Worshipping with Your Mind

 

Is being educated, using one’s mind, and searching for the truth through various sources and people who know more than I do out of style? Is it egg-headed to try to be logical, to reason out issues and to display rationality, instead of just emotional fervor? One guy who never forgot where he came from and how he’d been educated was someone named Saul, who later became Paul. He recognized his great learnedness and how that had shaped him (Philippians 3:3-11), and yet, he then said that was all garbage. And that was because he had come to a greater knowledge – Christ. And, this guy that was renamed Paul still used his mind and reasoning abilities, including when he went on missionary journeys and talked to skeptics about Christ (see Acts 17:2, 17; 18:4, 19; 26:25 [See a depiction here of this approach by Paul in Athens at the Areopagus – Raphael’s St. Paul Preaching at Athens].) All this ability that we hope to gain when we go to college, does that go for naught? Does a marketing approach that appeals to my base emotions and prejudices mean more in our age of politics? Perhaps that part of our culture has not fundamentally changed as much as we think, for voters have been going with the drift of their likes and dislikes for some time without much concern for what is really true. But, should Christians be OK with that, and actually participate in that sort of psychology? How does it affect my witness to the truth of my faith if my secular viewpoints are unexamined or actually endorse irrationality that is walking arm-in-arm with the propagation of false information?

 

Is God rational? He’s the Omniscient One (see 1 John 3:20), way beyond my ability to understand His power and creative genius, something that Job finally had to acknowledge (Job 38-42:6).  John 1:1 tells of Him being ‘the Word’, and a bit of Greek etymology informs us that the meaning of ‘Word’ =  Rationality/Logic, so God is a logical being who created the universe -- and crucially, also us -- using methods that can make sense to us who are made in His image (See Clear Thinking in a Messy World: A Christian Guide to Logic, Reason, and Cognitive Bias, by Kenneth R. Samples and Mark Perez, Reasons to Believe [RTB] Press, 2024. [p.76]). (See also a New International Study Bible and its note for John 1:1, which says the same.) We may not be able to fathom all of His wisdom, but the way that everything works that He made from scratch must tell you and me that He knows many things, and that it is all ordered and rational (see Wisdom for Faithful Reading: Principles and Practices for Old Testament Interpretation, John H. Walton, Intervarsity Press, 2023). I’m His image-bearer, so I have a responsibility to use what He gave me from His own being, which is more than what the other mammals on the planet have; they behave with just instinct. So, be careful when you hear other people who want you to believe they are wise enough politically to pick the candidate who channels anger, and yet claim Christ also. Does said candidate – or elected official, which sadly, all too often becomes reality – rely on facts, official data from trusted and credible sources, and well-established and proven history? My Christian faith is not one for uncertainty, or debate that leaves the truth in doubt, or merely makes me feel good. And, I should follow that axiom in all things, both in secular and in faith matters. Is my faith reasonable, and could a non-believer find it rational and reasonable to believe also if he investigated it?

 

Someone a few days ago asked me and others to help make him more confident in his salvation in Christ. A response to this effort goes hand-in-hand with searching for truth, using reason, and thereby trying to meet your mind with the logical/rational incarnate Word – our God. There are a few scriptures that I found – like 1 John 5:13; Hebrews 4:16; 10:22; 11:1-12:3; and John 10:28-29 – but the list of ways that I have found has only grown as I’ve aged, including more books that help make me still more confident that I have access to the truth. So, here’s a few:

More Than a Carpenter, by Josh McDowell (esp. pp. 4-6)

Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell & Sean McDowell

The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, by Gary R. Habermas and Michael R. Licona

The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel (in fact, all of the Strobel Case for … books are laudable)

Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?, by James W. Sire

Two videos that are convincing about the universe’s and humanity’s creator, as told by scientists of the Intelligent Design wing of that discipline: -- The Privileged Planet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmIc42oRjm8     and Documentary Unlocking the Mystery of Life Intelligent Design – YouTube

 

In a broader sense, there are other resources that instruct the Christian to use logic and education to get at a better, more reasoned approach to information gathering, sorting, and especially discerning truth while wading through a lot of noise and trash. Here’s a couple that I have referenced on this blog before or in this entry already:

The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters, by Tom Nichols, Oxford University Press, 2017

Clear Thinking in a Messy World: A Christian Guide to Logic, Reason, and Cognitive Bias, by Kenneth R. Samples and Mark Perez, Reasons to Believe [RTB] Press, 2024.

 

Finally, for strictly political searchers, there are sites that would help you find the truth, and fiction, among the political discourse, and especially during campaign seasons. Links to them are in the 1 August 2024 blog entry. If you believe politics and faith should not mingle with one another, keep in mind that Jesus Himself did not shrink from a debate with the political world of His day. He talked with the Pharisees (in fact, ate with some of them) and did not run from the Romans when they came hunting Him in His last hours. He was shrewder than anyone had ever been, befuddling all who tried – and failed – to test and trap Him, and He even convinced Pilate that He was innocent before that political animal bowed to the rabid crowd who would not abide by reason, and instead wanted their bloodlust satisfied. Are we listening to our own ulterior motives, or is reason in play? Consider what Jesus said about how to worship Him -- Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matt.22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27). How is your worship foundation today…secure or crumbling?

 

See information on the Paul picture here Paul Preaching to the Athenians … This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States.