On Being Heavenly Minded and Earthly Good

John 15: 12-17 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other. (NIV)

I woke up this morning with the Spirit impressing upon me the old expression of not being so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good. I did a simple Google search and was amazed at the negative response to this phrase from well intended Christians. One of the recurring rationales for dismissing this notion was the use of these Scriptures:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3: 1-3 (NIV)

Excellent verses but I think they really miss the mark and quite frankly define the expression. That you would go find Scripture you think supports your view instead of dealing with the person in front of you. The fact is that these Colossian verses are not instructing us to literally be hidden from each other! The subsequent context in the third chapter of Colossians deals with the things that belong to our earthly nature. Things such as lust, greed and all forms of idolatry. Being of earthly good is not referring to that. It is referring to how our life impacts others around us. It is referring to the relationships that make up our life. Certainly our primary relationship is always with God but remember that the Gospels show us the life of Jesus for a reason.

Jesus was nothing if not relational. His ministry was filled not only with miracles and deity but also with relationships He established, nurtured, and maintained. Consider just the key verses today. These twelve disciples were not just a means to an end for our Savior. They were His friends. He loved them and cared about them. Were there times He went away alone to pray? Absolutely. But there were also times He took those closest to Him with Him.

In fact, how did Jesus say that people will even know we are a Christian? Are they to know us by our doctrine? Or how well we defend our church? Or how many times per week we fast, pray, or read the Bible? While these are all noble pursuits, they are not what will define us according to Jesus.

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13: 34-35 (NIV)

I think sometimes we can fall into the trap of thinking that mere act of dealing with each other somehow taints who we are in Christ instead of defining who we are in Christ. Of what use is our Christianity if it does not positively impact the people God has put into our life? And I don't mean impact them by reciting Scripture to them. I don't mean impact them by assuring them we are praying for them. And yes, praying for the people in our lives and reflecting the Word of God to them are extremely important but so is being human with them. So is supporting them. So is crying with them, laughing with them, and spending time with them. As in most things in life, it is the balance that is healthy. Heavenly minded? Absolutely! But earthly good? Absolutely!

Let us consider Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. These were also friends of Jesus according to Scripture:

So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, "Lord, your dear friend is very sick." John 11: 3 (NLT)

Not only was Lazarus a dear friend but here is how much of a friend:

But his disciples objected. "Rabbi," they said, "only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?" John 11: 8 (NLT)

And Jesus did go. We know the story. By the time He arrives Lazarus is dead for four days. Everyone is mourning. The sisters are beside themselves with grief. And then we get to the shortest and one of the most powerful verses in the entire Bible:

Then Jesus wept. John 11: 35 (NLT)

Jesus wept. The Son of God cried. Why? Not because Lazarus was dead. Jesus knew He was about to raise him from the dead! In fact, Jesus specifically tarried in coming to the village for the express purpose of raising Lazarus from the dead. No beloved. Jesus wept because He loved Mary and Martha and shared in their suffering. He was upset because His dear friends were in pain. Did He teach them spiritual truths along the way? Absolutely. He had to remind them that He is the resurrection and the life! He had to strengthen their faith. But He also cried with them. He also shared in their grief. He was heavenly minded while being of earthly good to them.

Consider the Apostle Paul. After Jesus, Paul is our primary source for doctrine yet he was also extremely relational. Not only teaching the ways of God but establishing a great many friendships along the way. Consider that the Epistles that make up the majority of the New Testament are actual letters Paul had written to the friends and churches he had established. Were they filled with heavenly matters such as doctrine, correction and instruction? Of course! Paul was definitely heavenly minded. But they were also filled gems such as these:

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, - Philippians 1: 3-4 (NLT)

I am writing to Timothy, my true son in the faith. - 1Timothy 1: 2 (NLT)

This letter is from Paul, a prisoner for preaching the Good News about Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to Philemon, our beloved co-worker, and to our sister Apphia, and to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church that meets in your house. Philemon 1: 1-2 (NLT)

The Epistles are not impersonal decrees of holy doctrine. They were heartfelt letters to real people Paul loved and had established friendships with. He taught them but he loved them. Nearly the entire 16^th Chapter of the Book of Romans is Paul singling everyone out he wants to personally thank! There are over 25 separate people Paul thanks and says something nice about individually.

Our relationships were not meant to be peripheral in our lives. They were meant to constitute our lives. The Bible is our instruction manual for navigating this world but isn't it interesting that God included so many examples of good strong friendships? Daniel had three friends. Even Job had three friends. David had Jonathan, as well as Abiathar, Nahash, Hiram, Hushai, and Ittai. King Ahaziah had King Joram. Abraham had Lot. Ruth had Naomi. In fact that was such a strong friendship it is worth reading it:

But Ruth replied, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!" Ruth 1: 16-17 (NLT)

Oh that we would develop such friendships in this life! But the world we live in pushes people away. It develops a selfish mentality inside of us. That we cannot be bothered with someone else and their problems. That it is a dog eat dog world. Survival of the fittest right? Ironically that is a term coined by Charles Darwin as a synonym for his theory on evolution. I say ironic because sometimes Christians spend so much energy correctly dismissing the Evolutionary theory only to treat the people in their lives as if they swear by it. The Bible tells a story of a man crippled in both feet named Mephibosheth. He was dropped when a child causing the lameness. Because he came from the line of King Saul, people assumed he would be an enemy of King David and they hid him in a place called lo-debar, which in the Hebrew means "no pasture." But King David remembered his friendship with Jonathan:

David asked, "Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan's sake?" 2Samuel 9: 1 (NIV)

And so David sent for this lame cripple and brought him into the palace. He assured Mephibosheth that he would restore all of the land that had belonged to his grandfather King Saul to him and that he would always have a place to eat at the king's table. In an instant, Mephibosheth went from being a poor cripple hiding in a land of no pasture to being rich beyond comprehension and sitting at the table of the king. That is why Mephibosheth is a picture of salvation for us. For we too were crippled by the world. Dropped and lame. Hiding from the king in a land that offered us no pasture. We too deserved none of the kindness that the king was about to send our way. Being crippled we could do nothing for ourselves. But in one supernatural second, we became saved and suddenly we had riches untold in Christ Jesus and we had a place at the table of the King of Kings!

But Mephibosheth reaped the rewards of a friendship David and Jonathan treasured. Remember that Jonathan was the son of King Saul, so David would have made more sense as a natural enemy. But not so with the close friends:

So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, "May the LORD call David's enemies to account." And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. 1Samuel 20: 16-17 (NIV)

We don't covenant much anymore. Sure maybe for marriage but beyond that there are often too many peripheral relationships in our lives and in the church. To make matters worse, we can fall into the habit of actually using God as the reason why we do not follow the plan He has outlined for us when it comes to our relationships. The first sign of a relationship costing us something and we can become too heavenly minded. God created Adam and Eve and walked in the Garden with them. God called Abraham and Moses friend. Jesus called his disciples friends. He even referred to Judas as friend as He was betraying Him! The Bible is very clear that we are to focus on heavenly things not the things of this world. But that is not referring to other people. God brings people into our lives for a reason. Others He may bring in for a season. But there should be a balance. If you have a lot of folks who have been in for a season and not a lot for a reason, perhaps this was a word for you. If at the first sign of concern in a relationship we feel the need to lie in sackcloth and ashes while we commence a 40 day fast, perhaps we need to be of more earthly good!

Seriously, we often complicate what God has made clear and simple. Are we to be heavenly minded? Absolutely. But God has made it clear in His Word that we are to do so while being of some earthly good to each other. That we are to model Jesus, Paul, King David and countless other examples He has given us. That we are to edify and build each other up in doctrine but also in love. A love like David had for Jonathan that transcended generations and was born out of covenant. And that people would then know we belong to the King because of the love we have for each other. Not just in words but in deeds. The love of God. The love of a friend.

Reverend Anthony Wade January 20, 2012