Romans 12:3 “stresses,” according to N.T. Wright, “the role of disciplined thinking as being at the very root of basic Christian living.” I can’t detail it here, but it would not be hard for us to think of how many problems could be resolved in the Church if we would all learn to think Christian-ly about life.
Paul’s apostolic calling involves summoning churches to their God-given, Christ-altering communal lifestyle: “Do not overthink above what you ought to think, but think wise-thinking ways.”
Such wise-thinking ways, a disciplined mind, involves seeing all humans as Eikons of God and seeing fellow Christians — Jews and Gentiles — as singular parts of a corporate unity, the Body of Christ.
The standard here is “the measure of faith,” and Wright thinks this measure of faith is the same for all. Which leads immediately to seeing both Jews and Gentiles as both cracked Eikons (sinful) and equal in the Messiah. Since this leads to Paul’s reflection on spiritual gifts, one must connect “faith” here to the gifts of the Spirit, and that means learning to see one another as gifted by God to serve the Lord in the community of faith. Whatever one is gifted to do, each one is gifted to do.
Arrogance about one’s calling is at the heart of a disciplined Christian mind.