Mind Games

Why do we as Christians know relatively nothing about what we believe in? We know everything there is to know about Duke or Carolina basketball, or Alabama football, or how great Coldplay's new song is, or the latest fads of the day, and the list continues grossly on. But are we really intellectually sure about the core beliefs that we say we have? I can guarantee that our generation is the generation whose mind has been attacked and assaulted more than that of any other, but I can also guarantee that we have done the worst job of any other generation in being prepared for such an onslaught. It's because everything is right at our fingertips. Technology, as great as it is, has become a crutch of cheap, adulterated information. Do you want to know what it's culminated into? A lack of reading.

Reading, Korver? What in the world are you harping about now? Just keep reading. Yes I intended that pun. This has become at least an American tragedy, but I'd also tend to think it's become worldwide. However, while that's true, I'd like to write specifically to Christians at this point. Christians, we need to use our God-given brains. Be educated and make a concerted effort to know that which you believe. We are so clueless right now that we think reading the Bible for five minutes a day will suffice, or maybe five minutes thrice weekly. Are you kidding me? I'm sorry, but why in the world would you change your life (or claim to) for something you got out of a book that you only read 15 minutes a week (and listening to a sermon every other week doesn't count as reading). For crying out loud, my mom reads a cookbook more than that, and I sure don't see her revolutionizing her life because of the latest broccoli and cheese soup recipe. As I said, we have huge need for our minds, and yet we have not exercised them enough to be ready. They have atrophied to the point of disintegration. I'm going to call a spade a spade. It's sin. 1 Peter 1:13 says, "Therefore, prepare your minds for action." Peter says "therefore" because he's just been discussing the fact that we have no earthly idea when Christ is returning. In light of that, we need to always be ready, using our--get ready for it--our minds. We read "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" and tend to leave the mind just sitting there, doing nothing with it. Why? Why is it that the brain gets left in the dust? Are we afraid that our minds will tell us some truth that will disorient our foolish ideas of entitlement to comfort and happiness? Are we afraid that our minds will overrule our baseless feelings? Whatever it is, we need to get over it. From the verse above, it appears that we must if we are to truly love the Father. And that makes perfect sense. How can you love someone whom you know nothing about? You don't know his/her characteristics and attributes, what they've done in the past, what they said their future plans were, etc., but you say "Oh, but my heart tells me this!" Rubbish. In the same way, if you go through life trying to love Jesus based on the feelings of your heart and the longings of your soul, there will be a point in time when that "love" is no longer there. It's because we haven't kept reading the verse. We must.

You still haven't explained yourself on reading, Korver. I shall do just that. We must read if we ever hope to be an educated people of God. Oh, you don't like to read? Learn to. I hate to break it to some of you, but listening to "Christian" music (or any other kind of music) is not enough. Not nearly. But I must clarify. We need not be reading just for reading's sake. I can read all the Redwall novels I want, all the Grisham novels I want, I can read LOTR all day, every day and none of that is going to prepare my mind for action. First of all, we must read the Book that our faith rests solely in. The Bible. You and I need to read it every day, and whether it's one chapter or ten is not the key issue. What matters is that we think and pray about what it is that we are reading, so that our minds get a workout. Second, once the first is a habit, we must find other sources that are sound theologically (i.e. they match what the Bible says at face value) to further explain what it is we've read between Genesis and Revelation. Randy Alcorn, Chuck Swindoll, Andy Stanley, Ravi Zacharias, Tony Evans, and many other authors would fit into this category. I don't even have a third step for you. It's that easy, two simple steps. If you feel that I'm being dogmatic, you're probably right, but I'm not making this stuff up. As you've seen, it's in the Bible. That said, everything I've written applies just as much to me as it does to anyone who may read this. I have let my mind become a lard, too.

Again, I cannot stress how important it is for us to put aside the meaningless things that we do and make time for mind exercise, for reading and thinking and praying. Let's cut down on wasted time and insert reading into our daily lives. We must push ourselves forward or the world will push us over.