1 Corinthians 2:10b-16
The mind of Christ.
St Paul presents us this morning with quite a lofty spiritual goal: to have such an understanding of God’s will that one can confidently say they “have the mind” of God. Considering we (or at least I do) spend so much time fretting over what God’s will is, it is perhaps worth reflecting on where the apostle is trying to lead us.
In his letter to the Romans, he expands on this theme in two areas: the internal life of prayer, and the external life of service. Romans 8:26-30 begins with a reflection on the Holy Spirit of God assisting us in our prayers (since “we do not know what to pray for as we ought”), culminating in God’s work of conforming us “to the image of his Son”. So, prayer leads us closer to God’s will.
Later in that same letter he exhorts us (in those immortal words) to present ourselves “as a living sacrifice” so that we may be “transformed by the renewal” of our minds, “that by testing you may discern what is the will of God”. (12:1-2) So, offering our lived experience on the altar of service to God leads us closer to God’s will.
We have here two handles to grab on to when trying to steer our lives towards the will of God. Prayer leads us closer to God and his will: for the Spirit himself is mingling his work amongst our prayer. This is because prayer is not just about asking God to do something for us. Prayer actually changes us. The more time we spend asking God to help the people we pray for, the softer our hearts become towards those people (and we remember Christ’s instruction to pray for our enemies as a wonderful example of this). Since God so loved the world, we pray for the world, and we learn what it means to love as God loves.
At some point we have to leave the place of prayer and go back out into the world. And this is where the second point comes in: do something. Do anything. Having filled your soul with prayers for the world, go out into that world with the mindset of loving service by offering your body as a living sacrifice. We might make mistakes here and there (and Holy Scripture gives us plenty of help in how to navigate apology and forgiveness), but this is how we learn. And more importantly, how we learn God’s will. I have heard there is no such thing as failure in ministry, only opportunities for learning. And so we learn God’s will by doing.
Let us therefore pursue the lofty goal presented before us by the apostle: to have the mind of Christ. Let us be people of prayer, of deep communion with God, searching his mind as his Holy Spirit searches us. And let us be people of action, throwing ourselves into life whole-heartedly, humble and willing to learn, while also confident that in all things God will transform our mind in the process.