The Ultimate Attitude Adjustment

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Philippians 2:3-5

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

(NLT)

There is no shortage in our society of selfish, proud, self-thinking individuals only looking out for their own interests at the expense of the interests of others.  This is not something that is limited to the government or even one political party but is something of epidemic proportions in our society.  What our society needs is an ultimate attitude adjustment. 

In contrast to the attitude prevalent in our world today, Philippians 2:6-11 gives us a glimpse of the attitude of Christ.  The attitude of Christ is,

1)      Humility despite being God (Philippians 2:6) – The most miraculous part of the Gospel message is found in John 1:14 which tells us that the Word (i.e. the Word of God) became flesh and dwelt with us in the person of Jesus Christ.  Since John1:1 tells us that the Word was God, it is telling us that Jesus is God.  God in the flesh could have come to us in judgment but instead came to save us (John 3:17).  To accomplish this God had to abandon, in the ultimate demonstration of humility, his divinity and its privileges and take on human form.  

2)      Choosing a humble birth instead of a royal birth (Philippians 2:7) – God could have chosen to have His Son born into any family he chose.  As such God could have seen to it that Jesus was born into a prominent family of political or religious aristocracy but instead chose a humble birth in Bethlehem.  We have recently witnessed the birth of William and Kate’s two children with the expected royal fanfare.  There is no doubt that if the promised Messiah would have been born to a virgin of the aristocracy, He would have had instantaneous popularity and a huge following when beginning his ministry.  Instead God choose to have His Son born to humble parents in a manger and have the birth announced by angels to humble shepherds.  While Jesus did develop a huge following for his time, it was not due to the nobility of his birth but instead came because of the fruits of the miracles he performed and His teaching which came from his Father. 

3)      Obediently died an unjustified criminal’s death for others (Philippians 2:8) – Unlike anyone who has ever been born, Jesus never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21).  As such, Jesus was not subject to the legal death penalty for sin as is everyone else (Romans 6:23).  Therefore, by voluntarily dying a criminal’s death by crucifixion, Jesus was performing the ultimate act of unselfishness and humility placing the needs of humanity above His own.  Granted, Jesus as God knew there was going to be a miraculous resurrection three days after his death but that came at the cost of great pain.  (1)  Perhaps the realization of the pain Jesus was about to endure led to one last attempt on His part to plead with God the Father for another way to bring salvation to humanity (Matthew 26:39) but upon realization that no other way existed, Jesus humbly surrendered to the will of His Father (Matthew 26:42). 

While Donald Trump is far from a perfect leader or human being, as are we all, one aspect of his attitude seems to have gotten lost in the rhetoric of Russian collusion, (2) obstruction of justice, (3) and calls for impeachment due to mental incapacity.  (4)  This missing aspect is that Donald Trump, a successful businessman and media personality who also is a multi-billionaire could be living the good life in his plush New York City penthouse.  Instead, however, Donald Trump performed an act of selfless humility by daring to run for, and be elected President of the United States.  As such, he has subjected himself to a constant barrage of personal attacks on him and his family.  Donald Trump’s selfless actions demonstrate a love for country, its citizens, and desire to change the dangerous direction the nation is headed in. 

As a reward for his selfless humility, God elevated Jesus to a position of high honor, sitting at the right hand of God the Father (Philippians 2:8, Ephesians 1:20).  This selfless humility has elevated the position of Christ to a level that every knee will bow to his authority and every tongue will declare Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).  Jesus taught that the servant would be exalted (Matthew 19:30) and not only said it, but demonstrated it by humbly becoming one of us and dying for our sins. 

While we may not totally agree with President Trump’s policies and behaviors, his selfless attitude of surrender of the good life he could be enjoying in exchange for the vitriol of political life demonstrates a love for country.  I encourage everyone to abandon their own selfish agendas and give the President a chance instead of constantly trying to remove him from office or attempting to force him to resign.  I believe Donald Trump’s love for country will cause him to abandon any program, or deal as he likes to refer to them, that would bring irreparable harm to the country. 

The question we must ask ourselves is are we as willing to abandon our own selfish agendas or opinions that may bring irreparable harm to the country and back our President out of love for country? 

1. donaldsona.tripod.com. How Painful is Crucifixion. donaldson.tripod.com. [Online] [Cited: July 1, 2017.] http://donaldsona.tripod.com/index-24.html.

2. Reed, Chris. The Trump-Russia collusion narrative: How it could backfire. www.sandiegouniontribune.com. [Online] The San Diego Union Tribune, March 16, 2017. [Cited: July 1, 2017.] http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary/sd-trump-russia-collusion-narrative-20170315-story.html.

3. Boylan, Dan. Democrats dump collusion but now fixate on obstruction. www.washingtontimes.com. [Online] The Washington Times, June 13, 2017. [Cited: July 1, 2017.] http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/13/trump-russian-collusion-trail-abandoned-by-democra/.

4. Kasperowicz, Pete. Sheila Jackson Lee: 25th Amendment lets us remove 'incompetent' presidents. www.washingtonexaminer.com. [Online] Washington Examiner, June 30, 2017. [Cited: July 1, 2017.] http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sheila-jackson-lee-25th-amendment-lets-us-remove-incompetent-presidents/article/2627574.