The Last Drop
make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Philippians 2:2 NASB
Complete – So what do you think? Is Paul’s wish being fulfilled in you? Is he filled to the last drop by your actions and attitudes? It’s interesting that Yeshua’s remark about being filled to overflowing carries the same meaning. Yeshua promises life abundantly. Paul tells us that the way to have that abundance is to maintain the same mind, love, spirit and purpose. You can’t have the abundant life by yourself. Abundance is a cooperative, communal concept. Want to know if you’re living the abundant life? Ask yourself if others are blessed by your spirit, your purpose or your benevolence.
Let’s take a look at the words Paul uses to describe this abundant life, this life that makes his deepest desire come true. First, there’s phroneo (mind). This is a word that is about the disposition of the inner person. It’s not the Greek nous. It’s not about knowledge or intellect. It’s about your willingness to comprehend. It’s about the insight you have received from the Spirit. It’s about a godly approach to life. It’s about a longing for true community and the willingness to bend in order to get it. It’s about hospitality and compassion toward others. It’s about the code, the way you live, the things you hope for, the dreams you share. “Same mind” has very little to do with what you think you know.
“Same love.” What’s that? Same as what? Same as the love everyone around me talks about? No, I don’t think so. If I really want the same love to flow through my life, then I have to exhibit the love God demonstrated on my behalf. I have to show benevolence toward others at cost to myself. You’ll notice the NASB translation suggests “maintaining” this same love. The Greek verb is echo (to have) but Hebrew thought doesn’t have a word for “have.” In Hebrew, the basic condition of life is relational. So the proper understanding is “to be to,” not “to have.” I don’t own this love. I exhibit it in the way that I am toward another. Love exists in the action. Without the action, it isn’t there. I love because He loved. I mimic Him. Then I have the same love. You and I are measured by the standard of Yeshua’s obedience. Country Western music has nothing to do with it.
“United in spirit” is the Greek sympsychoi. It means to be in full accord with one another. Does that mean we must agree? No. It means we share the same hunger to see God’s Kingdom come on earth. We have the same goal, the same hope, the same passion. But you might dress differently, speak differently, pray differently. Does it really matter? If we hunger and thirst for righteousness, are we not of the same spirit? Do we not serve the same Lord, worship the same God? Share with me the greatest longings of your heart and we will see if we are really that far apart.
Finally, “one purpose.” But in Greek it says hen phronountes—one thinking. Hey, this is the same word Paul started with, phroneo. Apparently it wasn’t enough to say it once. Back we go to disposition, attitude, willingness, insight and wisdom. A double dose of phroneo is a good thing. It’s like closing the envelope on a gift card. Now put it in the mail and let someone enjoy the present.
Topical Index: complete, same, Philippians 2:2
This, to me, is tying in with the theme Skip was bringing out in Agape Again (which is still exquisite to me this morn). It is also the same thing in my mind as the Law. I think we must have been brainwashed by the Disobedience Crowd so long that even those that know better subconsciously can think there is such a thing as Love vs. Law; at least judging by the way they can be sucked into arguing about it. NOPE. THERE AIN’T.
The Law IS how community happens, whether it is me communing (relating) with my God, myself, or my fellow human beings. It is a picture of what community IS. It lays out how it goes down. If love is going down, then heaven can guarantee that the Law is being followed.
It has always been funny to me that when two people are truly “in love” they are being naturally obedient to the Law: they are tuning in to Its precepts and principles in as many ways as they are open to. Being “in love” is about putting your life on the line for the happiness and well being and best interests and very life of another. It is about signing on as the PROTECTOR of all the above for them. I really believe that the actual “rush” of that feeling of being in love has to do with, at least in that moment, a momentary glimpse of being in agreement with the understanding that you are willing to put another’s very existence above your own. When I break it down to the bottom, it is truly about death: being willing to die. Die for another. Die into another. Die even in spite of another. Die with another. Even die at their hands. For flawed humans on this fallen planet, there is no other experience that it can be. We call it “dying to self” because that is how we experience it. Love feels like death because, for us, it actually is an experience of death. It is our highest experience, in a very real sense. All lovers know this, and agree. If I am not agreeing IN THIS VERY MOMENT that I am ready and willing and able to die for my beloved, whether it is my God, myself, or my fellow humans, then, in a very real sense, I am not experiencing love. (And Christ has been preached “in vain”, again.)
When I think of a true hero, or heroine, I think of someone who has signed on to a place that is requiring a life on the line. We love them because to have someone willing to die for us -or another- is a rush. When we vicariously watch someone, whether in life or in a movie, even, who is IN THAT PLACE, for a moment, anyway, we are AGREEING with that truth, and in that agreement, we are plugging in to that rush. Paul said that he died daily. Sounds like he had figured out how to KEEP his life on the line for the honor of his God, himself, and others. Sounds like he had found the place to stay “in love”. This verse tells me that Paul was a true lover and a true hero. I get a rush reading Paul…
The Sane Mind
~ let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..~ (Philippians 2.5)