When the founding fathers of the University of Sydney got around to choosing a motto, they settled on a Latin maxim that had been suggested by the acting chancellor: Sidere Mens Eadem Mutato (“the stars may be changed but the mind is the same”). The motto, together with the gothic-revival sandstone of the Great Hall and the Oxbridge-inspired coat of arms, made a not-too-subtle point about the founders’ aspirations: the new university may have been established in a different hemisphere, under unfamiliar skies, but its mindset and traditions would be just like those of the mother country.
In reality, of course, the differences between the circumstances of the new university and those of its old-world exemplars amounted to far more than just a change of latitude and a different set of constellations overhead. From the very beginning, the members of the university senate found themselves grappling with complicated questions about the precise nature of the “same mind” that they were seeking to preserve, and the innovations that would be required to implement that vision under the “changed … stars” of a distant colony.[1] Like-mindedness is easy to aspire to, but not always quite so easy to define, and a change of context always brings with it new questions and fresh challenges.
The process of establishing The Gospel Coalition Australia has reminded me at times of the dreams and debates of those nineteenth-century bureaucrats and educationalists. On the one hand, the notion of a common mind—a shared theology and ministry vision, centred on the gospel of the Lord Jesus—is a compelling and attractive one; there is a common-sensical obviousness to the idea of gathering together a team of people who share that understanding and are keen to put some energy into thinking through how a vision of that sort might flourish under Australian skies. On the other hand, however, there can be real complexity involved in the task of articulating what exactly the content of that common mind should be, and how it ought to shape our response to the particular challenges and opportunities of our Australian context.
More than that: the precious treasure of gospel like-mindedness can all too easily be mimicked by an idolatrous imitation that functions in practice as a kind of collective narcissism. “Like-minded” can become a code-word for People Like Us—people from a common background, with a common tribal loyalty, who share all our opinions and reinforce all our prejudices.
The like-mindedness texts in Paul’s letters (e.g. 1 Cor. 1:10; Phil. 2:2) are a healthy corrective to this tendency, and an invaluable reminder of the content of the “same mind” that we are encouraged to pursue and to treasure as fellow-believers. Paul writes:
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. (1 Cor. 1:10)
Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. (Phil. 2:2)
Paul’s desire in 1 Cor. 1:10 “that all of you agree” (more literally, “that you all speak the same thing”) can hardly be taken as a call for total uniformity of thought in all matters; if it did, then the approach Paul takes to the issues he addresses in chapters 8-10 would make no sense at all. Nor can it be reduced to a generic appeal for harmony and concord, regardless of confession and conviction; Paul has more in mind here than just a benign hope that the Corinthians will play nice and get along with each other. Within the context of chapters 1-4, Paul’s desire that the Corinthians “speak the same thing” is neither a vague wish that they just stop quarrelling, nor a coercive demand that they fall into line with one another in complete unanimity on all matters; rather, it is a call to the Corinthians to unite in speaking the message that has been entrusted to them—the “testimony about Christ” which Paul has already referred in verse 6 and goes on to expound as the content of what “we … speak” in 2:6–16.
The like-mindedness that Paul has in mind in 1 Cor. 1:10 is thus a unity that embraces purpose as well as conviction. The Corinthians are to link arms with each other not only in a common belief about the Lord Jesus but also in a common cause, serving him together and making him known. It is no surprise, then, that the terms Paul uses in verse 10b (“the same mind and the same judgment”) echo the language of Greek political discourse, in which they typically referred not only to a shared opinion but also to a common purpose deriving from it. Similarly, in Philippians 1, the “partnership in the gospel” (1:5) that Paul enjoys with the Philippians includes not only a shared set of gospel convictions but also a shared cause of gospel-proclamation, in which he hopes to see them “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side” (1:27).
But there is still more to be said: the “one mind” in which he longs to see the Philippians united embraces not only common gospel convictions and a shared gospel purpose, but also a cross-shaped set of gospel dispositions—“this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus” (2:5).
Genuine gospel like-mindedness involves not only believing the gospel truths about Jesus and co-operating in the gospel cause that proclaims him, but also thinking and serving with a gospel-shaped attitude that imitates Jesus in humility and self-sacrifice.
What does all this mean for us as we join forces together in the new enterprise of The Gospel Coalition Australia? How can Paul’s words about like-mindedness help to guard us against the dangers of theological narcissism and tribal self-congratulation?
First, and most importantly, Paul’s like-mindedness texts serve as a reminder of the indispensable gospel centre to any like-mindedness worth laying claim to as fellow-Christians. There is a place for specialist organisations with narrow, particular goals, but when those goals become the main flag we rally round or the defining centre of our identity, then we are robbing the gospel of the priority that it deserves.
Second, Paul’s exhortations remind us of where the circumference of Christian fellowship ought to be drawn. Even within a denominationally diverse group like The Gospel Coalition, there are still things that we have in common with each other in addition to the bare minimum facts of the gospel and its immediate entailments. To admit this and to own it is not tribalism or sectarianism but an exercise in basic integrity and self-awareness. But more important by far than the (relatively) small circle of like-mindedness that we share with others who agree with us on the whole detailed ministry vision that we spell out in our foundation documents is the broader circle of like-mindedness that we share with “all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2).
And third, Paul’s exhortations remind us that our partnership ought to be a purposeful partnership and our attitude a Christlike, servant-hearted attitude, devoted not to the advancement of our own name or faction, but to the glory of God and the good of others. If the mind we share with one another is the mind we learn from the Lord Jesus, then we will be eager to do all that we can to promote the faith, love, and holiness of all those who call on the name of the Lord Jesus, and to seek the good (and, supremely, the salvation) of all who do not yet know him.
Like-mindedness of that sort—defined not egocentrically but christocentrically—is a precious thing indeed. May that be the kind of like-mindedness that we pursue and promote within the activities of The Gospel Coalition Australia, and may it flourish long, both within and beyond the circles that we move in.
[1] See especially John Gascoigne, “The Cultural Origins of Australian Universities,” Journal of Australian Studies 20 (1996) 18-27.
Photo: Jason Tong
