In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross… Philippians 2:5-8 NIV

We are moving into Holy Week in a world that is full of opportunities to be anything but humble. Religious liberties in the United States, protected, in part, by the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), are being threatened by liberal and conservatives alike who oppose the law. Across the Atlantic, the Church of England is testing the mettle of orthodox Christians through “facilitated conversations” on whether or not the church should bless same sex marriage. Meanwhile, Christians, including Anglicans, continue to be killed and suffer other forms of persecution at an unprecedented scale in places like Nigeria and Pakistan.

The natural response of course is righteous indignation, personalizing these conflicts, and retaliating in word or deed.

But that is not the way of Jesus.

God tells us, through the Apostle Paul, that if you want to experience “any encouragement from being united with Christ, any comfort from his love, any tenderness and compassion” in the face of evil, injustice and persecution, “any fellowship with the Spirit,” (Phil. 1:1-4) then think and act exactly as Jesus did; live your lives as his followers from the inside out, with the dame mindset that Jesus lived.

And it is humility in word and deed that runs through the mindset of Jesus:

1. He relaxed His grip

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped…”

As a fully vested member of the God-head, who enjoyed the adoration and applause of the universe, Jesus relaxed his grip on every position, privilege and power that he had. His thought seems to have been “I’ll relax my grip on all if it will please Father God and serve the purpose for which he sent me to this people—to love them and lay down my life for them.” And then he did it: he relaxed that grip and let go.

I believe most people, myself included, want to accumulate position, privilege and power. We cling to it tooth and nail. Jesus’ mindset challenges us to not take offense when someone seeks to take our positions, privileges and powers away. Jesus’ mindset challenges us to stay constantly in “the blue zone” of God’s purpose, values, vision and mission for us and our churches. In our American Anglican Council revitalization work with leaders and churches, this is the mindset we encourage leaders to cultivate to stay fixed on Christ’s Great Commission, on reaching lost people with the Gospel, so that we are not distracted from the main thing. So Jesus’ mindset here challenges us to ask ourselves an often painful and convicting question: How willing are we to think and act like Jesus, and to hold every position, power and privilege we may have loosely for the sake of God’s glory and His kingdom?

2. He emptied Himself

He made himself nothing… (Philippians 2:7 NIV)

If Jesus had emptied himself of his divinity, he wouldn’t be God in the flesh. Rather, this “emptying” refers to the reality of Jesus’ divine selflessness. It’s about having an attitude so self-less that Jesus can think “Instead of grasping I’ll pour myself out for God and the people we love.” And then he acts on it by pouring himself out for the sake of others, in word and deed all the way up to and including his death on the cross.
 

This mindset is a direct challenge to our own selfishness. To have the mind of Christ means we must empty ourselves as far as possible of all self-centered, selfish and narcissistic attitudes so that we can be done with “it’s all about me and my needs.” No: Jesus demonstrates that it is all about God and His word, his plans, and his will. This is a particular challenge we must pick up when we are facing the need to move our congregations from maintenance to mission.
 

3. He became a vulnerable servant

..taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in human likeness… (Philippians 2:7-8 NIV)

Jesus, the infinite co-creator of the universe wraps himself in human flesh—and feels the confining vulnerability being a creature who must now use doors, ride animals, walk, be tired, eat, sleep and rub shoulders with rude and disrespectful people. Jesus might still have chosen some place of human privilege and comfort. But this was not in his mindset. Instead, we see him taking the lowest place, that of a servant. We see him servant at the door at a home in Capernaum into the wee hours of the morning, touching and healing a whole city gathered around…we see him squeezed like a grape by the crowd as he tries to meet their needs on the shores of a lake…we see him, servant clad in a towel with a basin washing the feet of his disciples… we see him the “Suffering Servant” dying for us on the cross.

To have the mind of Christ means we too will find that place of sacrificial and even suffering service just as Jesus did. We will look for the least, the last and the lost just as Jesus did. We will be as real and as vulnerable as Jesus was. We will get into the dirt and the dust of peoples’ lives just as Jesus did. Where is Jesus calling us and our churches to service in our culture, right now?

4. He held nothing back

And being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death… (Philippians 2:8 NIV)

One thing that had no power over Jesus—without his consent—was the power of death. Yet Jesus, with calm deliberation and consent, holds nothing back as he surrenders to death itself!

For the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection (Phil. 3:8-10)—we must be willing to give up the security of possessions, position, money, power reputation, even our own lives if necessary—as we are seeing our brothers and sisters do in Iraq and Syria, for the sake of the Gospel. If we want to experience the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power we need to do the works of God, we must hold nothing back.

As we enter into this Holy Week with all the challenges facing us and our churches as Anglican followers of Jesus, Paul is reminding us that we have to have something new—a new heart, and a new mindset. Not a grasping, selfish, power hungry, upwardly mobile heart. But a heart so full of love for the people that God loves—the least, the last and the lost—that we are willing to think and act just as Jesus would in every situation we face. Are we willing to follow Jesus and humble ourselves: to relax our grip on this life, take the spotlight off ourselves, shine it on God and his Kingdom purposes, pour ourselves out in service to others and hold nothing back—even our own lives—for the sake of saving and rescuing people just like you and me from hell?

The Rev. Canon Phil Ashey is CEO of the American Anglican Council