, and
Christ's exaltation by God.
It is a communal mindset based on the plural "Let this mind be in you all."
It is practiced in community
expressed in mutual care
discerned together
and embodied in the life of the congregation.
We understand the mind of Christ as a call to
center the neighbor's good
relinquish status and privilege
stand with those who suffer
resist denomination and coercion, and
embody reconciliation,
This is way the ELCA social teaching often emphasizes accompaniment, justice and advocacy for the marginalized,
Aspirations I think most of us, I hope would consider worthwhile.
The sort of thing any Christian church should be working towards.
Without wishing to get too 'party-line' about these things, would you say there was anything distinctively 'Lutheran' about these aspirations and understandings?
If so, in what way?
More broadly, do any of our church structures and ways of working help or hinder the outworking these principles?
I understand that collective agreement over actions within the church (locally or more widely) can be hard to achieve but there is much to be said for free collective discussions. Where “top down” gets in the way of that, it may well lead to the mind of the church getting a long way away from the mind of Christ. As history has demonstrated.
Sure. I can see all that but even though I'm in a different place ecclesiastically, I retain a soft-spot for the 'church-meeting' concept as it came as a breath of fresh air after our years in a very 'top-down' restorationist setting which could veer into authoritarianism at times.
And yes @Barnabas62 and as current events still demonstrate as well as historical examples. (Cough, cough K-k-k-yrill ... cough).
Other Christian traditions will have their own examples.