Our New Mindset

Introduction

Why we sang psalm 34- we are starting a series from it on may 31!

SHORT GOSPEL ALONG WITH MISSION AND VISION! (In order for any of this to make sense, you have to first KNOW JESUS!)

Philippians 4:8–9 CSB

8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things. 9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

We’ve got two weeks left in Philippians. This week and next week. I felt really convicted to split verses 8-9 off from Philippians 4:1-7 because the instructions in verses 8-9 are so important.

What Paul lays out is how our entire MINDSET SHIFTS when we follow God. Rather than focusing on our comfort, our short-term pleasure, our enjoyment; we are called to focus on GOD AND THE THINGS OF GOD!

Main Point: As Christians, we need a new mindset.

Body

In Philippians 4:8 Paul gives the Philippians 8 things to SET THEIR MINDS ON! These 8 things should CHARACTERIZE THE MINDSET OF THE PHILIPPIANS!

These are some really practical parts of a mindset that focuses on God! Last week we saw how we need to focus on GOD AT ALL TIMES, REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION. This week we get to see what that ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE!

Philippians 4:8 CSB

8 Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.

As we start looking at verse 8, look at how Paul addresses the Philippians!

I keep hitting on this because it’s so important! PAUL LOVES THE PHILIPPIANS! THEY ARE HIS BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

That’s what Christians are for one another! WE ARE BROTHERS AND SISTERS! Like family, sometimes we don’t get along, like family, sometimes we fight, like family, sometimes we move away from one another, but the bond is deeper than all of that!

For your brothers and sisters your bond is blood. And that’s the bond for us also! WE ARE BONDED TOGETHER BECAUSE OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS!

GOSPEL!

Because we share a COMMON SALVATION AND ARE BONDED TOGETHER the entire message that Paul gives the church changes!

His instructions aren’t just, “do this because it would be good,” or “do this because I told you to.” Instead, Paul is coming from a place of saying, “DO THIS BECAUSE I LOVE YOU AND THIS IS WHAT GOD HAS CALLED US to do!”

Look at that difference! It’s subtle, but Paul’s not just speaking AT the Philippians, he’s WITH the Philippians!

He’s invested WITH THEM and he wants to see the Philippians and himself, grow closer to God!

Let’s look at the 8 different focuses that Paul calls out and that he tells the Philippians to dwell on!

Here they are:

Whatever is true

Whatever is honorable

Whatever is just

Whatever is pure

Whatever is lovely

Whatever is commendable

Any moral excellence

Anything praiseworthy

That’s what the Philippians- and as we’ve said often in this series- ANY CHRISTIAN, should dwell on! WE ARE CALLED TO DWELL ON THESE THINGS!

Look at WHATEVER IS TRUE with me.

The first 6 mindset focuses use a similar word structure.

Paul uses the verb “osas” then an adjective. Osas means, “As long as” or “whatever.”

Both meanings are pretty fitting here. Paul’s basically saying “As long as your focusing on _____ (insert characteristic) then you’re on the right track!”

The FIRST thing that Paul says is, “WHATEVER IS TRUE.”

The word for TRUE here refers to the WORD OF GOD!

Paul’s saying, “FOCUS ON THE WORD OF GOD! AS LONG AS YOU ARE FOCUSING ON THE WORD OF GOD, YOU’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK!”

Here’s what Paul’s getting at- the WORD OF GOD is a FIRM FOUNDATION that we can build our lives upon!

The WORD OF GOD is TRUSTWORTHY!

WE CAN COUNT ON IT!

Charles Hodge was an American Theologian most active in the middle of the 19th century- specifically before the Civil War. He is best known for defending SCRIPTURE!

The common position of American Christianity was to DOWNGRADE, or REMOVE the authority of scripture and to claim that scripture was flawed and untrue.

When talking about the purpose of Scripture, this is what he said, “The scriptures not only teach truth, they also teach what the effects of truth are on the heart when applied with the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Friends, FOCUS ON GOD’S WORD! IT WILL SHAPE YOU AND IT IS SO IMPORTANT! IT IS THE SPIRITUAL BEDROCK FOR EVERYTHING THAT WE BELIEVE!

Check out the second thing that Paul says. Paul challenges us to focus on WHATEVER IS HONORABLE!

If it is HONORABLE, then DO IT!

But, how do we determine what is honorable? Well, this word is translated in 1 Timothy 3 and in Titus 2 as “worthy of respect.”

IF IT IS WORTHY OF RESPECT, THEN WE SHOULD DO IT!

Now, in 1 Timothy 3:8 this word is addressed towards deacons and in Titus 2:2 this word is addressed to MATURE MEN. As a quick note- if you are ever wondering what the role of a deacon is, let me just explain it like this:

From Acts 6 we see that deacons are to be SERVANTS and from 1 Timothy 3 we see that they are to be SPIRITUAL ROLE MODELS for what it looks like to follow God!

And part of that is being WORTHY OF RESPECT! THEY ARE TO DO THINGS THAT ARE HONORING TO GOD!

THEY ARE TO DRAW MORE GLORY TOWARDS GOD, NOT AWAY FROM GOD!

But notice, in Philippians 4:8 this word isn’t addressed to just the elders and deacons who were mentioned in Philippians 1! It’s addressed to ALL OF THE CHURCH!

THIS IS A MUST-DO FOR EVERY SINGLE CHRISTIAN!

So I want to challenge us- we need to think about our actions through this lens- “Does my action draw honor to God?”

Not, what does someone else think, or what is easiest for me, but DOES MY ACTION DRAW HONOR TO GOD?

Let me give an example.

I’ve heard wait staff talk about how the single worst staff to have in a restaurant is SUNDAY AROUND LUNCH TIME!

The reputation of the shift is that Christians are at lunch and Christians are bad tippers.

The reputation of Christians a decade ago was that instead of leaving money, they might leave you a tract that looked like a 100 dollar bill.

Now, I’m not here to question the hearts behind people leaving those tracts, but I am going to challenge- is giving a small tip when you could easily give more, living a life that is worthy of respect? Does it show that waiter the love of God?

Not really!

CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE THE BEST TIPPERS EVER BECAUSE WE ARE SEEKING TO BRING GOD HONOR; EVEN IN HOW WE TIP!

That’s just a small example, but what about the jokes that we make at work or with friends? What about the shows that we watch? What about the websites that we go to? What about the social media posts that we share? What about the people that we follow? What about the shows that we watch? What about the books that we read?

Do those things bring honor to God?

That’s what Paul is addressing! OUR MINDSET IN LIFE SHOULD BE, “HOW CAN I BRING MORE HONOR TO GOD TODAY!” That’s what we’re called to do!

That’s what we’re made to do!

There’s a famous quote that says, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”

The writer draws that from Psalm 73:26 and a few other verses such as 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Psalm 73:26 CSB

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever.

Friends, is that our mindset? THAT WE MAY FALL SHORT, BUT THAT WE HAVE BROUGHT AS MUCH PRAISE TO GOD AS POSSIBLE?

Whatever is Just is our THIRD focus.

This word is a big one. The word for just? It’s the same as the NT word for RIGHTEOUS!

Paul’s saying- if it’s RIGHTEOUS, or literally RIGHT IN GOD’S EYES, then FOCUS ON IT!

Here’s the challenge to us- does our life reflect righteousness? ARE WE ACTIVELY FIGHTING AGAINST SIN AND RUNNING TOWARDS GOD?

OR ARE WE CONTENT TO SIT IN OUR SIN, or TO PRETEND THAT IT ISN’T TOO BIG OF A DEAL!

That’s what sin does- it lies to us and tells us that it’s no big deal. BUT IT IS!

SIN IS ADDICTIVE! IT DRAWS US BACK TO IT OVER AND OVER! SO INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON SIN, WE ARE TO FOCUS ON RIGHTEOUSNESS!

Next, Paul says, “WHATEVER IS PURE!”

This word has to do with sexual purity in particular.

In a culture- much like ours- that thrives on promiscuity and debauchery, Paul is calling believers to live COUNTER-CULTURALLY AND TO LIVE PURE LIVES!

The Philippians are being challenged to RUN FROM SEXUAL IMMORALITY AND TO BE PURE!

And this wasn’t just big for the Philippians. This is big for us.

Sexual promiscuity is EVERYWHERE! It’s in every show on TV, it’s all over media, and the money follows that.

The adult website OnlyFans publicly stated that people spent 7.22 BILLION DOLLARS last year subscribing to adult entertainment, JUST ON THAT PLATFORM!

And that’s just one form of sexual immorality. According to a Christian post survey from 2014, over 85%(!) of Christian couples HAVE SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE!

That’s not the only survey like it. According to a PEW RESEARCH study from 2019, 46% of Christians (now it’s self-identified, but still) thought that sex on the FIRST DATE (NOT EVEN IN A RELAITONSHIP) was fine. 50% stated that it was fine to have one-night stands.

Friends, this should break our hearts, but it should also show us something. It should show us how important it is to be pure!

BEING PURE IS A WAY THAT WE LIVE DIFFERENTLY FROM THE WORLD!

BEING PURE IS A WAY TO POINT PEOPLE TO GOD!

OUR DIFFERENT SEXUAL ETHIC- which doesn’t hate sex, but rather KEEPS IT TO MARRIAGE LIKE GOD DESIGNED, IS A WAY TO ACTUALLY POINT PEOPLE TO GOD!

Listen- purity isn’t always easy. And God gives INFINITE GRACE!

But friends, we are supposed to fight it! WE ARE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW JOSEPH’S EXAMPLE AND RUN FROM SIN!

We don’t counsel people towards purity by just talking about changing boundaries or having a Bible study. We do it by RUNNING FROM SIN AND RUNNING TOWARDS PURITY!

To do that, we have to HAVE A MINDSET THAT IS FOCUSED ON PURITY!

Let’s live PURE LIVES!

Next, Paul says to focus on whatever is lovely.

That word can be translated as pleasing. But this isn’t talking about short-term earthly pleasure. This is talking about FOCUSING OIN WHAT PLEASES GOD!

Let me give you three things that are pleasing to God- giving God GLORY EVERY DAY, GROWING IN THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT (GROWING TO BE MORE LIKE HIM, WHICH MEANS THAT WE KNOW HIM MORE), HELPING OTHERS DO THAT! (LIVING OUT THE GREAT COMMISSION!)

The challenge for us in this is simple- is this what our life reflects?

Here’s our sixth one. “Whatever is commendable.”

The word commendable is also WORTHY OF PRAISE!

GOD IS WORHTY OF ALL PRAISE! PAUL IS CALLING FOR US TO LITERALLY FOCUS ON GOD!

Do our minds go towards God and the things of God? Do we want to KNOW GOD MORE, or do our minds tend to run towards work or a hobby.

Here’s an example- I love golfing. And I’d really like to get better with my 60 degree wedge around the green. If you know, you know.

But if that ever becomes my all-consuming focus of my life, then I’ve missed the mark. I think that the literal best golfer in the world (who happens to be a christian) said it well.

He was asked if he’d ever quit playing golf. This was his response, “If my golf ever started affecting my home life or it ever affected the relationship I have with my wife or my son, that's going to be the last day that I play out here for a living.”

Just sub in this- “If my hobbies, or anything else, ever affects my relationship with GOD, then that will be the last day I do that thing.”

Can we honestly say that? And I’m saying that to me also!

Like the goal of our life isn’t to be incredible with a 60 degree wedge, or to be on every 40 under 40 list. The goal of our lives is to GLORIFY GOD!

SO WE SHOULD FOCUS ON THE THINGS OF GOD MORE THAN OUR OWN PURSUITS!

Here’s the 7th! We are to focus on moral excellence.

This one is big! This is literally talking about having excellent character!

There’s two parts to this- first, we need to have Godly character. Then, we need to pursue EXCELLENCE!

We need to grow to be more like God and we also need to pursue excellence in whatever we are doing to serve God!

Like why would we give a 50% effort to praising our CREATOR AND SAVIOR?

Yet, so often we do. We compromise, we give ourselves a pass, we focus so much on grace that sin doesn’t seem to even matter.

But friends, we are called to have moral excellence; excellence in our GODLY CHARACTER!

Here’s the last one- we are to focus on anything that is PRAISEWORTHY!

This one is so cool- rather than just focusing on what God has done, this one really gets at focusing on WHO GOD IS!

WE ARE TO FOCUS ON WHO GOD IS!

Like, when was the last time that we just stopped to CONSIDER God’s OMNISCIENCE, or HIS OMNIPOTENCE?

I fear that sometimes we have a SMALL GOD THEOLOGY unintentionally!

We get so focused on our stuff and on our lives and we start to tell ourselves that GOD WOULDN’T CARE and that we need to FIGURE THIS OUT ON OUR OWN, that we IGNORE GOD!

Then that fails and THEN WE CALL OUT TO GOD FOR HELP!

But that’s not right! Instead, our focus should be on WHO GOD IS EVERY DAY! AND WHEN WE LEARN MORE ABOUT GOD- growing as disciples- and WE FOCUS ON WHO GOD IS, then IT’S MUCH MORE NATURAL TO CALL OUT TO GOD FOR HELP!

So, let’s focus on the PRAISEWORTHINESS OF THE VERY BEING OF OUR GOD!

Here’s something I love about this passage- verse 9 is like a practical punch to all of these things to focus on!

Philippians 4:9 CSB

9 Do what you have learned and received and heard from me, and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

In response to EVERYTHING that we’ve just seen, Paul challenges the church.

He specifically challenges them to LIVE OUT WHAT THEY’VE:

Learned- FROM PAUL’S LIFE!

Received- FROM PAUL’S TEACHINGS- including this letter

Heard- FROM HIS PREACHING

Seen- IN HIS LIFE!

And look at what he says- DO THIS, TAKE SOME ACTION AND IN TURN, GOD WILL BE EVEN CLOSER TO THEM, BECAUSE THEY’LL BE CLOSER TO GOD!

That’s PRETTY INCREDIBLE!

And it goes back to something from Philippians 3. It goes back to this question; WHAT DOES OUR LIFE POINT TO?

Yes, there’s grace when we fall short, because we all do, EVERY SINGLE DAY!

But what do the ACTIONS, the WORDS, the LESSONS of our life show?

Are we drawing people towards wanting to LEARN MORE ABOUT GOD with how our lives have changed, or are our lives the same, leading us to PUSH PEOPLE AWAY FROM GOD?

Understand- discipleship and evangelism “success” isn’t about you! But we sure can get in the way! And God still moves and still works, but we COST OURSELVES THE CHANCE TO SEE JOY AND TO SEE GOD WORK!

WHEN WE LET PRIDE AND AN EARTHLY FOCUS COME BETWEEN US AND GOD, WE STOP LETTING GOD WORK AND WE START PUTTING GOD IN A BOX! WHEN THAT HAPPENS, WE LOSE OUT ON THE CHANCE TO SEE OUR LORD MOVE!

Renewed Mindset

HOW DOES ALL OF THIS CHANGE US?

It’s one thing for us to say, “MMMM, GOOD STUFF! THAT’LL PREACH!”

But it’s another for this to actually change us. Renewal is a BIG BIBLICAL IDEA OF HOW SOMETHING- usually spiritual and covenantal- is made new! OUR MINDSET NEEDS TO BE MADE NEW!

I think the example of Job 31:1 is fitting for what it means to RENEW OUR MINDS!

Job 31:1 CSB

1 I have made a covenant with my eyes. How then could I look at a young woman?

REALLY, WE ARE MAKING A COVENANT TO FOCUS ON GOD RATHER THAN OURSELVES!

So practically, what do you need to cut out? What do these focuses show you about where your (MY) mindset is?

Lay out how to go nuclear

There was a phrase that we used in Navigators in college when we talked about purity in particular. We used the phrase “going nuclear” which meant taking WHATEVER STEPS WERE NECESSARY TO CUT OUT SIN!

Sometimes that looked like something small, other times that looked like something big!

It always looked like a change though!

Like for instance, my roommates and I made a deal- we weren’t going to close our bedroom doors while we were home. So we changed in the bathroom, we left the doors open, we put up flags for a bit of privacy (I had just gotten back from Trinidad and Tobago and I used a Trini flag that I hung with command hooks over my door.)

Did it look stupid? 1,000,000%

But did it work? Well, I’ll tell you what- all three of us that did it agreed that we were MORE PRODUCTIVE, BATTLED LESS TEMPTATION (JUST IN GENERAL), and WERE MORE INCLINED TO BE ENGAGED IN MINISTRY while we did that!

Sometimes we have to take an immediate, BIG step to SHOCK OUR SYSTEM!

And maybe that’s you today. You’re fighting a sin and you just need to take that BIG STEP to stop bringing your phone to the bedroom, to stop going on the computer at night, to stop scrolling social media, or whatever else!

Hear this- there’s no shame in doing this! In fact, I had so much respect for my two roommates who did this with me! Fighting sin is serious! And there’s no shame in admitting that we have to GROW CLOSER TO GOD!

THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THERE’S SHAME IS IN KNOWING THAT WE NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE AND REFUSING TO DO SO BECAUSE WE ARE PRIDEFUL!

Lay out next steps for adjusting a mindset

Go to God Prayerfully

Evaluate (I’ve got a great resource called the NAMB SOUL CARE ASSESSMENT that can be a GREAT starting place! Our Young Adults group just went through it and we’ve heard great feedback. I’ve got several copies printed in the lobby, so take one and walk through it! I’d love to talk about what you find out more!)

Think about what you think about! Take notes for a day!

GO BACK TO GOD!

PRAYERFULLY ANALYZE WHAT YOUR NEXT STEP IS!

You don’t have to bite off everything at once, start small! Start with cutting out a show, or with rearranging your day to prioritize time with God, etc.

TAKE ONE STEP EACH DAY!

Example of working out- Recently, I’ve been trying to re-gain some muscle that I lost last summer during all my rib and lung stuff. And as I’ve done that, I’ve challenged myself- I just have to get through the workout. I don’t have to lift the heaviest weights, I might modify a part of it to address a space limitation, etc. I don’t have to feel 100% throughout, but I HAVE TO KEEP GOING! I’m not going to pause the video to rest for longer, I’m not going to just stop and give up. I’m going to KEEP GOING!

That’s how it is for us in adjusting our mindset. You can’t do it IN ONE DAY!

And you REALLY CAN’T do it if you never start!

So instead of getting overwhelmed, consider- what is my step for TODAY?

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE FOR ME TO “GET THROUGH THE WORKOUT” SO TO SPEAK?

Renewed Example

Not only do we need to RENEW OUR MINDS, we need to RENEW THE EXAMPLE THAT WE GIVE TO THE WORLD! We need to be RENEWED EXAMPLES! (Now of course our example isn’t perfect, but we should be striving to be a renewed example!)

WE ALSO HAVE TO BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT MAKING SURE THAT WE TAKE ACTION!

BECAUSE THESE NEW ACTIONS WILL FEEL AND ARE DIFFERENT!

To continue using the example of working out, I could think about working out everyday and have THE BEST MINDSET, but if I never DO IT, then my THOUGHTS really don’t matter!

Let me give you three things that Renewed examples do (and these aren’t really my idea, this is what Paul does):

They SHOW GOD

RENEWED EXAMPLES WANT TO SHOW GOD WITH HOW THEY LIVE!

THEIR ACTIONS LOOK DIFFERENT BUT THEY ARE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO SHOW MORE AND MORE OF GOD TO THE WORLD AROUND THEM!

RENEWED EXAMPLES UNDERSTAND THAT THEY ARE LIVING UNDER A MICROSCOPE AND THAT PEOPLE ARE EXAMINING THEM!

BUT THAT DOESN’T SCARE THEM! INSTEAD, THAT ENERGIZES THEM BECAUSE THEY CAN BE THE LIGHT THAT PEOPLE NEED!

They can be the city on a hill that can’t be hidden! They are the salt of the earth that stays salty!

RENEWED EXAMPLES WANT TO BE AN EXAMPLE!

They TALK ABOUT GOD

RENEWED EXAMPLES WANT OTHER PEOPLE TO KNOW GOD!

SO RENEWED EXAMPLES SET AN EXAMPLE OF TALKING ABOUT GOD!

THEY SEEK OUT CONVERSATIONS WHEREVER THEY ARE!

THEY TALK ABOUT GOD, THEY PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL, THEY GIVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESPONSE!

RENEWED EXAMPLES SEEK TO TALK ABOUT GOD NOT ONLY IN EVANGELISM, BUT ALSO WITH OTHER BELIEVERS!

RENEWED EXAMPLES WANT TO SEEK GOD TOGETHER WITH OTHER PEOPLE!

They LEARN ABOUT GOD!

RENEWED EXAMPLES grow as disciples!

Discipleship isn’t just mental and it’s also not just actions. Discipleship requires KNOWING GOD MORE AND LETTING GOD CHANGE OUR LIVES!

WE NEED TO BE CONSTANTLY LEARNING ABOUT GOD!

Is that you? If not, that’s ok! But this is what we want to grow towards! We want to SHOW GOD, TALK ABOUT GOD, PURSUE (LEARN) GOD!

I want to end today with one question- what is my next best step? What step do I need to take TODAY to address this?

And then after that, we need to ask ourselves this- “How am I going to follow through?”

Cornerstone, let’s be people with a renewed mindset who are renewed examples!

Let me pray for us.