Twice now we are challenged to have an attitude. In Philippians 2:5 the attitude of Christ is the goal, humbleness. Here the mindset of Paul is to be imitated, having a clear focus on the “prize of the upward call of God in Christ” (vs. 14). This is something worth dying for—to know Christ.

Now Paul addressed those who are “perfect” and he includes himself in the “us.” What’s that all about? Earlier on he had written that he had not already become “perfect” (vs. 12). Lest Paul is blatantly contradicting himself, which is highly unlikely on a number of fronts, then he is using these words differently in the two verses. Previously, he was stressing that he had not yet come to completely know Christ (vs. 10), and he was still striving for that intimacy and depth of knowing. Here in our passage for today, he refers to those who are mature (which is one of the meanings of the underlying Greek word translated “perfect” in the NASB—in fact, some other translations render the word as “mature”). Some Christians will be mature enough to not only understand Paul’s commitment to an all out pursuit of knowing Christ, but will accept the challenge to adopt the same “attitude.”

However some will not accept this challenge, or may not have sufficiently grown in their faith to appreciate the significance of it. This is not a tiered level of Christian faith, but simply a continuum of growth in faith. Paul is not pressing the issue, but laying out the gauntlet for those “who have ears to hear.”

At the very minimum, whether we “get” Paul’s attitude or not, we should at least hold our ground at the level of faith that we have attained. This is not the same as putting your life in neutral. He means for us to keep on actively walking in faith at the level of understanding you are at. Keep living up to the commitment and the standard of faith-walking to which we have already reached, to what God has revealed to you already. Don’t go into “cruising” mode, neutral or falling back.

Paul’s was not a ministry of complacency, for when Christians coast in their spiritual walk, they will end up falling backwards. There is a difference between actively living and growing as a Christian over 30 years versus living one year as a Christian repeated 30 times over! We should continue living up to what we have attained, and pursue Christ even more.