Thinking Biblically

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Rom. 12:1-2)

It is difficult to think biblically.

For those of us raised in a secular home, thinking biblically is not just a matter of overcoming the absence of faith in our household, or the omission of God in our textbooks. It is a complete reformation of our fundamental values and beliefs.

Our character was formed like a coral forest—thought upon thought and action upon action. And though the newly-formed branches may be well-considered, the ancient forests of old thinking are increasingly hidden under layers of silt. And this would be well, if the ancient layers were right and true.

But in the secular home, all was not laid down right and true. And like disease in the coral, the results are sad but inevitable. First, that the disease will likely be carried throughout that whole system of thought, corrupting even the best intentions and well-planned actions. Second, that these entire branches must eventually give way, causing deep wounds to the whole.

It is our nature, upon conversion, to comply outwardly to some standard of Christianity that we perceive in our mentors, and to feel success and satisfaction in the living of a “good life.” And here is where we feel that we have almost finished (that we are only a few bad habits away from winning the race). But it is likely that the most deceived souls linger here, because it is so easy—so consistent with our nature—to exercise restraint in the body without ever allowing the deep work of Christ to renew our minds.

Our inclination to measure all things by ourselves obscures our ability to see God’s providence. Instead of making Christ the subject of our heart and mind and soul, we make Him the fuzzy background in a picture focused on ourselves. And so, acts of “spiritual worship” will always ring hollow without the Copernican shift of a renewed mind. Christ is at the centre.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)