Loving God with Your Mind
Dr. Marty Baker / Mind Games #5 / February 16, 2003
stevenscreek.net
Over the last few days, I’ve heard several comments about the laptop computer story last Sunday. I’m still clean. There is one thing that I failed to tell you and that is, what’s inside this machine (hold up laptop). I am not talking about the twelve gig hard drive or the 128 meg of ram. I have the "most powerful word processor in America" loaded on this machine.
If you were to interview anyone in the office or on the tech team they would know what I am talking about. For the neophytes here this morning, the most powerful word processor in America is not Microsoft Word even though it’s the most popular; it’s not WordPerfect even though most lawyers prefer it. The most powerful word processor in America is Lotus Word Pro. I realize that most of you think Lotus only makes Lotus Notes and Lotus 123, but trust me hidden in that SmartSuite package is a tool that can help you communicate with great effectiveness.
The reason I am convinced of Word Pro’s power is that I have tried the others and found them to be good, but they pale in comparison to the ease of use, filters, and macros that Lotus provides. I will admit that the other pastors on staff are not convinced. In fact, they are Microsoft men, but between me and you, if Pastor Gene would have used Word Pro, his book Timely Words would have come out on time.
Some may say that the only reason that I am committed to the underdog in the software market is that I know it’s functions like the back of my hand. This may be true. I can maneuver text and create style sheets and even pull out a scripture from the Old Testament without even thinking about it. I can create tables, format frames, manipulate photos with a quick key stroke or a click of a mouse. I know Word Pro.
When tasks become familiar, we often times can do them without much thought. Many of you drive home from work every day and do not remember making certain turns or going through particular traffic lights. The drive home is so familiar that you appear to be using "autopilot". It becomes a "no brainer". We become so familiar with the drive or the situation that we coast right through it because we have it all figured out.
On occasion we approach God and the church with the same mentality. Church services become no brainer activities. People go through the motions of the day’s service without much thought. They sing the words off the screen, watch the dramas, and sit through the message without being really engaged in what is happening. Church becomes something they do instead of something they experience. It’s a "no brain" activity.
I believe that Jesus knew that we would wrestle with "autopilot" religion and that’s why he said in Mark 12:30 to:
Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
When Jesus made this statement, he was talking to one of the teachers of the law. This religious attorney wanted to know what Jesus considered to be the greatest commandment in all of the scriptures. Jesus responded with this directive: to love God with your heart, soul, mind and strength.
Jesus encouraged this Scribe to be fully engaged in his relationship with God, and to keep his priorities in line. He encouraged this man to love God with his heart, soul, mind and strength. What does this mean?
To love God with our heart means that true worship is an act of our will. We make a decision to love God.
To love God with our soul focuses on our emotions. We allow our feelings to embrace God.
To love God with our mind focuses on loving God with our intellect. We reflect and ponder God’s word and wisdom.
To love God with our strength points to our willingness to obey his directives.
When we merge all of these together, we are well on our way to a high-speed D.S.L. Connection, not the Digital Subscriber Line, but Developing Spiritual Life. This level of spiritual devotion all begins with the mind. If we are going to connect with God, then we must open our minds to spiritual truth. To help us in this pursuit, we embarked on a series several weeks ago called Mind Games. This series is based on one scripture in Romans 12.
Romans 12:2
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.
There’s no doubt that our minds need to be renewed. We have been slowly but surely slipping into a pattern of mental passivity. Our minds have been placed on "autopilot"; there is "no brain" activity when it comes to spiritual thinking. We have been losing "brain activity" over the last fifty years. In the recent speech to the United Nations, Ravi Zacharias assessed the decline in critical thinking. He said.
In the 1950s, kids lost their innocence.
They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, lyrics and music that gave rise to a new term, ’the generation gap.’
In the 1960s, kids lost their authority.
It was the decade of protests. Church, state and parents were all called into question and found wanting. Their authority was rejected, yet nothing ever replaced it.
In the 1970s, kids lost their love.
It was the decade of nihilism, dominated by hyphenated words beginning with ’self’— self-image, self-esteem, self-assertion. It made for a lonely world. Kids learned everything there was to know about sex and forgot everything there was to know about love, and few had the nerve to tell them that there was indeed a difference.
In the 1980s, kids lost their hope.
Stripped of innocence, authority and love, and plagued by the horror of a nuclear nightmare, large and growing numbers of this generation stopped believing in the future."
In the 1990s, we lost our ability to reason.
The power of critical thinking has gone from induction to deduction and very few are able to think clearly anymore. We listen with our eyes and think with our feelings.1 As a result, we are a people who feel our way through the situations of life.
Feelings can be good. We are all about feelings here at Stevens Creek, but you cannot build your life on what you feel. You must go deeper. You must consider the facts of your spiritual life. You must wrestle with the truth of God’s Word in order to develop into the person God wants you to be. In the Old Testament, Isaiah says,
Isaiah 1:18a
"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD.
You cannot reason together if you consider your spiritual life a "no brainer." You must protect and develop your mind.
One of the interesting phenomenon of the last decade is the "IM craze". For those over forty, it stands for Instant Messenger. People who use IM have a special language that focuses on abbreviating phrases. For instance, if it’s time to sign off, you may type in gtg, which means "got to go" or "lol" - laugh out loud. Computer geeks have always had their own lingo.
Several years ago, the word gigo "g-i-g-o" was introduced. It’s a noun that stands for garbage in, garbage out. It is used to refer to the fact that a computer only does what it is instructed to do. If you put garbage in it, you will get garbage out.
This past week, one of the office computers was cluttered and confused. Over time, computers have a tendency to develop errors, become cluttered, and fragmented. To fix most of your computer problems, you can run scandisk or defrag, but sometimes you have to reformat the hard drive. You have to clean it off or take it down to the operating system.
Our minds are like a computer, we process things we see, things we feel, things we hear, things we read, things we observe and record them. We take garbage in and then put garbage out. At times, our minds becomes cluttered and confused. We need to be reformatted. We must eliminate the garbage and take it down to the truth.
You may say, "What is truth?" You are not the first person to ever ask that question. When Jesus was on trial, Pilate asked him this question as he was interrogating him prior to the crucifixion. It is interesting that Jesus never answered the question. Why? Because Jesus is the truth. Apparently Pilate was not willing to open his eyes and acknowledge the fact.
Too many people today are searching for truth, but they are unwilling to open their eyes and see Jesus.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Truth is found in Jesus. If we are going to love God with our minds, then we must see Jesus. We must hold him before our minds and gaze upon His wonder and His majesty and seek to understand Him.
We must observe the truth, allow the truth to touch the emotions, challenge the will, and allow the truth to engage the body to obey. We are to do this again and again and again. We must remember that what occupies our mind governs what we do. We will never be free until the truth becomes our operating system.
Colossians 3:1-2
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
The only way that we can reformat our thinking is by washing with God’s word. Somewhere along the way, we have convinced ourselves that a verse a day will keep the devil away. If one verse can be compared to drop of water. How many drops will it take to clean your mind?
This past weekend we celebrated Valentines Day. Many people treated their sweethearts with a rose. To enjoy a rose, it is important to focus on it and then bring it as close as possible. Then, you must linger and allow its beauty to touch you. If you want to love God with your mind, then you must draw close to him and linger. Allow his beauty to transform your thinking. Paul encourages us with these words.
Philippians 4:8
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. (NIV)
Earlier in the service, there were three images placed on the side screens and you were asked to journal your thoughts concerning these images. Let me share with you some of my thoughts concerning these images.
Moments of Reflection
1. Remember the power of Jesus’ touch
When I look at this image (show Art by Jonathan picture of a child cuddled in the hand of God), I think about the power of Jesus’ touch. Consider how Christ has touched you or someone you know. Allow that memory to give you encouragement today.
Two years ago, during the Life by Life Conference, Amy Fischofer found the truth that she was looking for. Listen to her story.
(INTERVIEW WITH AMY)
2. Reflect on how God has led you to where you are today.
When I look at this image (show Art by Jonathan image of God’s hand leading a child), I am reminded of how God has led me to the place that I am today. There have been many scary moments, but through it all his hand has guided me safely to this point and I have confidence that He will continue to lead me to where He would have me go.
3. Meditate on the greatness of God in creation.
When I look at this image (show Art by Jonathan image of God holding a new born baby), I am reminded of God’s creative power. God spoke and the universe came into being. God breathed the breath of life into you and me. This image reminds me that I am a part of this creation and I rejoice in the wonders of his hand.
Over the next few minutes, consider the wonders of creation and together we will join in praise to God as we express our appreciation for His blessings on our lives. In the Bible, the angels gathered in the heavens and sang one word, Hallelujah, which means praise to the Lord.
Song: Hallelujah
Closing Prayer
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1 Ravi Zacharias, Address to the United Nations’ Prayer Breakfast, 10 September 2002, http://www.gospelcom.net/rzim/publications/essay_arttext.php?id=13
