Spirit-Mindedness and a New Year

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

- Romans 8.5-6

It's easy to blame a lack of peace on our circumstances.  If only I wasn't up against this issue, if only I didn't have to do that thing, if only I wasn't so (fill in the blank).  We tend to deflect responsibility onto the things that are outside of our control rather than acknowledging the things that are inside our sphere of influence, because it's easier on our pride to be an innocent victim than it is to be guilty.

A big reason we struggle with ingratitude and anxiety throughout the year, and then feel communally guilty around the holiday season about not being more consistently thankful, is that we tend to set our minds on things of the flesh.  We allow ourselves to buy into the frenetic pace of life and wonder why the chaos has crept from our color-coded, spreadsheet calendars into our hearts.

"If only I weren't so busy!"  "If only I didn't have to get all of that stuff done!"

Poignantly, after encouraging believers to "set their minds on the things of the Spirit," Paul goes on in Romans 8 to say that minds set on the flesh instead are actually openly hostile toward God, because they submit only to their own laws and desires, not to His.  Ultimately, in this idolatrous and distracted state of mind, we render ourselves incapable of pleasing Him.

The Greek word translated as "set their minds" is "phroneo," which means to possess a consistent attitude or a certain view.  Therefore, if I'm "setting my mind" on the Spirit, it's something characteristic and ongoing, not an on-again/off-again thing.  Note that we can do this either with the Spirit, or with the flesh, which means one way or the other is my consistent attitude or certain view.

Setting my mind on the flesh isn't merely a distracted thought life, it's a distraught thought life, and Paul warns that this practice is akin to spiritual death.  That's a big deal, because we as Christians have been bought and justified through the blood of Jesus Christ and deemed eternally righteous before God the Father on the account of the Son.  It's therefore a HUGE problem for us to go back to old ways of thinking, to characteristic types of feeling and operating we did while we were still spiritually dead, because that's no longer who we are.

Do you, like me, sometimes lack peace of mind?  Do you, like me, sometimes focus more on the negative circumstances and heavy demands of life on earth rather than orienting your heart on the character of God and His calling for your life?  Do you, like me, wrestle with a spirit of ingratitude?  If so, then here are three steps we both can take toward Spirit-mindedness in this new year.

1. Maintain a proper focus: I can't control my circumstances, but I can control my attitude.

I might not always like what comes my way, but I can control the ways in which I speak of my circumstances, how much and in what manner I dwell on them, and altogether be proactive to manage my time and resources well.  The struggle to maintain a spirit of gratitude is greatly augmented by a proper focus: God is good, He has blessed me abundantly through His Son, and He has a plan that I might not yet comprehend.  To set my mind on the things of the Spirit is to focus not on how difficult things are, but to choose to see God's hand in everything and trust Him with the outcome.

2. Maintain a proper thought life: I should be sober-minded, not absent-minded.

Eastern meditation practices are all about emptying the mind in order to find inner peace.  This is where Biblical principles of meditation part ways with Zen culture: our goal as Christians is not to be absent-minded and thereby open ourselves to temptation and forgetfulness, or to relinquish control of our often sinful imaginations, but to do the exact opposite.  1 Peter 5.8 warns Christians to be vigilant and sober-minded because the battle to maintain Spirit-mindedness requires us to be cognizant,  level-headed, and in control of our faculties as we face all manner of choices and temptations.  If I don't strive to control my thoughts and my feelings, I will inevitably drift into self-centered patterns of thinking, giving myself over to a complaining spirit and any anxieties that might come my way.  That's neither a recipe for knowing God's peace, nor is it even remotely what righteous living should look like.

3. Maintain proper self-discipline: Prayer and the Word must be priorities.

Lastly, it is virtually impossible for me to truly be Spirit-minded, knowing peace and gratitude, if my personal fellowship with God isn't truly a priority.  In the same way that I can't maintain a healthy relationship with my wife if we spend all of our time together in front of the TV or focusing on our hobbies, I also can't have intimacy with God if I allow my schedule and my concerns to take precedence over my regular, focused prayer life and study time in His Word.  These disciplines are just that -- practices that require time, work, and attentiveness -- but they are instrumental in maintaining Spirit-mindedness and orienting us away from our human tendency to focus only on the things of this world.

Each of these principles is but one step.  If you think of them like stepping stones crossing a river, you know that it will take more than just three to make it safely to dry land: you must repeat those steps.  Again.  And again.  A new year might represent a fresh calendar start, but all of those cares and concerns you had before the holidays began are already audaciously un-pausing themselves and leaping back into view, I'm sure.  Maintaining Spirit-mindedness across each proverbial river is to take careful steps, navigating the inevitable circumstances of life with renewed focus, thought life, and self-discipline.  Don't make the mistake of seeing yourself as a victim, no matter what's in your past: instead, proactively take responsibility to respond well to stress and challenge, no matter how unfair, by leaning into the grace and wisdom of God, both of which are readily available to us as we make each crossing.

Tolkien - "Noel"

What follows is a recently re-discovered poem, originally written and published in 1936 by the master wordsmith, J. R. R. Tolkien.  Jason Duesing and ArtsBeat (via the NY Times) have elaborated on the discovery and future plans from the Tolkien Estate here and here, for this and other lost poems.

Allow me to simply share Tolkien's gorgeous wordplay to stoke the nostalgic fires of Christmas.

~*~

Grim was the world and grey last night:

The moon and stars were fled,

The hall was dark without song or light,

The fires were fallen dead.

The wind in the trees was like to the sea,

And over the mountains’ teeth

It whistled bitter-cold and free,

As a sword leapt from its sheath.

The lord of snows upreared his head;

His mantle long and pale

Upon the bitter blast was spread

And hung o’er hill and dale.

The world was blind, the boughs were bent,

All ways and paths were wild:

Then the veil of cloud apart was rent,

And here was born a Child.

The ancient dome of heaven sheer

Was pricked with distant light;

A star came shining white and clear

Alone above the night.

In the dale of dark in that hour of birth

One voice on a sudden sang:

Then all the bells in Heaven and Earth

Together at midnight rang.

Mary sang in this world below:

They heard her song arise

O’er mist and over mountain snow

To the walls of Paradise,

And the tongue of many bells was stirred

in Heaven’s towers to ring

When the voice of mortal maid was heard,

That was mother of Heaven’s King.

Glad is the world and fair this night

With stars about its head,

And the hall is filled with laughter and light,

And fires are burning red.

The bells of Paradise now ring

With bells of Christendom,

And Gloria, Gloria we will sing

That God on earth is come.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas, Coexistence, Compassion

Considering the soft-shelled, easily-offended, politically-correct generation that inhabits our world and frontlines our media, modern treatment of Christmas is an intriguing paradox.  While we are notorious for haranguing explicit religious displays 11 months out of the year, and the crusade against innocent expressions of "Merry Christmas" now has surpassed the two-decade mark, we are somehow still content to suspend the boycott against Christian themes for the sake of December 25th festivities.

Think I'm crazy?  Just turn on the radio and listen carefully to the lyrics of those traditional carols that everyone loves to sing (and by "traditional," I'm not talking about "Baby It's Cold Outside" or "Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland").  I'm talking "Silent Night," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and "O Holy Night" -- traditional carols that popular artists love to record and a holiday-loving public love to consume.  I'm sure someone (probably many someones) are out there petitioning the networks to pull the plug on some of these holiday songs.  However, I also think the general public is comfortable allowing Jesus Christ into their homes for one day of the year, especially if he partners with Santa to fill their stockings with goodies.  On the whole, they hate our Jesus, but they also love our holiday for its warmth, for the vacation from work, and for the commercialism that has been attached to it over the centuries.

The way the world handles Christmas is indicative of the way they think Christians should approach personal belief.  For example, an atheist can celebrate the holiday "for fun" and maybe even sing along to Sinatra's rendition of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" on the radio, and that's his way of "tolerating" the Christian religion.  He can suspend his 39½-foot-pole approach to Christian tradition and grow nostalgic at the refrain of Silent Night.  The thought of "Radiant beams from Thy holy face / With the dawn of redeeming grace," instead of filling him with worshipful awe, might make him think of holiday time with family, of goodwill and generosity.

"We should all borrow somebody else's holy day," he'll encourage sagaciously.  "Trade shoes and walk a couple miles together."

This line of thinking is incredibly attractive.  It allows individuals to have varying personal beliefs without causing anyone else to be uncomfortable.  It allows for religious exploration without any obligation.  That's the blissful naivety of the coexist bumper stickers: everyone should get along, appreciate everyone's else's different opinions, and be able to live side-by-side without offending or hating anyone.

In a perfect world, this might be possible.  And while I'm certainly an advocate for living at peace with all men (as per Romans 12.18), I also recognize that true coexistence between faiths is impossible.  That sounds bigoted, but there's no other way to put it.  Any fundamentalist of any religion would be forced to agree.  A devout Jew doesn't celebrate Christmas or Ramadan for the same reason that the pillars of his faith make it impossible for him to hold similar theological opinions as a pantheist, a polytheist, or an atheist.  A man who believes in one God existing above nature (as opposed to being part of it) isn't going to find common footing in a transcendentalist crowd.

Furthermore, the issue extends beyond theology and into the realm of morality.  The fundamentalist of any faith is an individual whose beliefs have influenced his life choices, his morals, his attitude, his very persona.  Speaking from my own Christian perspective, someone who has experienced a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is an individual whose life has been radically transformed by that faith.  Therefore, it is impossible to truly coexist in the way the world desires -- that is, to keep faith contained and unoffensive.  For any faith with absolute notions of truth, it is impossible to compartmentalize them.  As a believer in Jesus Christ, I can't so easily divorce my heartfelt appreciation of divine grace from my perspective of the world and the way in which I relate to other people.

Logic dictates that two absolutes cannot coexist if they conflict with one another.  And before you suggest that they don't have to conflict, there's a reason there are distinctly separate faiths in the world.  The absolutes of Islam radically conflict with those of Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, etc.  We all believe very, very different things about God and the human condition, even if our moral practices sometimes align.  Walking a mile in each other's shoes isn't necessarily impossible, because we should all develop an appreciation for the nuances and complexities of different beliefs.  But all the faiths I've mentioned (and all others) are distinct for a reason.  In the end, I'm faced with two alternatives: I must either permanently surrender my shoes or I've got to put them back on.  I can't wear one of both, or both pairs at the same time.

In this regard, the world particularly objects to the notion of evangelizing -- or "converting," as they'd term it.  "Keep your shoes to yourself," they'd say.  "I'll ask for them if I want them."  By their evaluation, proclaiming to possess the knowledge of unique, saving faith is to be intolerant of other religions which boast similar claims.  And in fact, all major religions teach that theirs is the correct path to enlightenment.  And why would they teach otherwise?  A faith that says, "Hey we think we have a good idea going here, but it may or may not be the correct idea in the grand scheme, so you can try it if you'd like," isn't exactly authoritative, nor does it supply any sense of real hope.  While radical honesty and open-handed (as opposed to dogmatic) belief are qualities that our culture deems appealing, no one is actually committed to a faith that doesn't have concrete doctrine, because there's nothing in which to put their trust.

As it pertains to Christianity, the sharing of the gospel is less an opinionated assertion than it is an earnest proclamation of what Christ has done for us -- for me.  It's not about getting recruits, fulfilling an obligation, or proving somebody else wrong.  It's about the fact that the truth I hold has radically changed my life and proven itself to be accurate.

I'm sharing my shoes because they've been so good to me.

However, my very personal faith is also fundamentally opposed to every other philosophy the world values -- such that it cannot coexist with any of them.  But even this notion is not necessarily being intolerant.  It's simply stating what I believe to be the truth.

Let me clarify.

Coexistence in terms of peaceful, side-by-side living is desirable and pertinent.  I strive for peace, love, and kindness with my neighbors, whether they are Muslims, atheists, or recovering Catholics.  But coexistence is impossible in the sense it is intended by proponents of moral relativism.  According to this worldview, all faiths are equally viable, what works for one individual might not work for another, and there shouldn't be any kind of cross-pollination.  Unless that works for someone, of course.  Then it's all good, man.

This perspective in particular is what demonizes the Christian worldview, because -- again -- Christian belief is fundamentally opposed to the notion of multiple paths to enlightenment.  Christian theology is exclusive.  The Bible insists upon one way of salvation through one Savior.  Even the Old Testament books altogether point to one coming messiah who would remove the curse of sin and make all things new.  That concept in and of itself is an exclusive universal truth.  No other theory of man's condition and God's plan can exist in conjunction with it.  If there is one messiah for all the world, then any other religion which promotes its own savior, holy man, or religious method of personal renewal is in conflict.  Only one of these exclusive beliefs can actually be correct.

Logically, what is true and what is not true cannot both be true.

However, while Christian theology is exclusive, Christianity is not the high-privilege celebrity club that many self-proclaimed members portray it to be.  The concept of grace is an equalizer: we all stand on the same spiritual footing, and we all have the same need.  None who recognize their hopeless situation and humble themselves to call upon the name of Jesus Christ for salvation are rejected.  Regardless of culture, heritage, economic status, or their laundry list of sinful misdeeds, any and all peoples may hear and respond to the gospel of Christ.  God's grace is big enough and rich enough to satisfy His own just demands of holiness.  And again, Christian evangelism -- though admittedly utilized improperly by countless individuals over the ages -- is not a tool to assimilate the masses.  It's not a hive-minded collective or an agenda-based platform.  Properly understood, it's a means of communicating what is real.  I'm not interested in converting you to my opinion.  I'm only interested in sharing with you my experience of grace and forgiveness, which I believe only Jesus Christ can offer and fulfill.

In other words, if the world were flooding and you had a life-raft stashed away, wouldn't you want to let other people know about it?

I believe that's compassion, not sanctimoniousness.  Everything that I think, say, and do is influenced by what Jesus Christ has done for me.  This is not intolerance, it is my identity.

As Christians, we certainly need to do a better job of expressing this.  I don't want to be a salesman.  I want to be a testimonial.  My responsibility is the peaceful and earnest proclamation of God's goodness.  Furthermore, we can attempt to walk a mile in the other guy's shoes.  Understanding where people come from is all-important in understanding how the gospel uniquely communicates to their situation.  That's not a tactic.  That's being sympathetic and conscious of someone's need.  God absolutely meets people where they are, and we have the wonderful opportunity to usher them into the throne room.

I don't plant my stake in the ground on the "Merry Christmas" issue.  I couldn't care less what words or symbols various banners, ads, and products use to proclaim the holidays.  However, I do draw the line at compromising principles of my faith.  Maybe that's "offensive" to you, but I'm okay with that.  I'm not trying to assert my rightness over your wrongness or insist on my right to self-expression.  Jesus Christ's love and grace are simply wonderful realities to me, and that is why I share them.

Because this world is sinking.  And I do have a life-raft to offer.