This is Part 3 of our ongoing series, “If you, then y’all.”

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Philippians 2:1-2

“United with Christ” vs “Being like-minded”

There’s a tactic often used in corporate spaces called a “Compliment sandwich.”

Essentially, a superior softens a criticism by preceding and following it with a compliment. “You did a great job with the event. Your communication approach is ineffective. You have been very punctual this month.” The idea is softening and soothing them with encouragement will keep them from rejecting the critique.

We give encouragement for many reasons, whether to get something, make someone happy, or express gratitude. Most translations use encouragement in verse 1, which leads us to ask: what is Jesus’s motive? When we look at how Paul describes following Christ, it quickly becomes clear something greater is happening here than Christ wanting us to feel good.

Strong’s Concordance captures it this way:

3874 /paráklēsis (“holy urging”) is used of the Lord directly motivating and inspiring believers to carry out His plan

This “intimate call” is Christ’s way of inviting us into a new way of living and understanding reality; knowing our flesh will fight it, he motivates and inspires us to choose what we’d otherwise reject.

This unity with Him – becoming more like him and following his ways – is important, but incomplete. When Jesus spoke, he did so to bodies of people, not individuals, calling them to function as one, “like-minded.” This meant more than thinking the same; Jesus did not let them settle for an intellectual experience, and constantly called them to action.

Strong’s Concordance says this about the use of “mind”:

5426 (phronéō) essentially equates to personal opinion fleshing itself out in action. This idea is difficult to translate into English because it combines the visceral and cognitive aspects of thinking.

Being of the same mind is not simply about believing the same things, but living out those beliefs together.

Being called by Christ is great; being called together with a spiritual Body is better. In fact, one cannot fully understand Christ outside the body; as 1 Corinthians 12:27 puts it, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”

We are the Body of Christ! Christ has chosen to represent himself to the world not through individuals, but through individuals becoming one, and we must embrace this “holy urging” not just with our minds, but our entire beings: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” (Luke 10:27)

Come back next week for Part 4!