The Need for a Christian Mind

Father, we ask that you would bring your word home deeply into our hearts and minds and lives.

You know, Father, the fears we have about surrendering even more of who we are into your hands.

Father, continue to bring before us how much you love us and that your son died on the cross to redeem us

so that as we are gripped by what you have done for us in the person and work of Jesus,

that we, Father, will ever more willingly surrender more and more of who we are into your hands,

knowing that you only mean our good and our wholeness.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your son and our savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

One of the great fears that we have, probably not just in our culture but in every culture, is losing our mind.

Many of us have probably known people who've suffered from some type of dementia, Alzheimer's,

and it's very, very hard to watch somebody who might have been quite brilliant,

even if they weren't brilliant.

They don't have to be brilliant to make it tragic.

It's just really hard when you see somebody just getting lost in their own thoughts.

And, you know, I guess maybe in other cultures in earlier times,

many people who now suffer dementia, they would have died from something else.

So maybe it wasn't something as common.

But for us, with all of our medical technology, it's very common.

In fact, as you all know, one of the things which is driving the desire in our culture

to have doctors be able to put people to death is, in fact, not only the fear of pain,

but the fear of losing our minds.

And just somehow if we lose our mind, we lose ourselves.

So I don't know if you noticed when Anne was reading the text,

But for many of us, this idea that Paul or the Bible desires to capture every single one of our thoughts

and capture all of our thinking so that somehow our thoughts or thinking belongs to him,

this is not an attractive thing to most of us, if we're honest.

And so let's just look at it.

Is what it is that the Bible is saying, what it is that the Bible is not saying about this.

So it would be a great help to me and to you if you took your Bibles

and turned to 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

2 Corinthians chapter 10.

2 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

And we're going to look at that chapter.

Just sort of going along with it, you know, for many people in our culture,

the idea of becoming more and more deeply Christian

is also sort of the idea that you become more and more irrational,

more gullible, and more nuts.

So this idea from all sorts of directions of having every thought captive to Christ,

if we're honest, isn't very attractive.

So we're going to look.

And here's how it begins.

We'll read the first few verses before we get to this troublesome bit.

And in many ways, actually, the entire sermon is just around verses 4, 5, and 6.

We'll use all of the chapter to illustrate it.

But the different fears and objections that we tend to have to this idea,

it's a very interesting how Paul sort of deals with it in the verses all around it.

But here's how it begins.

I, Paul, myself entreat you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ.

I, who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away.

I beg of you that when I am present, I may not have to show boldness with such confidence

as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh.

Just pause there before we get any further.

Chapter 10, 11, 12, and 13 of the letter.

All the way through the letter, Paul's been dealing with a group of people in the church

who are really against him and ultimately against the gospel.

And it's really now in chapters 10, 11, and 12 in particular

that he's going to address in a more pointed way some of the things that are going on in the church,

which has provoked the letter.

But we're not going to look at that today.

We're going to look at a bit more of it next week and the week after.

But that's sort of what's going on behind it there.

Basically, one of the things that they're saying with him is,

oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, when he's, you know, a couple of hundred kilometers away,

he writes these big, tough letters.

But when he's, you know, when he's around us, he's a big wuss, you know.

And that's one of many complaints that they have against him.

And so that's sort of the background to some of this.

But we're not going to look at that.

We're going to look at that more in the coming weeks, but not today.

So back to verse 3.

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,

but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God

and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

being ready to punish every disobedience when your obedience is complete.

You might have noticed as I read, I sort of almost said louder certain words.

You can just imagine what it would be like if you were to just get a group of people together

in a Tim Hortons or a Starbucks or a Bridgehead and say,

how would you like to look at a Bible text?

And you read this Bible text.

And you could just, you can just, if you just imagine where your coworkers,

how this idea of every thought and destroy and punish,

and there'd be a chill in the room as the text is being read.

So what's going on?

Well, just a couple of things at first to help, not to tone down the language,

but to help bring out the underlying sense.

And when you understand the underlying sense, it doesn't sound quite as bad,

but it's still very dramatic, and it's still very, very challenging.

So for instance, when it says destroy, which is a very, very good word,

it literally means pull down.

You know, in the next couple of years,

the deck at the back of my house is going to have to be destroyed

because it's old.

And if we want to put a new deck,

if we want to get a proper deck that actually is workable,

probably the only way to do it is at some point in time to destroy it

or pull it down so that a proper one could go up.

Or maybe in the meantime, you destroy or pull down parts of it

and you put in new planks or new supports to keep it going for a longer time.

And that's the language here.

Destroy, pull down.

And the language of punish, which is a very, very good word,

but it's a technical legal word.

One of the interesting things is that often in the New Testament,

Paul in particular will use technical words from economics or business or law.

And the word punish is one of those technical legal words.

But if you understand its legal sense, it loses some of its sting.

And its technical legal sense is make justice.

Make justice.

So, you know, for instance, then,

if you heard that there was somebody in the congregation

and they were harassing women,

you'd want me to make justice, wouldn't you?

In fact, if the council and myself didn't do something about it,

you would all be upset.

You'd want me to make justice.

And part of the making justice should be that there should be some type of,

well, of punishment to them, an amendment of life, etc.

But that's the idea there.

So on one hand, it takes a little bit of the sting off of the text,

but it's still a very, very, very strong text.

And here, Andrew, if you could put up the first point.

And in some ways, this is the whole point of the sermon.

And everything else in the sermon is to make you want this.

And what Paul is saying, what the Bible is saying,

is that Jesus Christ is to be the Savior and the Lord of my mind.

I often put my down there,

because if you're writing this down in your notes

or if you're going to use it as your prayer,

then it says you're saying this for yourself, right?

So Jesus Christ is to be the Savior and the Lord of my mind

from its deepest depths to its highest heights

to its furthest reaches and to everything in between.

Jesus Christ is to be the Savior and the Lord of my mind

from its deepest depths to its highest heights

to its furthest reaches and to everything in between.

That's what Paul is saying here.

In other words, if you're saying that Jesus is Lord,

well, what part of Lord don't you understand?

You see, it isn't that just Jesus came

to save the spiritual part of us

and then the non-spiritual part of us

can just do whatever it wants.

You know, we can just sort of live like a typical Ottawa person

and just accept all of the things that Ottawa people do

and it's just something's going on to our body

or our secular time,

but that Jesus is to be somehow Lord of our Sunday morning

when we get together or our quiet time

or certain types of religious emotions or affections.

No, the great claim of the Christian gospel

is that God, the Son of God,

really and truly,

seeing human enmity against him

and human need and human sin,

human rebellion and human apathy,

and seeing humanity's great need

that God, the Son of God,

with the Father and the Holy Spirit,

but God, the Son of God,

sets aside his divine prerogatives

and divine splendor.

He takes into himself our human nature

and comes and lives amongst us,

living a fully human life

only without himself being in rebellion

or in enmity or sinning against God.

And he comes to die upon the cross

and as he dies upon the cross,

he's both dying upon the cross

to, in a sense,

deal with all of the debt that we owe God

in terms of our rebellion,

but it's also a means by which,

as our substitute and our exchange,

even his relationship with God is offered to us.

It's as if he says,

George, I will take your doom

and die upon the cross.

And as I take your doom,

I offer you my destiny.

And that's the great message of the gospel,

that that's what God, the Son of God,

does in actual history, in real time,

and he does it out of real love

for you and for me.

And God vindicates this message

by having Jesus rise from the dead

and appear to those to show

that he really did rise from the dead

and he's ascended in heaven,

he will come again.

And you see, this is what makes the gospel

and what Paul is saying here

very different than something like Islam,

which I think for many people in our culture

is almost the pure definition of religion

because at the heart of Islam is submission,

to submit to God,

to submit to whatever his will happens to be.

And it can be just maybe send,

you know, 95% of the people to hell

and 5% to heaven

or whatever the statistics are

to ruin your life,

to benefit another person's life.

Whatever his will happens to be that day,

we are just to purely and utterly submit to it

and we submit to it with no gospel.

That's the profound, profound, profound

watershed difference between the gospel

and all religion and all spirituality.

That all religion and all spirituality

and even irreligion and opposition to spirituality

always involves some submission to something.

Your own mind, to drinking,

to your culture, to Islam, to Buddhism,

to Krishna, whatever it is.

Some type of submission with no gospel.

But what we see here in this particular text

is that God so loved the world

that he gave his one and only son to the end

that all that believe in him

will not perish but have eternal life.

That the person who loves you

more than you love yourself,

who knows you better than you know yourself,

and sees your need better than you see your need,

and sees the glory you have,

in a sense, in God's eye,

better than you see the glory

that you have in God's eye,

that the one who knows you so well,

he died for you.

And the same one who loves you so much

that he died for you to reconcile you

to your creator

is the same one who says,

your mind belongs to me.

I mean, there's other things.

It's just here we're talking about the mind.

Your sexuality belongs to me.

Your money belongs to me.

Your time belongs to me.

Your body belongs to me.

That when you trust Jesus as Savior,

you put your hand out,

and he comes and takes your hand

to be your Savior

at the same time you are taking him as your Lord.

And that includes your mind.

It includes your logic,

your imagination,

your memories,

the furniture of your mind,

the longings and habits

and patterns of your mind.

He comes and takes your mind.

And so that's what Paul is saying

in this particular text.

It's bringing home in a very sharp and pointed way

that Jesus Christ is to be the Savior

and the Lord of my mind

from its deepest depths

to its highest heights

to its furthest reaches

and to everything in between.

So some of you might say,

okay, George,

it's still a very type of violent language.

And boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

Don't you think language like this is dangerous?

Don't you think it can be the case that,

I don't know, George,

doesn't it sort of lead to being

a type of closed-mindedness

that you know everything you need to know

is just in this book

and if it's not in this book,

you're going to be really aggressive

against people who disagree with you

and, you know,

there's something arrogant about this text.

Don't you think there's something arrogant

about this text?

Like, that's a very good objection.

And you know what?

Part of the objection is because

many people have met Christians

who are extremely aggressive,

who like the idea very much

of destroying arguments.

I used to be the chaplain

at Augustine College

and one of the things

that I had to do

as a chaplain of Augustine College

is that once a week

I did a teaching time

as well as leading some worship.

And there was this one particular year there

that there was a fellow

who was from a very, very

high Reformed background.

He had,

and some of you might know

a little bit about this

and others of you don't,

but it's like there's these

massive theological works

with in-house theological jargon

and it's just very, very, very ornate

and intricate

with all sorts of little bits and pieces

and he knew this system very well.

And every week at chapel

he delighted in trying to embarrass me

with asking me questions.

And frankly, most of the time

I didn't have the vaguest idea in the world

what he was talking about.

Like, just to be honest,

I'm a simple Bible guy.

You know,

and you know,

if I could go back in time

I'd say, you know,

you should spend ten times more

reading the Bible

than you do reading this

ornate,

Reformed,

theological,

theologizing.

But you know,

many non-Christians

have met Christians

who are so aggressive.

But is that,

is that what the Christian mind is like?

Is that what it's like

when Jesus takes over,

becomes the Savior

and the Lord of your mind?

Well, look at the text.

Look at verse one again.

I, Paul, myself,

entreat you

by the meekness

and gentleness of Christ.

Look at that.

I, Paul, myself,

entreat you.

How?

How's he doing this?

Like, what's the ground

by which he's begging them

to think through

what they're doing?

Because that's what entreat means.

By the meekness

and gentleness

of Christ.

I, who am humble

when face to face with you,

but bold toward you

when I am awake.

If you could put it up,

Andrew,

the Christian mind

is gentle,

teachable,

and strong.

Why should you desire

Jesus to be

the Lord of your mind?

Because

as you start

to call out to God

that,

that Jesus would be

the Savior

and the Lord of your mind,

he will lead you

to a mind

that is gentle.

and he will move

and work in with you

to start to create a mind

which is teachable.

And he will make your mind

strong,

not weak.

Like, why do you say that?

Like, how does that,

like, partially,

that's what the word

meek partially means.

It has several

different senses.

In this particular contest,

it means,

meek means

submissive to God.

You know,

I love it.

I love,

I love,

I love,

I love.

It's a perfect illustration.

Some of you are old enough

to remember

when the Solidarity Movement

was,

was starting to bring down

an empire.

For those of us

of a certain age,

we thought the Soviet Empire

would never come to an end,

virtually.

And it was a bunch

of Polish ship workers

who were the beginning

of the end

of the Soviet Empire.

And there was a phrase

that they were

on their knees

before God

so they could stand

before tyrants.

They were on their knees

before God

so they could stand

before tyrants.

Some of you

might have seen

film clips

of what Martin Luther King

and the early

Civil Rights Movement

was like.

And it is very,

very gripping

to see all these people

in their Sunday best

kneeling

in the face

of

men

in uniforms

with truncheons

and water cannons

and I,

there are so many images

of them

on their knees

in prayer

as the water cannons

and the truncheons

are unleashed

against them.

That is being meek.

It's being strong.

It's being gentle.

I want that.

That's what happens

when we give our minds

to Christ.

And as his word

and as his Holy Spirit

begins to work

in our minds,

they become gentle

and teachable

and strong.

But some of you

might say,

George,

don't you think

that this whole thing

of a Christian mind

can lead people

to believe

that they're always right?

That non-Christians

are always wrong?

Don't you think

that it can become

that religion

ends up divinizing

their thought?

You know,

George,

haven't you met

these charismatic types

who,

you know,

they say they have

a word from God

about this type of thing

and it doesn't matter

how crazy it is

or how kooky

or in fact

how just wrong

historically and accurate

it is

but they somehow,

you know,

everybody else

just has an idea

but they have a word

that's come from God.

Like,

George,

don't you think,

well,

okay.

Once again,

all of us have met

people like that,

right?

You know,

with this thing

and the last thing

about aggressive minds,

these are both

human problems.

Many of us

have had professors

far from having

believing in Jesus

who are very aggressive

with their thoughts.

I mean,

what are the new atheists

other than people

who are exceptionally

aggressive

in their thinking?

It's a human problem

and by the way,

human problems

like this

become even more

disgusting

when they try

to cloak themselves

in Christianity

to make it look

like they're not

a human problem

but they're doing

something virtuous.

It even becomes

more foul-smelling

and repulsive

if habits

of aggression

and of always

thinking you're right

are somehow

clothed

within the mantle

of Christianity.

It makes it

more repulsive.

But is that,

in fact,

what happens?

Is that what Paul

is talking about?

Is this what the Bible

is talking about?

Is that type of

divinized,

aggressive mind?

No.

Let's look at

verses 2 and 3.

How does it go?

I beg of you

that when I am present

I may not have

to show boldness

with such confidence

as I count on showing

against some

who suspect us

of walking

according to the flesh.

For though we walk

in the flesh

we are not waging war

according to the flesh.

Just pause there

and it's a bit

of a confusing thing.

Just so you know

it's a bit of a,

you know,

one of the things

the word that,

the original word

that's translated

as flesh,

flesh.

It has two

different senses

and you just have

to know from the context

which one of the two

senses it is.

And here in this case

the Bible is using

the word flesh

the first part of verse 3

in one sense

and in the second part

it's using it

in a different sense.

Sometimes the word flesh

just means

frail

and human

and sometimes

it means

in rebellion

against God.

And you just have

to know from the context

which one of the two

senses it is.

And so here's the point

if you could put it up

and this is borrowing

language from earlier

in 2 Corinthians.

The Christian mind

knows it is a jar

of clay

redeemed by Christ.

The Christian mind

knows it is a jar

of clay

redeemed by Christ.

Christ.

I went to

a presentation

by the Dalit

Freedom Network

in India

under Hinduism

under its cosmology

of Hinduism

it creates

different castes.

Your karma

means that you're

reborn

into certain

stages of life

and

it creates

a lot of

injustice

because

you deserve

where you are.

If you're

very wealthy

you deserve that.

If you're

very very very

poor

you're born

of certain

parents

you deserve

that.

And there's

a sense

that you don't

have to show

justice or

compassion across

these lines

because you get

your justice

of desserts

when you're

born.

And Dalits

are the lowest

of the lowest

of the lowest.

and in this

presentation

on how to

try to

both evangelize

and educate

and empower

the Dalits

for freedom

and human

flourishing

one of the

things that

they gave

out

and I meant

to bring

it but I

forgot

was this

little tiny

thing made

of clay

and a little

tiny drinking

thing made

of clay

and the reason

they gave

this tiny

little drinking

thing made

of clay

was because

if a Dalit

went into

some restaurants

in some parts

of India

they wouldn't

want the

same cup

that a Dalit

had been used

had used

to be used

by somebody

who's of

higher caste

so they had

these special

drinking cups

these little

jars of clay

which are

very fragile

and very

impermanent

so that

after the Dalit

had drank

from it

the owner

of the store

and they

cost virtually

nothing

would just

smash it

to make sure

that nobody

else would

drink

from such

a cup

and earlier

on in the

book of

2nd Corinthians

Paul says

that human

beings are

jars of

clay

but that's

how we are

to understand

we're fragile

so really

in verse 3

what Paul

is saying

is for

though we

walk in

the flesh

in other

words

though we

live our

lives

as jars

of clay

we are

not

waging

war

sorry

for though

we walk

in the

flesh

we are

not

waging

war

according

to the

flesh

and there

it means

not just

from human

frailty

but we're

not living

our lives

and waging

war

as if

we're

in rebellion

against

God

we've

been

redeemed

see that's

that's part

of the

Christian

mind

knows

and understands

that it

is

a jar

of clay

redeemed

by Christ

you know

there's some

very very smart

people here

in the room

who could tell

you a lot

about intellectual

history

and development

of thought

and some

of you

are taking

classes

from really

high IQ

well educated

people at

University of

Ottawa or

Carleton

and they

could talk

to you a lot

about the

history of

thought

but one

of the

things about

the history

of human

thought

is that

on one

hand we

often want

to imagine

that our

thoughts or

our life

are almost

as if we

are gods

I mean

part of the

whole move

of science

is to try

to come

up with

some type

of almost

godlike

knowledge

of the

world

and then

when you

have people

like Nietzsche

and Foucault

and others

who are

very skeptical

about the

claims of

human knowledge

and how much

we actually

know

it's almost

as if

the only

options

before human

beings

are that

our minds

if our

minds

are not

almost

godlike

then we're

garbage

and the

bible says

no

human

beings

are

creatures

and we

know like

creatures

and no

creature

will ever

know

as if

they are

the

creator

and there

are many

things that

human

beings

can only

know

if the

creator

makes it

revealed

to you

and so

the text

here is

trying to

say that

as

Jesus

grips

our

thoughts

as he

comes in

to destroy

to tear

down parts

of how

we think

whether it's

how we

think about

music

or poetry

or art

or dance

or business

or culture

or politics

or philosophy

or physics

that he's

going to tear

some things

down and he's

going to build

some things

up and one

of the things

he wants

to tear

down is

any type

of pretension

that a human

being is

anything other

than a jar

of clay

but at the

same time

that it

makes it

conscious

that we

are jars

of clay

if we

understand

that we

are a

jar

of clay

and our

permanence

is not

something

from within

ourselves

but a

gift that

comes from

the God

who has

created us

who sustains

us

who will

bring all

things to

their proper

end

who in

our enmity

against him

still he

loved us

and sent

his son

to die

upon the

cross

for us

that there

can be a

growing

comfort

with the

fact that

I am a

jar of

clay

I am

not a

God

and I

stand here

as a jar

of clay

in a room

full of

jars of

clay

whom God

does not

treat as

garbage

like a

dalit

who has

to be

smashed

but loves

you and

me

and dies

for you

and me

and Jesus

desires to

be the

savior and

the lord

of your

thinking and

your thoughts

but some

people might

say

okay George

does this

mean that the

Christian mind

only cares

about the

Bible

like it's

just all

about knowing

the Bible

knowing the

Bible

knowing the

Bible

like when

you were

telling us

that story

about the

guy who

was that

you know

Calvinist

hyper

Calvinist

type of

guy

and you

said you

know you

should have

said to

him you

should read

the Bible

ten times

more than

his

theologizing

is that

you know

George

that you

just want

to read

the Bible

read the

Bible

read the

Bible

and you

don't want

to read

economics

you don't

want to

read

you don't

want to

watch

movies

you don't

want to

be involved

in the

world

no

look

again at

what it

says in

verses 4

to 6

the central

verses

but we'll

just look at

one other

thing about

these in

verses 4

and 6

for the

weapons of

our

warfare

are not

of the

flesh

and here

flesh

Paul probably

means it to

have a

double

meaning

that they're

not frail

but more in

particular that

they're not

anything to do

with acting

in rebellion

against God

but

you know

they're not

this but

they have

divine power

to destroy

strongholds

in other words

this idea of

strongholds is

that there's

areas within

our mind

and here

mind doesn't

just mean

logic it can

mean for

those of

us who

are more

like we

like poetry

we write

poetry or

we have

we're very

good with

images we

could maybe

be a

director

or we

could be

like a

fashion

designer or

we could

design

dance or

something like

that and

maybe those

parts of our

mind that are

better towards

business or

better towards

computers or

better towards

just being able

to actually have

that type of

intelligence to

figure out what

a kid actually

wants and

help the

kid

that's

intelligence

you know

but there's

parts of our

mind that are

strongholds and

what this means

is that they're

they're completely

and utterly

keeping God

at bay

and it has to

be torn down

and we tear

down verse 5

arguments in

every lofty

opinion every

pretension

every person

in the CBC

or the

University of

Ottawa or the

Supreme Court of

Canada or the

Parliament of

Canada whose

lofty opinions

mean that God

doesn't matter

that there is no

God that we have

to worry about

or think about

if you happen to

have a view of

God that helps

to give you a

little tiny bit

of peace and

comfort some

people like

Jack Daniel

some like

bridge some

like you know

bird watching

some like

thinking about

God as long

as it's just

private lofty

opinions raised

against the

knowledge of

God and take

every thought

captive to

obey Christ

being ready to

punish make

justice against

every disobedience

here's the thing

which is going on

in this text if

you could put up

the next point

the Christian

mind seeks

and loves

all truth

all goodness

and all beauty

in the creator

and in his

creation

the Christian

mind seeks

and loves

all truth

all goodness

and all beauty

in the creator

and in his

creation

it's not talking

here about Bible

reading

you know if you

have

if you're in

science

and you come up

with a theory

of how science

works

which you believe

means that God

absolutely doesn't

exist

well don't you

think that's sort

of covered under

this text

if you come up

with a system

of doing

organizing business

that in a sense

specifically excludes

God or anything

about how God

is revealed about

human beings

don't you think

that's a stronghold

like if you come

up with a theory

of aesthetics

or beauty

or dance

in such a way

that it can never

point at any way

that we're creatures

or that there is a God

don't you think

that's a stronghold

you see

nothing here

in the Bible

is just calling us

to somehow

think that

the Bible here

is only referring to

okay

on Sunday mornings

this text

is just saying

that you're going

to go

and you're going

to make sure

that people

understand why

Spong is wrong

and Borg is wrong

and you're going

to understand

you know

why Keller

is right

or Piper

is right

and it's just

all about

no no no no

no this text

is not just

talking about

some tiny little

religious or

spiritual part

of our mind

it's challenging

those of you

who are in school

still who are

doing economics

those of you

in social work

it's challenging

how you think

of human beings

and how you

think of human

destiny

and human purpose

for those of you

who are in medicine

it's challenging

you with ethical

things in terms

of how you

treat people

and how you

see the person

for those of you

in dance

or in fashion

design

or in business

those of you

who are retired

or stay at home

those of you

thinking about politics

there's nothing

that this text

doesn't involve

there's nothing

the Christian

mind seeks

and loves

all truth

truth is

never the enemy

of the Christian

truth is

never the enemy

of the Christian

goodness

and beauty

are never

our enemy

why

because God

is true

God is good

God is beautiful

a beauty

that would

unmake us

if we saw it

even a tiniest

sliver of the

beauty of God

if it was to be

revealed to us

right now

without having

our resurrection

bodies

and being

the full

bodies

meant for the

new heaven

and the earth

the beauty

of God

even the

tiniest

sliver of it

would unmake

us

and not just

knowing God

and his truth

and his goodness

and his beauty

but God

is the creator

and sustainer

of all things

and therefore

this text

is asking us

to think through

how we think

and imagine

everything

every area

of human

intellectual

and cultural

endeavor

and political

endeavor

here's a couple

of hints

I'm going to have

to speed this up

to get it done

here's a couple

of hints

in terms of

growing in our

Christian mind

one of the first

things that has

to die

if you want

to take this

text

and pray

it

is die

to oil

and water

thinking

which I've

been sort of

going through

in the sermon

in other words

there's the

spiritual

and then there's

everything else

you know

our culture

says okay

George

you can have

your spiritual

thoughts

you can have

your spiritual

beliefs

as long as

with everything

else

you act

the way

we want

you to act

and think

the way

we want

you to think

you can go

to University

of Ottawa

you can get

your degrees

as long

as

you just

see your

faith

as private

and interior

and emotional

and not

as having

intellectual

consequences

you have

to die

to all

oil and water

thinking

you have

to learn

to say

if this

then this

cannot be

so in other words

if you're in

counseling

when I was

being taught

counseling

the view

in counseling

was that

human beings

are fundamentally

passive

and

it's just as if

these wounds

happen to us

and these things

happen to us

and there's this type

of basically

passiveness

but the Bible

is that what

the Bible says

doesn't the Bible

portray somehow

that we actively

seek out idols

and we seek out

meanings

and we seek out

significance

doesn't that

happen

you know

if you're in

if you're in

if you're in

you know

philosophy

or science

and

if you know

if this and that

if the Bible

seems to say

there's miracles

and if they

really happen

then that has

to have some

effect

on how you

think through

sociology

and psychology

and physics

and geology

biology

now I'm frightening

some of you

but it has to

have some

consequence

it can't be

that the miracle

is just true

here

and not in

terms of how

we think about

all sorts of

other things

in other words

you have to

learn to say

okay if it

says this

in the Bible

if this

then what does

that mean

in terms

of this

other area

and the

other thing

about it

is

that it's

not saying

that we have

to have a

Christian

economics

or a

Christian

sociology

or a

Christian

social work

because that

would sort of

imply

that there's

only like

one type

of person

or one type

of culture

or one type

of imagination

but what do

we know

about people

you know

let me tell

you if

we just

took random

groups of

us

and we were

all going

to go on

a road

trip

you know

let's say

somewhere

eight hours

away

by the end

of the

eight hour

time

we would

discover

just how

many

how

different

we all

are

our

imaginations

work

differently

and so

this text

isn't saying

that you

have to

keep

searching

for the

one

Christian

politics

or the

one

Christian

economics

or the

one

Christian

psychology

because

human

beings

all of

the

different

things

in

psychology

all of

the

different

complexity

of a

human

being

and

trying

to

understand

how

human

beings

process

things

and how

they

work

and how

they

act

and so

people

will

come up

with

different

theories

and

different

hints

and

different

practices

and that's

completely

fine

it's not

calling

everybody

to

uniformity

but it's

saying

that as

people

think

those

things

through

that

there's

a

Christian

critique

to it

and in

a sense

the Bible

will both

subvert

part of

all

disciplines

yet at

the same

time

fulfill

the true

and good

and beautiful

insights

within them

I really

have to

I'm just

going to

have to

run

through

these last

points

pretty

quickly

if you

could put

up the

next

point

Andrew

here's

I think

you get

the text

I could

go through

the rest

of the

text

and bring

these

things

out

I'm just

going to

share you

the different

other things

for the

Christian

mind

the Christian

mind

regularly

prays to

God

for wisdom

and knowledge

the Christian

mind

regularly

prays to

God

for wisdom

and knowledge

that's

going to

be

in

this

part

of the

text

about

divine

power

with

its

strongholds

and all

that

it's

that it's

not as if

somehow

we just

become a

mind

and we

just

become

either

an artist

type

or a

poet

type

or an

economist

type

or a

business

type

or a

philosopher

or science

type

no you

pray

I mean

you know

students

when you're

working on

your papers

you should

pray that

God helps

you to

think

you should

pray that

he helps

you to

focus

you should

pray that

he leads

you and

guides

you on