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It's All Matter Of Attitude
Sam Abraham LCSW, Gurnee, IL.

           One significant challange facing the body of Christ today involves developing a Christ - like attitude. We who are called to be imitators of Christ sadly fall far short of any sembelance of what He envisioned, which is recorded in his instructions to His disciples just prior to His crucifixion. Unending strife with in churches and between congregations in painfully obvious in the present day church .

           Scripture reminds us that such conflict was ever present in time of Jesus and in the early Church. Among the disciples of Jesus, there was conflict over the issue of which of them was the greatest (Luke 9. 46) The corinthian church was divided into various factions, one following Paul, another Appollos, another Peter, and yet another Christ (1 Cor. 1:12).

           It is no surprise, then, that after two millennia, believers would continue to struggle with division in the Church. This is especially troubling in light of Jesus ' exhortation of HIs disciples in John 13: 34-35, "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". The contemptible attitude of some churchgoers towards fellow members or towards other congregations is rather evident; the world today hardly views the church as a bastion of love and unity.  It more often sees a body that is bent on self - destruction through anger, hatred, pride, jealousy, and one that emphasizes individual achievement over group solidarity.

           The point of this articles to highlight an essential attribute - a basic principle that the Lord himself modeled for us to emulate. Philippians 2 exhorts believers with the statement "your attitude should be the same as that was in Christ Jesus ",   and lists several attributes that we as christians would do well to develop in our own lives . The basis of having a christ -like attitude is humility, which is essentially considering others better than yourself (verse.3).  This passage indicates that he took, on the form of a man and humbled himself to the point of being crucified like a criminal.  We see a picture of God the son making a choice to put upon himself all of the limitations that characterize man, to be born in to poverty, to feel the rejection of his family, to suffer betrayal and die a cruel death.  As followers of Christ we are called upon to "go to Him out side the camp, bearing the disgrace He bore" (Hebrews 13: 13).

           In the eyes of God, a humble spirit is characteristic of a person who is willing to place others before himself and who is willing to surrender all to him.  Humility is a consistent with the message of dying to self, which leads to the manifestation of the love of Christ in and through us.  The apostle Paul writes, "The entire law is summed up in a single command: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.  If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other" (Galatians 5: 14-15 ).  The message is clear; the more we believers foster and encourage conflict, the greater the possibility that we will eventually destroy our spiritual lives and become completely ineffective for the kingdom of God.

            I n addition to lacking a humble attitude, we often minimize fellowship with other believers under the guise of maintaining our "spiritual standards."    People some times avoid others whom they view to be less spiritual, in an effort to keep themselves "pure" However, this is not "the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:10) It is God that makes us holy, not our own righteous standards.  Rather than putting fingers of condementation towards other believers, we need to make every effort to encourage, lift up, and nurture others as Christ would do.  This change of attitude is essential to the process of healing and restoration in the body of Christ, so that each of us would learn to put others first.  Genuine humility and love are crucial to the message of Christianty that we seek to present to this generation.