Prison Letters: Christ-like Attitude (Pt. 5)

Prison Letters: Christ-like attitude (Pt.5) 

(Philippians 2:5-11) 

(Part 1 of 2) 

“You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”-Philippians 2:5-11

The Apostle Paul, writing from prison, challenges the believers in Philippi to have the same attitude as Jesus. An attitude is a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior.

Evangelist D. L. Moody once said that “Attitudes determine our actions, for good or bad.”

He’s right, we don’t technically develop good attitude or bad attitudes about something. Rather, we have a settled way of thinking about something that then causes us to behave in positive or negative ways. 

That is why some people who are facing the same challenges as others react in a positive way and others in a negative way. The situation remains the same, but how they think about that situation, causes them to behave in a positive or a negative manner. I find it interesting that a man in prison is encouraging us to capture the attitude of Christ (a man who died on a cross). He doesn’t challenge us to have a good or bad attitude. He tells us to have Christ’s attitude, that is to capture the same settled way of thinking or feeling about something as Jesus and then let it be reflected in our response. 

This should challenge us to ask ourselves what was Jesus’ settled way of thinking about money? Sex? Religion? Authority? 

Here in Philippians, Paul is pointing to something very specific. An attitude that Christ had that we would all do well to capture. (One that Paul found to be very important in light of his own personal incarceration.)

Verse 6 begins like this: “Though He was God.” There is no argument here that Jesus understood: who He was, the scope of His authority, and the extent of His divine privileges. Yet, here was His attitude towards those things: “He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.” Although He had every right to employ all the authority, power, and divine privilege afforded Him by being God, He did not see His personal rights as being greater than God’s divine purpose. 

Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church