Set your mind above
Paul lifts the Colossians' gaze
Paul writes to a church distracted by lesser things — rules, rituals, the endless management of the visible — and lifts their eyes: if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above. Set your mind on things above, not on the things on the earth.
It is a command about altitude. The mind drifts downward by default, settling on the urgent, the immediate, the earthbound. Direction in leadership begins higher up — with what is ultimate shaping what is daily. A leader whose mind never rises above the in-tray will steer by whatever is loudest, not by what matters most. Where the mind is set, the life will eventually go.
“One thing is needed. Mary has chosen the good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
— Jesus, to Martha — Luke 10:42 (WEB)
Direction begins with altitude. Where a leader's mind is set — on what is ultimate or merely urgent — is where the whole enterprise will eventually steer.
“Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.”
Paul knew the mind settles downward unless it is deliberately lifted. A leader formed here disciplines his attention upward — letting what is ultimate govern what is daily. The inner work is refusing to let the urgent crowd out the important in his own thinking.
Keep raising the team's gaze above the immediate to the purpose that gives it meaning. Connect daily tasks to the ultimate aim so people aren't steering by whatever is loudest. Model a mind set higher than the in-tray.
Busy leaders mistake constant attention to the urgent for diligence, and never lift their minds higher. The blind spot is steering an entire team by the loudest signal rather than the most important one.
Notice where your mind defaults when it drifts. This week, set one fixed time to lift your attention to the ultimate aim before the urgent floods back in.
The leader's mind drifts downward by default — to the urgent, the visible, the loudest thing in the room. But where the mind is set is where the life, and the team, will eventually go.
What has your mind settled on lately — and is it the thing that is ultimate, or merely the thing that is loudest?