On Being Thoughtful Christians: Using, Losing and Abusing Our Minds - Part 1

Your Mind Matters: The Place of the Intellect in the Christian Life, by John Stott
progress: completed

One of the highest and noblest functions 
of man's mind is to listen to God's Word, 

and so to read his mind and think his thoughts after him, 
both in nature and in Scripture. (31)

When I started my first year of Bible College, someone spoke in Chapel about not losing the "heart and hands" aspect of our faith while we strengthened the "head" aspect through theological study. It seemed obvious enough to me at the time, but I had no idea how tricky this would prove to be in real life, nor how many different ways that we as Christians can get off balance in this area.

On the one hand, there is a brand of theological prowess, which in the midst of substandard (or nearly nonexistent) theology, is easily mutated into cynicism. Poor teaching or a lack of teaching can contribute to this condition in the hearts of those who are hungrier than their fellows for a more thorough treatment of ideas and beliefs. Intellectual condescension causes the informed to forget that they, too, were once uninformed. Intellectual pride can convince those who are knowledgeable to think they have all of the knowledge and cannot learn from someone with less knowledge than themselves. (The application of fancy labels are handy tools, used to dismiss those who are "simple," "ignorant" or "sentimental." - I could use more specific terms, but I'm trying very hard to speak in generalities.) And all of these things - intellectual cynicism, condescension, and pride - can lead to an imbalanced perspective that views theology and doctrine as the Most Important Thing.

Others have had run-ins with such types of people and become utterly turned off to the ego and the attitude and the dogma - and along with it the thinking, the theology, and the doctrine. They can be reactionary to the point of placing personal experience above theology, sometimes going so far as to pit doctrine and Christian living against each other, as if it must be one or the other. Others adopt a black-and-white approach to biblical ideas, because it is so much easier than thinking through individual situations to discern the subtle shades of gray which may in fact be the most spiritually wise.

There are congregations where a lack of education is suspect, and there are congregations where too much education is suspect. There are churches that are too focused on theology, and there are churches that ignore it completely (interestingly, either situation is a good breeding ground for a cult to be birthed). There are "educated" believers who are profoundly ignorant, and "uneducated" believers who are profoundly wise.

I might add that I can see distorted reflections of myself in each and every one of these caricatures.

So, which is it, then? The mind or the heart? Intellect or experience? Doctrine or practice? Knowledge or zeal?

Of course the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. In the opening chapter of his tiny book, John Stott writes,

Many have zeal without knowledge, enthusiasm without enlightenment. In more modern jargon, they are keen but clueless.

Now I thank God for zeal. Heaven forbid that knowledge without zeal should replace zeal without knowledge! God's purpose is both, zeal directed by knowledge, knowledge fired with zeal. (13)

He goes on to quote a former seminary president:

Commitment without reflection is fanaticism in action. But reflection without commitment is the paralysis of all action. (Dr. John Mackay, quoted on page 14)

Always being careful to reassure his readers that his goal is not an "arid hyper-intellectualism" or a "dry, humourless, academic Christianity, but...a warm devotion set on fire by truth," (18) Stott laments the spirit of anti-intellectualism that has taken hold of both secular and Christian culture today. He points out three emphases within the church which have a tendency in this direction: the disproportionate focus on ritual, social action or experience can become "escape routes by which to avoid our God-given responsibilities to use our minds Christianly." (17) Again, he is not arguing against these things, but for them to be kept in their proper place - that is, in subjection to a thoughtful understanding of Scripture.

He takes some time to argue in defense of our minds - first of all, that we were created to think. We alone of all God's creatures were given the ability for rational thought. And for those who would argue that our minds are now fallen and therefore untrustworthy, he argues that they are no more fallen than our emotions, to which many retreat. Moreover, our minds have been redeemed, along with the rest of ourselves, and are daily being renewed. Lastly, we will be judged by our knowledge, and what we do with it.

How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?

How long will mockers delight in mockery and

fools hate knowledge? 

--Proverbs 1:22

Our minds, and our thoughts, matter.

--
I've left this post unfinished for nearly a week now, so perhaps I'll make this part one and finish up in a separate post when I have time. Next time I'll look at his examples of how the mind is to be engaged in worship, faith, holiness, guidance, evangelism and ministry. Stay tuned! ~ Becky

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A Fortuitous Find at the Book Fair

Well, there I was at the Scholastic Book Fair at my son's elementary school today, browsing through the piles of teenage vampire lit, Pokemon manuals and frilly pink puppy diaries, when a book of a different sort caught my eye:

Get Real: What Kind of World Are You Buying? 
by Mara Rockliff

The book is geared toward ages 9-12 and discusses the wider implications of what we're investing in when we spend our money on items such as shoes, cell phones, fast food and bottled water, to name a few. I've been browsing it for the last hour or so and it looks pretty good - and not just for the 9-12 bracket, either.

Although Rockliff is descriptive and snarky in her descriptions of how things are made, she's not over the top and her chapters are filled with practical suggestions on how to make better, more informed choices. The final chapters offer many suggestions for change, as well as inspiring stories of other teens and adults who've made a difference in their world. She also includes a graphic of a "wallet buddy," put out by The Center for a New American Dream. It's a tiny paper pouch into which you can slide your credit card, with the following message on one side:

"Every dollar I spend is a statement about the kind of world I want and the quality of life I value."

...and a list of questions to consider before using that credit card on the other side:

• Is this something I need?
• Do I already own something that could serve the same purpose?
• Can I borrow one, find one used, or make one instead of buying new?
• Was it made locally?
• Was it made with environmentally preferable materials?
• Was it made with fair labor practices?
• Will it serve more than one purpose?
• Will it be easy and cost-effective to maintain?
• Will using it require excessive energy?
• Does it come in excessive packaging?
• Can I recycle or compost it when I'm done with it?
• If I'm not still sure, can I wait a month before deciding to buy it?

I thought it was pretty cool. You can download your own copy (slightly altered*) to print out here.

(*The list of questions on the current link is shorter than the above list, which I liked better.)

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Next Course: Books 6, 7 and 8

I've pretty much finished up with my current bookmeal books, and am now focusing on three new ones:

Book 6 - Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity Without Hierarchy, edited by Ronald W. Pierce, Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, and Gordon Fee
          I'm well into this book already, but have yet to write much about my thoughts. I'll be working to change that in the next few weeks.


Book 7 - Your Mind Matters: The Place of the Mind in the Christian Life, by John Stott
          This book addresses an issue which I have been forced to grapple with in recent years as I've encountered widely divergent views and approaches to the place of the intellect within the church and worship. I read the first chapter back in the spring (or was it last fall?) and loved it, so I've been anxious to get back to it and dig in. John Stott is yet another example of my favourite type of spiritual hero: scholarly, godly and able to speak profound truths in language that is accessible to the average joe. It's a short read (85 pp), so I'll probably tackle this first.

Book 8 - The Way is Made by Walking: A Pilgrimage Along the Camino de Santiago, by Arthur Paul Boers
          Again, I started this last year, and really enjoyed what I read so far. When I decided to do bookmeal, I knew it should be one of my books, so I set aside until then...that is, now.


(Click here for my earlier descriptions of Books 6 and 8)


It looks quite unlikely that I will finish my goal of twenty books this year, but that's okay. Life has sort of gotten in the way at times. Parenting, pregnancy, fatigue, laziness, and intermittent bouts of depression have all played a role, but the one constant has been this: when I can sit down and blog, I feel better. So, I'll press on and keep doing what I can, and enjoy the process without the stress of a hard deadline. Thanks for persevering with me!

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Humble Dialogue and the Willingness to Be Wrong

Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith, by Kathleen Norris
progress: complete

A friend of mine once described a comment made by his Bible college philosophy professor, one of the few educators at that school which he held in high esteem: In describing his encounters with skeptics or people of different beliefs, he would tell them that, even as a Christian, he would follow the truth wherever it took him, no matter what. No belief was too precious if the truth led him elsewhere.

At the time, I remember struggling with that statement. What exactly would he be willing to discard? Did it mean he would be willing to renounce his faith in Jesus? My friend saw it as a profound example of his integrity and commitment to the truth. I tended to see it more as a threat to the faith. What did he mean he would follow the truth wherever it took him - did he actually think the Christian faith could be wrong? Maybe his own faith was suspect.

Somewhere along the way, I had picked up the idea that a Christian must be completely confident in every aspect of her faith if she is to convince others to believe. There is no room for doubt, because that might scare people away! (Either that or other Christians might become suspicious of you.) What I hadn't thought of was whether or not it was my job to convince other people, or whether exaggerated overconfidence would be more of a turnoff than honest doubt.

Kathleen Norris challenges this modern-day temptation within the church (and Christian institutions) to know everything (or to act like we do) with examples from the early monastic tradition, in which    "I know not" was considered a wise response to individual portions of Scripture. Having an all-inclusive approach to Scripture, they were willing to acknowledge that there was a larger context to that passage (i.e., the whole of Scripture), of which they might be as yet uninformed. Humility and a reticence to produce half-baked opinions allowed them time to take in the big picture, to resist the temptation to "use scripture for his or her own ends," (337) until they were sure that their convictions fit into the whole of Scripture. Norris quotes a Benedictine sister and biblical scholar on the benefits of this approach:

'We're forced into contention with the Bible in uncomfortable, often memorable ways,' she says, 'which save us from citing just the scriptures that agree with our own preconceived ideas.' (Shawn Carruth, quoted on page 337)

Even though I've broadened my views considerably since those Bible college days, it's still hard for me to talk about the freedom to say "I know not" without offering up a few disclaimers. I'm not trying to challenge the authority of Scripture. I believe that Christians can have confidence in the Bible. It is 100% authoritative in my life. What I am challenging is whether my interpretations and hermeneutical applications of the many individual passages of Scripture are 100% authorative. I cannot be 100% confident in my own interpretation, because I am a fallible human tainted by sin. This should make room for a refreshing willingness to admit that I might be wrong, and therefore to hear with humility the differing perspectives of others. It allows me to resist prideful judgment of others with differing viewpoints. Norris writes,

To church congregations and denominations that are weary of strife, of continually arguing things out in a tense, judgmental atmosphere, it may come as welcome news to learn that they, too, are allowed to say 'I know not' with regard to the Bible, free to not use it to justify taking sides in every issue that coms along. (338)

She goes on to describe the yearning voiced to her by an acquaintance who

hoped that religious communities could provide a vision of a church, and a community, 'in which not everything has to be decided, where you don't have to take a stand on every issue before you can live together peaceably and creatively.' (338)

Sounds refreshing, doesn't it? Imagine if, instead of persecuting Galileo for his heliocentric views, the Catholic church was willing to say, we can't be 100% sure if that jives with Scripture, but the bigger picture of your life tells us that you're a man who loves God and his word, so let's agree to disagree and move forward in community until the truth is made more plainly clear. Hm. There are far too many examples of this pigheadedness-in-the-name-of-conviction in our churches today. I have modelled it far too much in my own life. 

Truth will win out in the end. It can withstand scrunity without our feeble attempts to "protect" it. And if we will make room for genuine inquiry, we might learn something and even grow in our own faith. But, as Norris points out, 

Genuine inquiry takes time. It also requires patience, trust, and the ability to listen well, qualities that are unfortunately in short supply in theological schools as well as church congregations, and to be truthful, in the human heart. I do not wish to be mistaken for an anti-intellectual when I criticize the criticizers, that is, when I suggest that the modern methods of biblical interpretation have given us more than we could have hoped for but also less than we need to sustain our faith, and the Christian church. As good and necessary as these methods have proven to be, they have furthered harsh and seemingly intractable division among Christians. (339)

It amazes me how vehemently we as Christians can argue issues that really have comparatively little to do with living the Christian life, alienating so many others in the process, and distracting ourselves from focusing on those little things, like "bearing with one another in love," "making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace," and "do not think more highly of yourselves than you ought." Oh yeah, and "Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" - an especially challenging one for me, since I am prone to chatter. 

I don't pretend to know just how it's done, but I suspect a good place to start is with silence and a sincere and thorough searching of the Scriptures, not so much for an answer to vindicate a particular view as for direction to guide us ever deeper into the heart of God. For this is the purpose of God's word: not to win arguments but to transform its readers into Christlikeness. If we forget that, we are lost. 

In the end, I think it's fair to say that the professor's attitude wasn't so much a threat to "the faith" as it was a threat to mine, which was immature and untested. I am inclined to think it was the strength of a deep-seated, mature faith that enabled him to speak with such confidence about Truth - for sincere faith that makes room for honest doubt is in the end, likely to be the strongest.

I'll close with an extended quote from Shane Hipps, author of the great book Flickering Pixels: How Technology Shapes Our Faith (I just read it last year, but might have to read it again for bookmeal): 

Many [Christians] are coming to believe that robust faith lives somewhere between absolute trust and deep doubt. The colours of faith change through seasons of grief and hope, passion and despair. No one has it all figured out all the time - both Christians and non-Christians are in need of ongoing conversion. Humanity as a whole is called to participate in an unfolding process of redemption and reconciliation.

and further,

The person who is a true follwer of Jesus, a student and learner, but perhaps not yet - and maybe not ever - an orthodox believer. This category of doubting disciple didn't seem to bother Jesus; after all, his parting words to us in the book of Matthew were, 'Therefore go and make disciples...' Jesus didn't tell us to make believers. He called us to make disciples, and disciples are followers and students of the way of God. Followers learn to change their beliefs as they walk.

Let's not be afraid of doubt, disagreement, or dialogue on these things. The truth can defend itself best when we listen in love, not judgment; when we seek to save souls, not arguments; and when we humbly remind ourselves that our own understanding of things can only ever be partial - at least on this side of heaven.

He who answers before listening—that is his folly and his shame. - Proverbs 18:13

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Earthkeeping: Final Thoughts, on Starting Points

For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care, by Steven Bouma-Prediger
progress: completed

"No one made a greater mistake than the person who did nothing because he or she could not do everything."

Edmund Burke (paraphrased in BP 169)

Just in case you got overwhelmed by the hugeness of the principles listed in my last post - as I did, and I was afraid my high school students would - I tried to sum them up in the following five simple rules. Hopefully these will offer practical ways to start doing a little now while we work our way toward doing "everything."

A Few Practical Steps to Earthkeeping

1. Reduce – Learn to tell the difference between needs and wants, and make responsible choices.
2. Reuse – Donate to and shop at thrift stores, reuse packaging, repurpose what you can.
3. Recycle – Picture your trash in God’s good earth and do your best to keep it from going there!
4. Try to see the big picture – Consider how your choices/actions/inactions and lifestyle/consumption/waste affect others: people, creatures, land, ecosystems.
5. Learn to love creation – Spend time in it, see yourself as part of it, experience God through the enjoyment of it, and show him by your actions how thankful you are for the gift of it.

For further thought...

• Read Psalm 104 and meditate on the majesty of the Creator, and the goodness and the interrelatedness of his creation.
• Read Psalm 148 and observe the whole of creation in worship of its Creator.
• Check out A Rocha to discover some of the ways that Christians around the world are trying to live out their calling as earthkeepers.
• Read (Regent Professor :-) Maxine Hancock's Living on Less and Liking it More for some practical ways to simplify your life and free up your resources.
• Visit websites like Freecycle.net and TwoShirts.org and consider these creative ways to give away the stuff you don't need and get the stuff you do - for free!

I would love to hear a few more practical ideas from my readers (my stats tell me there are at least a few of you!), so send them along and I'll add them to the list.

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