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How To Use Your Mind To Engage a Broken World

How To Use Your Mind To Engage a Broken World

Last updated on: February 7, 2017 at 5:23 pm by Guest Contributor

How To Use Your Mind To Engage a Broken World 2017-02-07T17:23:53-05:00 Guest Contributor

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Image Credit: "Dirty City" CC 2.0

Image Credit: “Dirty City” CC 2.0

Luke 10:27 tells us, “…’You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ (NLT).” Sadly though, many Christians, if not most, tend to leave out the “mind” portion of this verse. They wrongfully think there should be no intellect in Christianity. “Leave the theology to those in the ‘Ivory Towers.’” Well, this should not be the case.

In addition, we often hear Christians stating things such as “Why do you hang out with ‘those’ people. They are such a bad influence?” How about, “Because maybe I can be a good influence on them.” Or you hear them say something along the lines of “Christians are supposed to be light and have no part of darkness!” Well, guess what, it takes darkness for there to be light to shine. Perhaps we can be light in their darkness. These types of things are said in an attempt to separate us from the very people we are suppose to minister among.

What I would like to do with this article is give some corrective information combining both of these problems. I am hoping the reader will take away that we need to be engaged in our post-Christian culture, not seclude ourselves from it, and we need to be engaged with our mind, not just blind spirituality.

Radio talk show host and author Dick Staub wrote an entire book on this topic entitled, “Too Christian Too Pagan.” The phrase I usually use for myself in this regards is “Too conservative for liberal Christians and too liberal for conservative Christians.” I think a quote from his book is the best way to get things started: “Today, Christian responses to the world include de facto withdrawal into a protective cocoon, combat in the culture war, or a widespread, chameleonlike conformity. Our instincts for personal spiritual survival warn us to stay clear of this alternatingly in-hospitable and enticing place. Yet ironically, this soul-threatening society also offers our greatest opportunity for influence, because an unraveling society produces a spiritually restless people needing Jesus’ transforming good news” (p.14).

He goes on to write:“In my observation most Christians are either too Christian or too pagan. The Christians who are ‘too Christian’ are very comfortable within the Christian subculture but are ill at ease when in the world. On the other hand, Christians who are too pagan are at ease with the world but fail to integrate their faith into their every day life” (p.15).

What we need is an appropriate balance. What seems to end up happening is when those who are brave enough to make an attempt at carrying out this much needed balance they end up being labeled. They get labeled as “too pagan” by their Christian friends and “too Christian” by their pagan friends. Jesus is the perfect example of the balance that’s needed, but even He was often criticized as being “too pagan” (so to speak, still using Staub’s wording) by religious leaders and even at times his disciples, and “too Christian” by many pagans He reached out too. Just read the gospels and pay attention to the reactions. The worldly enjoyed chilling out with Jesus, but when it came time for action they often would just slink away.

So as not to stray too far, let’s get into using our minds effectively in our post-Christian culture and finding an appropriate balance while doing so. Here are a few quotes to help emphasize the prevalence of Christian anti-intellectualsim. Some forty or so years ago Harry Blamires, in his book “The Christian Mind” stated, “The mental secularization of Christians means that nowadays we meet only as worshipping [sic] beings and as moral beings, not as thinking beings.” And then sometime in the ’80’s Charles Malik echoed this idea during a lecture at Wheaton College when he said, “I must be frank with you; the greatest danger besetting American evangelical Christianity is the danger of anti-intellectualism. The mind, as to its greatest and deepest riches, is not cared for enough.” Then a bit more recently, sometime in the ’90’s, Dr. Mark Noll wrote an entire book on the issue entitled, “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind.” His conclusion? The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is so little of it. And now, today, this problem is more alive than ever. It has only gotten worse. Os Guinness sums it up well in “Fit Bodies, Fit Minds” when he writes, “Anti-intellectualism is truly the refusal to love the Lord our God with our minds as required by the first of Jesus’ commandments.”

Let me sound an alarm for those of you who may not have figured it out yet. In what has increasingly become an anti-intellectual culture, even among believers, your commitment to thinking will certainly make you countercultural.

You may be asking yourself, “Why is the witness of God’s presence in the world of our minds so important” (Staub, p.116)? Let’s look at some of the why’s.

Our minds reflect our uniqueness among all of creation. We are the only species created in the image of God. Being able to have, develop, and express thought in an intricate language is part of what separates us from the animals and gives us sure evidence of our distinct place in the order of God’s creation.
Jesus commanded us to love God with all our minds. We are told to love God with all we have not only in our strength (body) and heart, but in our minds as well. Each of these are vitally important.
“The discerning mind enables us to weigh the essence and implications of thoughts and ideas gaining contemporary acceptance” (Staub, p.117).
How can we share the gospel with intellectually curious seekers without using intellect? Those who need to hear the gospel need to hear that our faith is a reasonable faith.
Believe it or not, people will come to the faith by the use of their minds. Many people often come to the Lord through emotions and/or feelings, however, often times this leads to only a shallow faith. Those who come to faith by the use of their minds usually develop deeper roots sooner.

If we want to be effective out in the world then we must love God with all of our minds. So, what does this look like? What are some of the things than can be done to accomplish this?

First, begin by recognizing and confronting your own ideolo

gical fears or concerns. Are there things being brought up in movies, television, music, or work conversations that bother you because it feels like they pose a threat to your own beliefs? Whatever those concerns might be you need to identify them and search for answers in the Bible, commentaries, and other sources that speak to the issue. Broaden your intellectual comfort zone by at least entertaining the possibility of an expanded theological position in order to hone and sharpen your own.

Second, practice your faith in day to day life. Read books, newspapers, magazines and ask yourself how being a Christian should influence your thinking on whatever topic is being looked at. When you read your Bible ask yourself how it relates to the life you live and the different worldviews you encounter out in the “real world.” Read things you don’t normally read as well. This helps give you an idea of what’s going on in the thoughts of others in those given areas.

Third, when you go to the movies, read a book, go to a concert, or just listen to music, ask yourself some questions about the theology and worldview behind these things. What is being taught, or what seems to be the attitude towards, God? What seems to be the major human problem that resonates? Etc. And once you do that compare what you come up with against Christianity and its view of the world. Make comparisons and identify similarities.

Fourth, if you find your pastor teaching or preaching something you disagree with review your position, take another look at it and make sure you can defend it. Once you do that calmly and with a healthy dose of grace ask them about it and have them explain or defend their position to you.

Fifth, join a community group, small group, support group, or whatever your church might be calling them these days. When you’re there be sure and listen, engage your mind, express your views and opinions. Start getting familiar and comfortable with the give and take process. In fact, join some kind of discussion group that has nothing to do with church or the Bible and do the same there as well. You can also go back to school or take some online classes, ask your kids what’s going on in school and what they are learning, volunteer for the youth group at your church (those of you who are brave enough). All of these things will force you into prayer and Scripture study.

And last, sort of spring boarding from a couple of ideas in the above point, be a student of life and be a lifelong learner. Again, be sure to love God with your mind.

Let’s close this out with Peter’s words from 1 Peter 3:15, “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (ESV).

*Portions of this article were inspired by, and adapted from, “Too Christian Too Pagan,” by Dick Staub

This was a guest post from Dr. Jeff Hagan.

Jeff is an ordained Christian minister with over 23 years of ministry experience. He has attended Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Luther Rice Seminary, Tyndale Seminary and a handful of other institutes as well. He has earned several degrees including the Doctor of Christian Education and the Doctor of Theology.

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