Even though the world will say that someone is “too heavenly-minded to be of any earthly use,” Paul writes by the Spirit here to tell us to be more heavenly-minded! How does he justify such an injunction?
It’s a common theme in Paul’s writing, and indeed in the New Testament, that Christians don’t really belong in this world:
Ephesians 2:19 — So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
Philippians 3:20 — But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
This is because the old “us” died with Christ on the cross, and a new “us” was raised to life with him:
Romans 6:1–4 — What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Colossians 2:20 — If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—
Colossians 3:3 — For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Indeed, positionally we are already seated with Christ in heaven:
Ephesians 2:4–6 — But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
There are other verses that teach the same glorious truth, but these will suffice for now, and Paul’s argument is clear from them: “Christian, you are truly “other-worldly” in Christ! You have really and truly died to the old way of life and risen with Christ to something new and wonderful - so don’t keep living as you used to, as if none of these things was actually true!”
And because this is true, Paul tells us to focus our attention on home, where our Savior lives, and on the glorious future that is ours in Him. Don’t be seeking things in this world, but heavenly things. Don’t let this world - its treasures and its concerns - consume your thinking but rather contemplate the lasting treasures of heaven - that is where we will spend eternity with Christ! That has to be good advice for us in these difficult times!
