A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste*
Mark 12:28-34
Sermon Objective: Loving God with our mind includes using it for pursuits that glorify him and draw us into deeper fellowship.
Supporting Scripture: Matthew 5:13-14; Romans 7:25; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Philippians 4:8; 2 Timothy 4:13; Hebrews 8:8-11; 1 Peter 1:13; 1 Peter 3:15; 2 Peter 3:1
Mark 12:28-34
28One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?"
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’31The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself. ’There is no commandment greater than these."
32"Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.
INTRO:
Nathaniel Colver was born on May 10, 1874 and lived in Champlain, New York; his family was one of 13 families to reside there at the time. He was born into a Christian home and spent the vast majority of his youth learning to read from three books, The Bible, a Psalm book, and a spelling book. At the age of 18 he fought in the war of 1812 and afterwards returned to cobbling shoes and “thinking about religion.”
In 1819, Mr. Colver was asked to attained a prayer meeting at a church in West Stockbridge that was without a pastor. Upon arriving, one of the deacons announced that Nathaniel would be preaching that night. Colver informed the deacon that he was not a preacher and the deacon handed him a text, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” The deacon then informed him that he was a preacher “now.” And after that meeting the deacon board announced that Nathaniel would be preaching again, at the school house, in a matter of minutes.
Colver’s account of the event says “I felt I belonged to God, no longer to myself, and that henceforth I would think only of God and God’s cause, and leave Him to take care of Nathaniel Colver.”
Thus the ministry of Nathaniel Colver began. He went on to serve as a Baptist pastor in Ogdensburg, Gouverneur, and in “that desolate outpost, Malone.”
But his pastoral ministry was not the most influential aspect of his life. The legacy that continues began when he served at “Hamilton Theological and Literary Institution” which is now known as Colgate University. He was also influential in the fight against slavery and, from that fame, was a co-founder of two theological schools that are still in operation today, Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia and Divinity School at the University of Chicago (then known as Baptist theological Union).
(From Lewis N Powell’s book, “Out of the North Country: Christian Pioneers of Northern New York”)
Love the Lord your God with all your … mind
Have you noticed the difference between Jesus’ response in Mark 12 and the original use of this passage in Deuteronomy 6? The difference is that Jesus adds a “category”. Deuteronomy 6 is missing Love the Lord your God with all your … mind. Now to be fair, the Hebrew word “leeb” (heart) includes some of the characteristics of thinking, deciding, etc. but it is not specifically mentioned and not a completely transferable concept.Jesus definitely adds a dynamic to loving God by intentionally stating that we are to do it with our minds.
I do not think it is by accident that, when speaking to a scholar, Jesus adds the mind into the equation.
“Most Christians would rather die than think—in fact, they do!” So said Bertrand Russell, certainly no friend of Christians, but a man who has a point to make.
There exists within the church an unfortunate aversion to thinking on the part of many; in fact, there is almost hostility towards it in some quarters! There is a sense in which, for some, that thinking hard is even “unspiritual” or leads away from faith. But any dichotomy between rigorous thinking and sincere discipleship is a false dichotomy, because Jesus tells us to love God with our minds!
Please remember, this command is positive and affirmative. It is designed to help us become like Christ. We are being fashioned into people of love. It is intended to be carried out in a proactive and positive way. As we do this it leaves no place for the loving other things or even a need to say “don’t do ____.” The truth is … I won’t have the desire or the time to love other things if I am loving God and my neighbor as God designs.
The word “mind” used in Mark 12 by Jesus is dianoia, (deé-a-noya) and it means the faculty of knowing, or moral reflection. It includes the idea of understanding and of acting creatively by using one’s imagination.
The New Testament teaches that the human mind has been corrupted by earthly things (Romans 1:21 and 2 Timothy 3:8) and is now depraved and follows its own desires (1 Timothy 6:5 and Ephesians 2:3). It further teaches that unless the mind is renewed by the Spirit there can be no life (Romans 8:5-7) and that it needs to be disciplined and renewed (Romans 12:1-2 and 2 Corinthians 10:5).
Uses of “mind” can be found in places like:
• 1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, prepare your MINDS for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
• 2 Peter 3:1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome THINKING.
• Romans 7:25 Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my MIND am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
• Romans 12:1-2 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. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
• Hebrews 8:10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their MINDS and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
• 2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every THOUGHT to make it obedient to Christ.
• Acts 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days REASONED with them out of the scriptures.
The mind is one of the two physical outlets whereby the heart and soul expresses love for God. The mind is a means of acting on one’s love for God. If, in fact, I love God with my whole being it will show itself by the way I proactively and actively use my mind. The use of the mind is critical if one is to become “Christian.”
It is not be accident that some of the great contributors of our world and society have been lovers of God. Just think of the contributions of names like:
• Faraday • Pascal • Pasteur
• Bach • Anderson • Handel
• Wilberforce • Adams • Henry
• Foster • Newton • Galileo
• Keppler • Boyle
Is there any doubt that the faith of these (and countless others) motivated them to use their minds to advance humankind? For many, it was a calling … an obedience to God that motivated their research and creativity.
May I use myself as an example? There has always been suspicion by some laity as to why a man would seek graduate degrees and a doctorate in order to go into ministry. I can only speak for myself when I tell you that for me it was nothing short of a calling. I knew that if I did not do the academic preparation I did that I would be offending God and rebelling against His calling. I, for one, needed the academic training in order to be the man of God I was called to be. It is not ego (no one ever hears me expect to be called Doctor … although I have asked my family at times to call me “master!” :-) ). It was a holy pursuit directed by a holy God.
“Thinking Christianly”
You see, it is essential and holy for God’s people to give themselves to rigorous study and exercise of the mind. It pleases God. It advances God’s kingdom. It is a significant way to be salt and light in our world. The last thing we need is to remove people from the secular world who “think Christianly.” When we abdicate our responsibility we give the world over to other influences without any comment or alternative worldview.
We all look at life through one lens or another.
• The Darwinist looks at life as a cosmic accident, and understands reality through that lens.
• The Hindu looks at life through a lens called Monism, which basically teaches that everything is part of One great entity, that I’m a god, and you’re a god, and we’re all part of this One divine thing.
• And there is a Christian worldview which MUST be present in the conversation … and blessed is the man or woman who rises to the calling.
Os Guinness says that this Christian worldview involves believers thinking about anything and everything in a manner that is consistently shaped, directed, and restrained by the truth of God’s Word and God’s Spirit. Such a Christian worldview encompasses core issues and answers such questions as
• Who am I?
• Where did I come from?
• What is the purpose of my life?
• Where am I going?
• As to the universe, where did it come from?
• Is there a Creator, or are we the products of blind chance?
• Is there any grand theme to history and human life?
• If there is a Creator, what, if anything, does He expect of me?
(Os Guinness’ book Fit Bodies Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think And What To Do About It)
To love God with all our minds means to submit the answering of these questions to the Word of God and the Truth incarnate, Jesus Christ!
To love God with our minds has impact on the church, the home, and the public arena, as well as the individual.
It is important, therefore, that we learn to “think Christianly”.
Now, thinking by Christians is not the same as thinking Christianly. Just because you happen to be a follower of Jesus Christ does not necessarily mean that you love God with your mind; it does not mean that you “think Christianly.” It is possible to have a born again soul and to have a mind that still operates by the principles of this world. Paul tells us, in Romans 12, that transformation takes place in our lives “by the renewing of our minds”, and he gives it in the form of a command to Christians! It is possible that you’ve turned your life over to Jesus, and asked Him to forgive your sins; it is possible for you to have placed such trust in Jesus, and yet not have a mind that operates with His Lordship or with Biblical principles in mind. That takes hard work and is evidence of one’s love for God.
Loving God with our minds isn’t confined (or even primarily focused) on certain Biblical topics; rather, we ought to “think Christianly” about the whole of life. The Middle East conflict, global warming, bio-ethics, squirrels, test tubes, and little green apples! To love God with the mind, instead of segregating itself into a Christian ghetto, involves bringing our thoughts of the whole of the world under the Lordship of Jesus.
Loving God with our minds is more than taking the “Christian position” on issues, it is more than just thinking about “Christian stuff”, it is more than simply the thinking that Christians do.
QUESTION:
HOW CAN I LEARN TO LOVE GOD WITH MY MIND?
So, what are some practical steps that a Christian can take to Love the Lord your God with all your … mind
BY THINKING AS AN ACT OF WORSHIP
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, 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 4:8-9)
To develop the mind that God has given, to train it to discern truth, goodness, purity, and nobleness is, at its core … a simple act of worship.
To employ the mind in honest thinking, and then to use that discipline for the building of God’s Kingdom and the furtherance of His glory, is a matter of stewardship. It is one of the most important muscles in your body to relegate it to menial tasks is an offense to God.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste and, as a Christian, it is a sinful thing not to develop in accordance with God’s truth.
BY COMMITTING TO THE DILIGENT STUDY OF THE WORD
I must "be transformed by the renewing of my mind", and this takes place through gaining a thorough grasp of God’s Word. There is no shortcut. There is no rationale for choosing to be lazy mentally. Failing to love God with your mind is a sin!
Bank tellers are trained to know what an authentic $100 bill looks like so they can tell the fakes ones when they come through. They will pick up a fake one and say “Something about this isn’t right. I am not sure what but there is just something about it that feels or looks different than the others that I handle.”
There is a correlation there for the saint too. If you spend your time in the Word learning to discern truth from falsehood it’ll create the capacity to know the truth. You will see or hear a false philosophy and say “Something about this isn’t right. I am not sure what, but there is just something about it that feels or looks different than what I read in the Bible.”
The most important step you can make in learning to discern truth from error is to know the truth.
BY BECOMING A READER OF SOLID LITERATURE – “CHRISTIAN” AND OTHERWISE
I sometimes find it interesting that people who decry study and reading are riveted to video and television. Even good and godly video. They seem to fail to understand that all they are doing is “watching” a book. All of that research came from books and such but reading is somehow unspiritual and unnecessary while watching some teacher or some video is holy. Go figure.
There are few things that can shape the mind like a good book. It takes discipline to read (or study) a good book. A video cannot replace it.
Carl Bernstein decries what he calls the "idiot culture". He says we have moved "toward the creation of a sleazoid info-tainment culture in which the lines between Oprah and Phil and the New York Post and Newsday, are too often indistinguishable. In this new culture of journalistic titillation, we teach our reader and our viewers that the trivial is significant, that the lurid and the loopy are more important than real news. We do not serve our readers and viewers; we pander to them...for the first time in our history the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming the cultural norm, even our cultural ideal."
(http://www.sptimes.com/2004/03/19/Tampabay/Ex_Watergate_writer_l.shtml)
And the sad thing is that way too many Christians will cluck their tongues at Bernstein’s words, convinced that they are not taken in by such an idiot culture, when in fact it is almost impossible for any of us not to be, and the mere fact that we refrain from watching Jerry Springer or "Survivor Thailand" or "South Park" convinces us that we are all right. Dare I say this? I’ll soften the blow by not being all that specific: much, if not most, of the stuff that we find offered to us in Christian bookstores, and on so-called Christian television, is not helpful to us in this regard either!
Television is fun to watch, but it is utterly and entirely dependent on the spoken and written word.” So do yourself a favor … pick up a book, a good book (better yet, “THE GOOD BOOK”) and let it sink deep into your soul.
BY CULTIVATING THE PRACTICE OF SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH THE EYES OF FAITH
"All truth is God’s truth!" One compelling argument for Christian education is an understanding of this truth.
Can I understand history--indeed, does history make any sense--apart from an understanding that there is a God who is an active agent in the affairs of men?
Can I understand math without understanding that God created an orderly universe?
Can I understand music without recognizing the creativity of the most high?
Can I understand language without an understanding that God is Himself a Communicator? "The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."
Can we understand science without having a firm grasp of the fact that "in the beginning, God created"?
As I understand it, we cannot fully understand any of these disciplines unless/until we see the hand of God behind them!
BY DISCIPLINING THE MIND TO THINK IN A MANNER THAT IS HOLY.
Once a mind is expanded it ought to be utilized to the building up of God’s Kingdom. In the book of Acts, we find several occasions where Paul is “reasoning” with people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The clear implication is that Paul was loving God with his mind, using that mind to reason with others about Jesus. Paul’s mind was well-grounded in God’s truth, so much so that he stood in Athens, and reasoned with the pagans, who were religious men but not followers of Jesus. You don’t stand up and gain a hearing before thinking people without developing the capacity to think yourself! Peter reminds us that we are to be ready, in the event that someone stops us on the street and says, “why in the world do you follow Jesus?”, to give a reasoned reply as to why we have such hope in us. In 1 Peter 3:15 he says: But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. This implies a discipline to love God with one’s mind! Loving God with our minds involves what we allow our minds to dwell on.
Refuse to allow your mind to become a lazy muscle.
Refuse to allow your mind to take the path of least resistance.
Refuse to allow your mind to become influenced by spiritual and secular garbage.
WRAP-UP
A lawyer/scholar came to Jesus and asked, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" And Jesus looked him in the eye, and told Him to love God with everything he was—including his mind.
Go thou and do likewise! As Peter said (1 Peter 1:13) Prepare your MINDS for action…”
THINGS TO PONDER
• What positive steps can you take to show a deepening love for God with your mind?
• How does 1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore, prepare your MINDS for action …” stir you to good works?
• Why does loving God with our minds scare some Christians?
• Why is loving God with our minds such hard work?
• When was the last time you studied a subject that challenged your present understanding of God’s world in such a way that it expanded your mind and drew you closer to Him at the same time?
• Make a list of “thinkers” that you know personally who love God and begin to pray for their witness and impact on the world.
* Special thanks to Rev. Byron Harvey of Red Oak, Georgia. His sermon series, “Priority One” has heavily influenced the trajectory of these sermons on the Greatest Commandment.
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
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Children’s Sermon
The Christian Flag
Objects: A Christian flag
Scriptures: Colossians 1:20 & Isaiah 1:18
Good morning everyone. It is always a joy to see you up here with me.
Last week was the July 4 weekend and we talked about what the colors of the American flag represented. I thought that maybe this week I would introduce you to the Christian flag and tell you what the colors and emblems on it represent.
The flag’s most conspicuous symbol is the Christian cross, the most universal symbol for Christianity. The red color represents the blood of Jesus and brings to mind his crucifixion. Christians believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection is the means God uses to save believers from their sins. The cross and blood have been used since earliest Christianity to symbolize salvation through Jesus; in the words of the Apostle Paul, "Through [Jesus] God reconciles himself to all things... making peace by the blood of the cross" (Colossians 1:20).
The white field draws on symbolism throughout the Bible equating white clothes with purity and forgiveness. People who have been "washed white as snow" in the Bible have been cleansed from their sins (Isaiah 1:18). It is also noteworthy that a white flag is linked to surrender, a reference to the Biblical description Jesus’ surrender to God’s will.
The blue square represents the royalty of Jesus Christ as King of Kings.
Since the flag is not tied to any specific religious denomination or church institution, it represents the unity of all Christians despite historical, cultural, and dogmatic differences. Its simplicity makes it easy to identify with any community of Christians.
There are many ways that we let the world know that we are Christians. One way is the flag we wave. I hope that you now understand why we use this flag and how it helps identify us as a Christian church.
Let’s pray together.
This Children’s Sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
