Love God With All Your Mind part 4

© 2 0 1 5 T h i r d C o lu m n M in i s t r i e s


“Monotheism loathes intelligence.”

"A fiction does not die, an illusion never passes away, a fairy tale does not refute itself… You cannot kill a breeze, a wind, a fragrance; you cannot kill a dream or an ambition. God, manufactured by mortals in their own quintessential image, exists only to make daily life bearable despite the path that every one of us treads towards extinction… We cannot assassinate or kill an illusion. In fact illusion is more likely to kill us — for God puts to death everything that stands up to him, beginning with reason, intelligence and the critical mind. All the rest follows in a chain reaction."

- Michel Onfray

“Faith is an evil precisely because it requires no justification and brooks no argument.”

- Richard Dawkins


Stewardship of the Mind


Mind

Fix these words of mine in your

hearts and minds

Deuteronomy 11:18

Do not be conformed to this age,

but be transformed by the renewing

of your mind, so that you may

discern what is the good, pleasing,

and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2


Mind


hearts and minds

Deuteronomy 11:18






Romans 12:2


Mind


hearts and minds

Deuteronomy 11:18






Romans 12:2


Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true, whatever is

noble, whatever is right, whatever

is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable--if anything

is excellent or praiseworthy--think

about such things.

Philippians 4:8


Stimulus

Thoughts

EmotionsDesire

Action

Cognitive-Behavioral Model


Stimulus

Thoughts

EmotionsDesire

Action

Cognitive-Behavioral Model

“Life is 10% what happens to you and

90% how you react to it.” Chuck Swindoll


Finally, brothers and sisters,

whatever is true, whatever is

noble, whatever is right, whatever

is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable--if anything

is excellent or praiseworthy--think

about such things.

Philippians 4:8


“The mind, not the Bible, is the very first line of defense God

has given us against error.” … “In order to understand the

Bible accurately, our mental faculties must be intact and we

must use them as God intended.” … “What is the tool we use

in our observations of the world that helps us separate fact

from Fiction? That tool is reason, the ability to use our minds

to sort through observations and draw accurate conclusions

about reality. Rationality is one of the tools God has given us

to acquire knowledge.” - G. Koukl, Tactics pg. 32


Stewardship of the Mind

• Is stewardship only related to money?

• “The responsible use of resources, esp. money, time, and talents, in the service of God.” (OED)

• The Parable of the Talents - Matthew 25:14-30

• Your intellect is one of the greatest gifts from God

• How should we use our intellects?

• Should we increase it for His kingdom?

• Steward = Responsibility

And now you know about

your

responsibility


Start with reading

• Reading requires interaction.

• Media is more passive and does not require interaction.

• Media makes fewer demands it breeds passive participation, short attention spans, instant gratification.

• All truth is God’s truth.

• Must read with discernment. In light of the Christian worldview.

• "I knew I had to out-think those who were challenging my faith; and to out-think them, I knew I had to out-read them." - James E. White


Reading, it’s your choice

• Choosing to read• Available to everyone, it is a matter of choice

• May not be easy, difficult to change old habits

• What to read• Widely read v. well read

• What is better, reading a lot of garbage or few excellent works

• Not unlimited time need to be selective

• It is like a diet, junk food verses nutritious food

• The Bible is foundational for your diet (For the renewing of your mind)


Your armory

claustrum sine armario est quasi

castrum sine armamentario

A monastery without a

library [sine armario] is

like a castle without an

armory [sine

armamentario]

- Norman Monk 1170 AD


Discipleship of the Mind

• Barna Group Study (David Kinnaman)• More than 50% of the 18- to 29-year-

olds in the church aspire to careers in science and technology.

• Only 1% of young adult pastors/leaders ever address science in their teaching.

• We need to address the typical “apologetics” issues as part of church programs


Discipleship of the Mind

• “The state, condition, or fact of being a pupil, follower, or adherent of any teacher, leader, doctrine, etc.; the position of a pupil, or follower.” OED

• We need to train people to think with a Christian worldview

• Classes

• Sermons

• Small Group Studies

• Integrated into all aspects of the local Church

• Training people up includes training the intellect


“In their uncompromising determination to proclaim

truth, Christians must avoid the intellectual flabbiness

of the larger society. They must rally against the

prevailing distrust of reason and the exaltation of the

irrational. Emotion, self-indulgence and irrationalities

have always been the enemies of the gospel, and

the apostles warned their followers against them.”

- Herbert Schlossberg


How to read

• Asking questions, critical reading

• What does it say about reality as compared with Christian worldview?

• How to read slowly by James Sire

• How to read a book by Mortimer Adler


Intellectual Laziness

• Intellectual Laziness is still laziness

• "Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger." Proverbs 19:15

• The Church has fallen asleep intellectually

• As a result people are hungry for something substantial for their intellect.

• The good news is it appears the Church is starting to wake up intellectually


Overcoming Apathy

• Indifference can be worse than anger or hatred

• “indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor—never his victim”

• Why are people indifferent about increasing their intellectual capabilities?

• Does being indifferent about your intellect help or hinder Christ’s kingdom?

• Is it deemed hard and left untried?

• Is it hard like trying to stop eating junk food?


Empty-self traits

1. Inordinately individualistic

2. Infantile

3. Narcissistic

4. Passive

5. Sensate

6. Lost the art of developing an

interior life

7. Hurried and busy

Countering the empty-self

1. Admit the problem

2. Choose to be different

3. Change your routine

4. Develop patience and

endurance

5. Develop a good vocabulary

6. Set some intellectual goals

Don’t be so prideful as to think you know it all and that you are intellectual enough. On the

other hand do play the inferiority card and develop a sense of insecurity about your mental

abilities. Neither inferiority nor pride will do you any good in developing a good Christian mind.

J. P. Moreland, Love Your God with all Your Mind pages 88-96


“It is a man’s glory to be the only intellectual

animal on Earth. That imposes upon human

beings the moral obligation to lead

intellectual lives. The slothful are blind to the

glory and neglectful of the obligation.”

– Mortimer Adler, Intellect: Mind of Matter


“Ideas matter. In fact, what we believe and the way we see

things largely determine the type of people we will become

and the behavior we will exhibit. Because ideas matter,

Christians and non-Christians alike should desire to know truth

wherever it can be found. Moreover, Christians have a special

intellectual and moral obligation to follow Augustine's advice:

we have a duty, he said, to show that our Scriptures do not

contradict what we have reason to believe from reliable

sources outside them. In short Christians have the obligation

and privilege of developing and propagating an integrated

Christian worldview.”


Guide

• Avoid Pride and Inferiority• Everyone has a different level of intellect• We are stewards of the intellect

• Avoid sloppy thinking

• Find a safe place or group of people if needed, Pray

• Pride puffs up

• “If our allegiance to Christianity is not based on the conviction that it is true and reasonable, then we are treating the faith as a mere means to some self-serving pragmatic end, and that demeans the faith”


Intellectual Virtues

• Intellectual Virtues• Passion for the truth

• Passion for holiness, application of truth

• Passion for consistency

• Compassion for others

• In a framework of humility

“He [Christ] wants a child’s heart but a grown-

up’s head.” C. S. Lewis


Intellectual Disciplines

• Intellectual Disciplines

• Solitude, Silence, Attention

• Lateral Thinking

• Prayer

• Create good intellectual habits, this is honoring to God

• Taking classes, reading books, research

• Liberal arts has a place, interdisciplinary reading


A place and time to think

• Make a place and time to think

• No noise, silence

• No interruptions, location is important

• No background music

• Society, Community, and Groups

• Rest

• Exercise

• Keep a journal, notes, keep notebook around

• Set goals


Study, Exercise for the Mind

“The desire to know, to think clearly, to pursue ideas back to their sources and on toward their implications: this desire should not be difficult for one who is called by God to think.” – James W. Sire Habits of the Mind pg. 132

“If we are to love God adequately with the mind, then the mind must be exercised regularly, trained to acquire certain habits of thought, and filled with an increasingly rich set of distinctions and categories.” J.P. Moreland pg. 105


Intellectual Loneliness

• “In too many churches, a questing mind can be a plague to its owner. The thinking woman or man seldom gets much support today—and more often than not meets with resistance and suspicion. This is true, not only for those inclined to dig more deeply for a more reasoned, better-founded faith, but for the Christian who is laboring out in the world to resolve debates and value-clashes in fields like social justice, medical research, education, law, and finance. And so the Christian who must use his or her mind, because they are driven by the joy of using it, can exist in an odd, ambivalent relationship with his brothers and sisters in Christ. This should not be.” - David Hazard


Resistance and Suspicion

• “In too many churches, a questioning mind can be a plague to its owner. The thinking woman or man seldom gets much support today – and more often than not meets with resistance and suspicion.”

• “According to the Bible, developing a Christian mind is part of the very essence of discipleship unto the Lord Jesus.”

• “[God] does not love intellectuals more than anyone else. But it needs to be said in the same breath that ignorance in not a Christian virtue if those virtues mirror the perfection of God’s own character.”

J. P. Moreland, Love Your God With All

Your Mind


Resistance

• “If anything, the pressures against using the mind carefully, honestly and faithfully as an essential aspect of the Christian’s calling are stronger now than ever before.” Mark Noll (J. Stott 2006, 8)


Resources


Recommended Books to start with


Thank you for participating!

• Register for future sessions

• Suggest future topics

• Be a guest speaker

www.thirdcolumnministries.org/the-forum

http://www.thirdcolumnministries.org/the-forum

Love God With All Your Mind part 4

Spiritual

column ministriesstewardship

column ministrieshow

critical mind

column ministrieswhat

intellectual growth

intellectual virtue

dont focus

questions of morality