'Be of the same mind one toward another.' It is interesting to notice
how frequently the Apostle in many of his letters exhorts to mutual
harmonious relations. For instance, in this very Epistle he invokes
'the God of patience and of comfort' to grant to the Roman Christians
'to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus,'
and to the Corinthians, who had their full share of Greek
divisiveness, he writes, 'Be of the same mind, live in peace,' and
assures them that, if so, 'the God of love and peace will be with
them'; to his beloved Philippians he pours out his heart in
beseeching them by 'the consolation that is in Christ Jesus, and the
comfort of love, and the fellowship of the Spirit--' that they would
'fulfil his joy, that they be of the same mind, having the same love,
being of one accord, of one mind'; whilst to the two women in that
Church who were at variance with one another he sends the earnest
exhortation 'to be of the same mind in the Lord,' and prays one whom
we only know by his loving designation of 'a true yokefellow,' to
help them in what would apparently put a strain upon their Christian
principle. For communities and for individuals the cherishing of the
spirit of amity and concord is a condition without which there will
be little progress in the Christian life.
But it is to be carefully noted that such a spirit may co-exist with
great differences about other matters. It is not opposed to wide
divergence of opinion, though in our imperfect sanctification it is
hard for us to differ and yet to be in concord. We all know the
hopelessness of attempting to make half a dozen good men think alike
on any of the greater themes of the Christian religion; and if we
could succeed in such a vain attempt, there would still be many an
unguarded door through which could come the spirit of discord, and
the half-dozen might have divergence of heart even whilst they
profess identity of opinion. The true hindrances to our having 'the
same mind one toward another' lie very much deeper in our nature than
the region in which we keep our creeds. The self-regard and
self-absorption, petulant dislike of fellow-Christians'
peculiarities, the indifference which comes from lack of imaginative
sympathy, and which ministers to the ignorance which causes it, and a
thousand other weaknesses in Christian character bring about the
deplorable alienation which but too plainly marks the relation of
Christian communities and of individual Christians to one another in
this day. When one thinks of the actual facts in every corner of
Christendom, and probes one's own feelings, the contrast between the
apostolic ideal and the Church's realisation of it presents a
contradiction so glaring that one wonders if Christian people at all
believe that it is their duty 'to be of the same mind one toward
another.'
The attainment of this spirit of amity and concord ought to be a
distinct object of effort, and especially in times like ours, when
there is no hostile pressure driving Christian people together, but
when our great social differences are free to produce a certain
inevitable divergence and to check the flow of our sympathy, and when
there are deep clefts of opinion, growing deeper every day, and
seeming to part off Christians into camps which have little
understanding of, and less sympathy with, one another. Even the
strong individualism, which it is the glory of true Christian faith
to foster in character, and which some forms of Christian fellowship
do distinctly promote, works harm in this matter; and those who pride
themselves on belonging to 'Free churches,' and standing apart from
creed-bound and clergy-led communities, are specially called upon to
see to it that they keep this exhortation, and cultivate 'the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace.'
It should not be necessary to insist that the closest mutual concord
amongst all believers is but an imperfect manifestation, as all
manifestations in life of the deepest principles must be, of the true
oneness which binds together in the most sacred unity, and should
bind together in closest friendship, all partakers of the one life.
And assuredly the more that one life flows into our spirits, the less
power will all the enemies of Christian concord have over us. It is
the Christ in us which makes us kindred with all others in whom He
is. It is self, in some form or other, that separates us from the
possessors of like precious faith. When the tide is out, the little
rock-pools on the shore lie separated by stretches of slimy weeds,
but the great sea, when it rushes up, buries the divisions, and
unites them all. Our Christian unity is unity in Christ, and the only
sure way 'to be of the same mind one toward another' is, that 'the
mind which was in Christ Jesus be in us also.'