Being of One Mind

Philippians 2:2 "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind."  One of the things that God expects of his people in the church is that they be likeminded when it comes to the things of God.  When I speak of being likeminded or of being one mind, I'm not saying that all Christians are going to agree one hundred percent on everything.  But it's imperative for God's people in the local assembly to be likeminded when it comes to the propagation and furtherance of the gospel.  One of the problems many churches have in this day is strife.  One of the reasons for that is due to lack of unity and lack of one mind.  In order for Christians to be likeminded, there must be unity among the believers.  There must be unity when it comes to truth.  First of all, a church needs a man of God that stands behind the pulpit proclaiming God's word before the congregation.  A church also needs members who will follow and stand behind the man of God to fulfill God's will in that local assembly.  Being of one mind is crucially important.  A church won't go forth preaching the gospel and be an effective witness to the community if the members of the church aren't of one mind.

Being of one mind is when we all are in agreement or unity in the church.  What are some things we need to be likeminded about?  We need to be likeminded when it comes to salvation.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says that we are saved by grace through faith and not of works lest any man should boast.  The church needs to be one mind when it comes to salvation.  There's only one way to salvation--that's through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  Man can't be saved apart from what Christ did on the cross.  We're also to be of one mind when it comes to the Great Commission in Mark 16:15.  God has a purpose for the church and that is to propagate the gospel to the entire world.  We must be faithful in spreading the gospel in our communities and unto the ends of the earth.  That's one area in our churches in which we're lacking.  We must also be of one mind when it comes to sin.  We must recognize God hates sin and he won't bless it.  We're to be of one mind concerning holiness.  God expects His children to live holy and honorable lives unto Him.  We're to eschew sin.  The church is to practice discipline towards those church members that are living in sin. 

The church is also to be of one mind when it comes to supporting the pastor.  The man of God needs to be followed as he follows Christ and supported by the congregation.  We're to stand up for him and defend him when he's preaching the gospel and fulfilling his role as a pastor.  We're not to allow people to lay a hand on him or speak against him.  We're to be of one mind concerning the direction of the church.  Whenever the man of God says he believes God wants the church to head in a certain direction concerning ministry, the church is to be of one mind and follow him.  A church won't go where it needs to if we don't determine in our hearts that we are going to support and follow the man of God.  Finally, we're to be of one mind concerning the coming of Christ.  Matthew 24 mentions that Christ is coming back.  I Thessalonians speaks of Christ coming for his bride in the rapture and then following the rapture will be seven years of Great Tribulation.  Following the Great Tribulation will be the Battle of Armaggedon and then the Millennial Reign will begin where Christ will be king upon this earth for a thousand years.  What a time that will be.

It's imperative that the saints in the church be of one mind.  God's will won't be fulfilled in the church when there's strife and dissension.  When there's not one mind towards the things of God and the direction of the church, then strife always results.  A church that's of one mind will have harmony.  It will be a church which will honor and please God.  It will be a church which has the power of God.  When a group of people in a church determine to follow and serve the Lord, then God will bless that church and he will perform great things through that church.  But that will only happen when we are likeminded and in one accord.