![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/40\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-15-at-2.21.54-PM.png\")
<\/a>In Michael Gorman\u2019s wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul\u2019s Theology and Spirituality<\/strong><\/a><\/em> (#ad)), he proposes a translation of Philippians 2:5 that starts off that famous song about Jesus in 2:6-11, and I will provide here the NIV\u2019s translation:<\/p>\n2:5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:<\/p>\n
6 \u00a0\u00a0 Who, being in very nature God,
\ndid not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
\n7 rather, he made himself nothing
\nby taking the very nature of a servant,
\nbeing made in human likeness.
\n8 And being found in appearance as a man,
\nhe humbled himself
\nby becoming obedient to death\u2014
\neven death on a cross!
\n9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
\nand gave him the name that is above every name,
\n10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
\nin heaven and on earth and under the earth,
\n11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
\nto the glory of God the Father.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nGorman, with finesse and nuance, sorts out three options: the imitative view (NIV above), the locative view (ESV: \u201chave this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus\u201d), and the community or narratival view (Gorman). He pushes us away from a moral ethical individual view into a more communitarian view of what Paul is saying here.<\/p>\n
Here is his conclusion, so read carefully:<\/p>\n
I have argued that Philippians 2:5 is best translated as \u201cCultivate this mindset \u2014 this way of thinking, acting, and feeling\u2014in your community, which is in fact a community in the Messiah Jesus.\u201d<\/strong> <\/em>This interpretation means that what is \u201cin\u201d Christ is not a disposition that is to be adopted or imitated, but a community that is to be shaped by the person the community inhabits, the person whose story is narrated in 2:6-11. Thus, while 2:5 is not imitative, it is also not merely locative. The location is inseparable from the story; the Messiah is inhabited only as his story is continued in analogous ways in the community. This is a theology and spirituality of participation, as Paul had already hinted in 1:8. Paul presumes a continuity between the self-emptying and self-humbling Messiah Jesus and the reigning Lord Jesus in whom the church exists.<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s mode of exhortation, then, is not simply to present Christ as an xample of the correct inner attitude, nor even of correct actions. Rather, Paul emphasizes the \u201cin the Messiah Jesus\u201d dimension of the church\u2019s existence, grounding his exhortation in that dimension: those who live in the Messiah are to be conformed to the pattern of his self-humbling and self-emptying, not merely as imitators of a model, but as persons whose fundamental identity is to participate in him and thus in his story. Paul may speak of \u201cobedience\u201d (Phil. 2:12), but it is an obedience to the Obedient One (2:7) and enabled by participation in him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Michael Gorman\u2019s wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul\u2019s Theology and Spirituality (#ad)), he proposes a translation of Philippians 2:5 that starts off that famous song about Jesus in 2:6-11, and I will provide here the NIV\u2019s translation: 2:5 In your relationships with one another, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
"Cultivate this mindset..."<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Michael Gorman's wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul's Theology and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Cultivate this mindset..."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Michael Gorman's wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul's Theology and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-06T06:32:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-02T15:57:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/40\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-15-at-2.21.54-PM.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Cultivate this mindset...\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-06T06:32:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-02T15:57:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"In Michael Gorman's wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul's Theology and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Cultivate this mindset…”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Cultivate this mindset...\"","description":"In Michael Gorman's wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul's Theology and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Cultivate this mindset...\"","og_description":"In Michael Gorman's wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul's Theology and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/","og_site_name":"Jesus Creed","article_published_time":"2019-11-06T06:32:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-02T15:57:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/40\/2019\/09\/Screen-Shot-2019-09-15-at-2.21.54-PM.png"}],"author":"Scot McKnight","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Scot McKnight","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/","name":"\"Cultivate this mindset...\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-11-06T06:32:34+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-02T15:57:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252"},"description":"In Michael Gorman's wonderful new collection of his studies about participation in Christ (Participating in Christ: Explorations in Paul's Theology and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2019\/11\/06\/cultivate-this-mindset\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Cultivate this mindset…”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/","name":"Jesus Creed","description":"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252","name":"Scot McKnight","description":"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. McKnight, author of more than fifty books, is the Professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, IL.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/author\/scotmcknight\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/197"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88560\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}