"Have this attitude in yourselves"

3/14/2013
Philippians 2:5 tells us to have an attitude. It tells us to do nothing motivated by selfishness or empty conceit, not looking out only for our own interests, but the interests of others. In short, it is telling us to be motivated by love.
     My beloved racquetball provides me with many life lessons. My attitude has predominantly been one where I am motivated by selfish desires. I want to win. Why? What's behind that motive? What am I thinking happens when I win? All I have to do is explore my imagination to find the answer. I find there a man who attracts the admiring gaze of others as I walk through the racquetball club. There I can read their thoughts and hear their conversations as they say, "Wow, there goes that guy, Humphrey. Did you know he's 58 years old?" Someone answers, "No way! How can someone that old beat all these guys half his age?" I imagine them studying my game so they can improve theirs. I'm at the top of the heap, king of the hill. I'm virtually worshiped.  It's all about me.
     At the heart of this attitude, there's no thought or desire of compassion for my fellow man. Is he saved? Does he know Jesus? Is being beaten by me good for him? There's only room for a passing thought about being used by Jesus. There's the Spirit quietly reminding me of a much higher purpose that He's interested in. His purpose is as much higher than mine as the heavens are higher than the earth. His purpose is to use me to express Himself; His love, His wisdom, His patience. He wants me to be at peace about any outcome, truly believing that He actually does cause all things to work together for good for those who love Him. The "all things" includes a bad shot, or being beaten by a lesser player.
     But how do I adopt this attitude? I have prayed many a time on the way to the club, "Lord, use me today. Please allow me to have your attitude of love", only to revert into selfish and worldly desires for self exaltation, manifested on the court in expressions of anger, frustration, and displeasure.
     Is there no hope? There certainly is. Jesus says that apart from Him, we can do nothing. He also says that if we abide in Him, we can do all things. When we do, we will say, like Paul, "I live, yet not I, but Christ who strengthens me. We stay plugged in, not just on the way to the court, or job, or marriage, or fill in the blanks, but while on the court and at the job etc. We must learn what it means to "walk by the Spirit" because, as the word says, when we do, we will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
     We need to keep tabs on our attitude. Our flesh is a wild animal, ready to bite at any opportunity. When I fail at the court, instead of giving in and giving up, I need to see that failure as a red flag and a reminder to turn to Jesus. I need to keep turning, seeking His power that is perfected, not in my strength, but in my weakness.
     So how does His attitude of love manifest itself in and through me on the court? Should I still try to win? Is there a place for competition and trying hard? I believe there is. In fact, I believe that trying hard to win is  compatible with the verse that tells me to do whatever I do to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). You might say, "but Bob, when you win, someone else loses." That's true. But how is winning or losing good or bad for a person? Can God use losing as a tool in a person's life? How about winning?
     I remember a pastor once saying in a sermon that Jesus wants to show the world how He looks as a fill in the blank:                  . How does Jesus look when He wins? How about when He loses? How does He look as a paralytic, a businessman, a rich man, a poor man? Jesus is able to, and wants to, express Himself in every station of life. It isn't the circumstance that matters, it's the attitude, the mindset, the heart.
    So, back to the racquetball court. How can love be manifested in winning? It starts away from the court. It starts in my relationship with Jesus. As I seek Him in His word, in prayer, and in fellowship with His body, He transforms me by the renewing of my mind. Ideally, His purposes become my purposes. I see things from an eternal perspective. While I'm playing, I'm not seeing the action on the court as being about me, but rather as being about God's eternal purposes with me and with my opponent. If I win or lose, or make a good or bad shot, I'm looking to Him to fulfill His purposes through it. I'm thanking Him throughout the experience, not only for His perfect will that is being accomplished, but also for the joy that I'm feeling as I see Him using me in the working out of His purposes.
     In practice, this transformation of mind occurs only as I keep my spiritual eyes on Him. Just as a power tool has to be plugged in to operate, so I have to stay "plugged in". The moment I unplug (and it happens constantly), I lose the power and thus the focus. This state of being unplugged will quickly be manifested in certain "deeds of the flesh" like the "outbursts of anger" spoken of in Galatians chapter 5.
     The wonderful Good News is that God does not condemn me for such failures and weaknesses any more than a mother condemns her infant for falling down. How He deals with me is shown in the story of Peter when he asks Jesus to let him walk on water. Jesus, who's already out there standing on the water says, "come". Peter gets out of the boat and starts walking to Him. But then Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and focuses on the (impossible seeming) circumstances, immediately starts sinking, and cries out for help. Jesus didn't say, "you idiot. Okay, now you're going to drown." Instead, He grabbed his hand and told him what he had done wrong (forgot to trust in Jesus). The relationship shown here is possible with us only because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
     So, when I'm on the court, there can be joy in winning or joy in losing, as long as I abide in Him. If I do not abide, there is no real joy in either winning or losing.