October 2005 - Elder's Corner - Events & News - Evangelical Free Church of Huntington Beach

Thinking like a Christian

I picked up an interesting book recently by Harry Blamires called The Christian Mind. The book is from the ’60s and is recommended by Chuck Colson for his Centurion training. The author compellingly exhorts his readers to allow their minds to be shaped by the Gospel. If you are like me, this exhortation brings a tepid yawn; been there, done that. The author didn’t let me off easy.

Once I got into the book, I was staggered at how often the Christian allows himself/herself to become conformed to the World. This takes the form of allowing the World to define our discussions with assumptions which are wrong, or at best are incomplete. But we play by the World’s game rules and get beaten. You can and should either ignore or bravely refute false assumptions. Most men know to not answer a “loaded” question like, “When did you stop beating your wife?” We can apply the same defense to broader questions with similar success. What, according to Blamires, defines the Christian mind?

First, we see a supernatural aspect of life because there is more to life than meets the eyes. We are aware of God - who is both personal and involved with His creation.

We are aware of evil. Bad things happen not just because of random chance and weird physics. Bad happens because there is a force of evil in the world. Unfortunately, the perpetrators of evil look a lot like the rest of us.

We know there is absolute Truth. This Truth is independent of culture and it is not relative to how you feel or perceive. Oddly, the acceptance or denial of truth is a defining feature of our culture.

We accept authority. Having defined leaders and followers makes life simpler. Countless civil wars give evidence of life becoming pretty bad when “everyone does what is right in their own eyes”.

As a related concept, we care deeply for the person. Slavery and abusive relationships are wrong because people are created in the image of God. People have worth because of who they are, not because of what they do.

Finally, we see the sacredness of life in which we are created and sustained by a loving God. The special-ness of a newborn child, the love of a husband and wife, and the grandeur of God’s creation all tell us that life is sacred.

Communication breaks down when the Church and the World use the same words from very different assumptions. Half the problem is recognizing these differences. The remainder of the problem comes in challenging the World’s assumptions to conform to observable or revealed reality.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Article by Konrad Kern