Romans 12:16

Romans 12:16

“Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.”

The body of Christ is relationship based. Without relationship, there is no body. But, as fallen humans we like to mess things up as much as possible. Because we have an enemy who hates unity, the attacks on the church are, more often than not, divisive. If the devil can pit us against each other, he has already won the war. A church united terrifies him, but when its divided it can’t do much against him. In verse 15 of chapter 12, Paul tells us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. Clearly, we must look beyond ourselves to do this. We have to look far enough outside of self that we are able to empathize with one another to the point of feeling their joy and pain in our own lives. Be of the same mind. Love the same God. Have the same goal. Be unified. Sounds simple enough until you read the next two verses and think about why they’re there. “Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble.” Well, there goes any and all ideas of elitism or Christianity only being for the scholarly. The saving gospel is simple. When we start to embellish or add fluff to what God has proclaimed to be true, we make Him out to be a liar by saying that what He did isn’t enough. Associating with the humble should not be a problem for Christians because we know the truth that we are all equal at the foot of the cross, we all need Jesus just as much as the next person. So why is it so hard to associate with the humble? Probably because we are wise in our own opinions. We fail to remember the magnitude of our own failure in light of God’s holiness. This generation is not without hope, the same God who created everything by speaking it into existence is alive today. Let us pray for revival in this world!