The Kingdom Perspective

 

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According to a number of social commentators, one of the things that characterizes our day is anti-intellectualism. We naturally assume that “you gotta have heart”, but have a great suspicion of those that “think too much”. Remember the words to the Billy Joel song, “Still Rock-n-Roll to Me”? “Trying to be a straight-A-student? Well, if you are then you think too much.” Anti-intellectualism is pervasive.

Sadly, this can be especially true among Christian people. We are big on “experiencing God” but not as big on thinking accurately about Him. But can you truly experience one that you don’t really know? When we disdain “theology” (i.e. the discipline of thinking accurately about God) in the name of “just loving God”, we are actually following the pattern of the world. Theologian R.C. Sproul puts it like this: “We live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western Civilization.…We must have passion, indeed hearts on fire for the things of God. But that passion must resist with intensity the anti-intellectual spirit of the world.”

We need a paradigm shift in the Christian world, a movement back to a biblical view of the mind. Is your thinking about God in line with the world or in line with the Word? One just happens. The other takes work.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective”.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

~Matthew 22:34-40

 

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Are you a compartmentalized Christian? When you think of what is means to be godly do you tend to think only of certain areas of your life—those areas that you deem to be the “spiritual areas”?

It was T.S. Eliot that reminded us that the gospel expects of us to think in Christian categories about all of life. The Lord Jesus makes it clear that we are to love God not only with all our heart and soul but also our minds. In this he was echoing the words of the Shema of the Hebrew Scriptures, Deuteronomy to be exact, where God clarified the requirement of true spirituality.

Not surprising that God would stake His claim on humanity in such holistic terms. He is God, of course. To demand anything less would be to deny the unique character of His deity—unique in that He is more than the mere run-of-the-mill tribal deity prevalent in the ancient world. Rather, He is the one true, living God that created all things, including the human mind. Therefore, it is necessary for those that worship Him to do so in a holistic fashion.

Are you doing the hard work of loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind?

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

~Deuteronomy 6:4-6