Not too heavenly minded

Have you ever heard the saying, ‘too heavenly minded to be any earthly good’? I am ashamed to say that I have used this saying to excuse carnality and compromise. But let’s examine this common misnomer. Is it possible to be too heavenly minded? What does it mean to be heavenly minded? If it means an attempt to escape this world’s trouble by spiritual pretense then we can fail to do good in this world. But, if by heavenly minded we mean to have the mind of Christ then we must find out what Christ thinks about.

It will be profitable to start with establishing the character of the one we are attempting to emulate. If we have heaven’s mind we should be full of hope and planning how to share that hope with others.
Jer 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

His mind is on our best interest. We can follow Him with confidence. We can also be sure that he is worthy of following. In wisdom and knowledge he is supreme and who would learn from him will benefit.
Rom 11:33-34 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and] knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34"Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?"

We can also be sure that in emulating him we are not committing ourselves to way that is too hard. Although the way of the cross is too hard for us, we only walk it by his power and in this way not only can we walk in the way but also find rest for our souls.
Matt 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

The way we are following is the way of compassion. Jesus was mourning the murder of his cousin John the Baptist, but he considered the needs of the crowd ahead of his own need to mourn. Can we follow this example? Not without his power within us. By the Holy Spirit we can see and act as Jesus did, putting the needs of others before our own.
Matt 14:13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

Jesus can enter our lives in many disguises; we must pray for open eyes to see him and open hands to act at every chance.
Matt 25:37-40 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

The way offers no resistance to false accusations. This is absolutely opposite the world and is only possible by the empowering spirit in our lives.
Matt 27:12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.

Following Jesus’ example means making disciples. I stress disciples and not just converts. Discipleship is a process of teaching that does not always lead to conversion. Even Jesus had a disciple that failed to convert to belief. Ours is to patiently teach, it remains to God to convert sinners.
Matt28:18-20 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Those we are called to teach are not the easy to work with, stable, healthy, morally upright good citizens. No, we are to patiently teach the depraved, unstable, unclean, morally bankrupt sinners. The best part of this is that these groups are self-identifying. The good people can hardly wait to tell you how good they are. The sick must be sought out in the darkest places.
Mk 2:17 17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

We are called to feed, clothe, nurse, counsel, teach, and comfort the poor and the lost. Again, we are not called to do this in our own strength, by our own means but in his strength with his means. We act, but only as a conduit. We are part of the process like a garden hose is part of growing the flowers.
Mk 6:37 37But he answered, "You give them something to eat."…

In the Way we are called to walk in dollars have no value, only souls have value. Blessed relief then to know that nothing in the world is sacrifice enough nor can any power of this world separate our souls from him. There is only one thing to do, follow, follow the cross that saves the world with a cross that kills pride and self-reliance.
Mk 8:34-37 34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 37Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Would you wash the feet of the saints? Minister grace without self-regard. There is no abasement so low but he has been there before us. There is no task so menial that it lacks the grace of his approbation when it is done to bless the ones he died for.
Mk 9:35-35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."

Emulating him means doing the good that is in our hands and not troubling ourselves about what-ifs. The Good Samaritan could have said, “What if this man is a robber faking injury to trap the unwary? What if I find a fellow Samaritan instead if this Jew to assist? Should I wait to make sure I have the most needy person? What if this fellow is ungrateful? Is my service wasted?” No “prudent consideration” should stop us from doing the good we can do in the moment we can do it.
Lk 10:36-37 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
37The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

The way we tread means rejoicing without consideration for the past. God puts our sin away from us as far as the east is from the west and we follow by accepting as brothers and sisters every person who repents.
Lk 15:10 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

All of these things we do as one famished for more. No service is sufficient, no abasement complete, no mercy shown satisfies completely. The crosses we carry are dear to us as water in the desert. They can never be enough because they can never match his cross. But as we embrace them, they bring us closer to his heart.
Jn 4:34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

All this is done only to and for God alone. Even accolades from the world are unworthy of notice and the world’s disdain is a badge of honor.
Jn 5:41 "I do not accept praise from men”

To love. This is a command to action not a request for warm feelings. We don’t even have to have the warm feelings; we do have to perform the foot washing, wound binding, feeding, clothing, mourning with, rejoicing with actions of love.
Jn 15:17 17This is my command: Love each other.

As our love is demonstrated by his power and in the Spirit, the world will see a strange sight. Where they take care of number one, we will care for everyone; where they blow their own horn, we will sound the praise of our God; Their untouchables we will touch and there will be no doubt that Jesus is Lord.
Jn 17:20-21 20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Now we are all named Simon, does the Lord know that we love him? If we want him to know let us practice the religion that God accepts; caring for widows and orphans from a heart full of gratitude for crosses, His and ours.
Jn 21:16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

All this is the beginning of what it means to be heavenly minded. Is there any way that we could fail to make the world a better place if our minds were thus arrayed? Let us then strive to be more heavenly minded and great earthly good.