If Philippians 2:6-11 is a central description of what God’s cruciform love looks like in the person of Jesus Christ, the introductory verse of Philippians 2:5 is critical for understanding how Paul intends us to understand the implications for our lives and identity.

A complication is that there are different potential translations and interpretations of what the NRSV translates as “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus”

Gorman highlights two of the main ways the passage has been interpreted.  Is it about imitating Jesus’ mindset or continuing in the identity we already have in Christ?  An example of this would be in the ESV translation: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

The bulk of this chapter is a fairly technical proposal that Gorman puts forward for a third way of understanding and translating this passage.  The in-depth rationale he presents for his translation will probably be difficult to follow for most readers, but we can take a look at where he lands and examine its implications.

He prefers to render Philippians 2:5 this way: “Cultivate this mindset – this way of thinking, acting and feeling – in your community, which is in fact a community in the Messiah Jesus.”

My sense of the core distinction between imitation and participation for Gorman is to guard against the idea of Jesus as just a moral example that we are to follow, which could be substituted by any other really good or moral person we should follow.

Gorman doesn’t like the word imitation, but there is a role for active response to who God is revealed to be.  The difference as I see it, is that we cannot imitate from the outside, as if we are apart from Jesus trying to be like Him.  Instead, to be a Christian, we are intrinsically drawn into community that is literally “in Christ”, participating in the continuing life of God in the pattern of Jesus the Messiah whose story reveals the character and nature of God in Philippians 2:6-11.

As he puts it, in Christ Jesus, “those who live in the Messiah are to be conformed to the pattern of his self-humbling and self-emptying, not merely as imitators of a model, but as persons whose fundamental identity is to participate in him and thus in his story.”

My core takeaway is the understanding that to be ‘in Christ’ is more than imitation of an ideal or example, but an entry into a community shaped and indwelt by God; Father, Son, Spirit.

If it all sounds way too esoteric and lofty; perhaps it’s useful to consider some related questions:

• If Jesus is just an example, could we realistically substitute any other sufficiently good or wise person for him?  What would be missing in so doing?
• What difference does it make that participation in Christ involves life in community, not just individual morality?
• How does the mystical or spiritual dimension of this change how we view the Christian life?
• What questions does this stir up for you?

Michael J. Gorman’s book Participating in Christ is a fascinating exploration of a phrase we encounter time and again in Paul’s writings, yet perhaps without considering what exactly it means to be in Christ.

True to the title of the book, Gorman invites us to consider that to be in Christ is not merely an attempt to imitate Jesus’ actions or ethics, but to participate in the very Triune life of God, taking seriously the language Paul uses (for example) in Galatians 5:20 when he says: “…it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me…”

Today, I’m picking up on a conversation begun at the First Baptist Church’s facebook page, and delving into chapter three of the book: “Cruciform or Resurrectiform?”  Scot McKnight in the Jesus Creed blog is also following this book, so I’ll try not to duplicate his analysis here.

Again, following Paul’s emphasis on the cross as the definitive revelation of God’s character in Christ, and thus the implications for us who then are caught up in the life of Christ here and now, Gorman addresses a pretty important potential critique: what about the resurrection?  Should we not give equal (or more) emphasis to participation in the resurrection of Jesus as part of the Christian life?

In one sense, absolutely – apart from the resurrection, our faith is futile, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:16.  Yet Gorman’s provocative argument, following the pattern of the Christ hymn in Philippians 2:4-11 and 2 Corinthians, chapters 3-5, is that it is precisely when we are vulnerable and ‘weak’ in the eyes of the world, that God’s resurrection power is displayed.  It is in Jesus’ “downward mobility”, of letting go of privilege and status to be a servant in human form, obedient even to death on a cross, that exaltation occurs.

Where that challenges me is to wonder about how anxious we can get (as churches, as pastors, as people) about whether or not we have enough (time / money / resources) to accomplish God’s mission.  Perhaps our anxiety stems from our desire to have so much that we can accomplish it “on our own” – though we’d never actually say it that way.  Perhaps it is only as we are willing to participate in Christ’s downward mobility, realizing that it’s not about our sufficiency but God’s provision that allows God’s grace and love and resurrection power to be shown.

When we have enough, there’s no need for God to show up, except perhaps to pat us on the head and say ‘well done’!  And yet, being willing to faithfully step out where God calls us when we don’t have enough, into the unknown, that’s a dying to ourselves that allows us to see God at work; and that transforms us as well as the world.

Blessings on the Journey

-Pastor Brian