June 2012 - You Are What You Think

Psst … hey, I have a confession to make. While I wouldn’t say that I have been secretly doing this, I haven’t necessarily been telling anyone either. From the moment that I came on as Lead Pastor, I have been working to affect your minds. I am keenly interested in the way you think and in influencing it.

This may surprise some of you, but God is also interested in this. Our minds are important to God. He didn’t create our brains so that He could simply circumvent it. He wants us to think His thoughts. He wants us to perceive from His perspective.

The reason this is so important is that we act as we think. You can see this in the student protests in Quebec. If you read news articles you will see that people for and against the protests see them from completely different perspectives. Those against the protests see the actions of the students as wrong. The student protesters are acting based on their beliefs, even to the point of civil disobedience. How we act in relation to God, society, church, family and self is informed by our beliefs.

I suppose I have a tendency to this because I have a bent for teaching. However, Jesus, the Master Teacher, would also say, “Do not think …” (Mt. 5:17) or “Why do you think …” (Mt. 9:4) or “What do you think …” (Mt. 17:25), just as examples. Paul, a teacher, would write, “… to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly …” (Rom. 12:3) or “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus …” (Phil. 2:5).

What we perceive the church to be and how we think it is supposed to function affects how we act, react and respond. I’m not suggesting that everyone is off their rocker in how they think, but we can have, as was said in a Pixar cartoon, a “kink in our think.” The Word will continue to challenge our thinking as we move forward into the purposes and plans He has for His church. He does renew our spirits but our minds must also be renewed (Rom. 12:2).

So, what do you think?

Journeying with you,

Pastor Merril