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The strong water dashes down beside you and you feel it along your calves and thighs rising roughly back up, up to the rolling surface, full of t slide up your skin and break on you at full speed* life begins like that. Sheer experience. Then sometime during childhood, usually not all at once, we wake up. We don’t just take in sensations. We wake up to ourselves and others. We become con- scious that we are separate from the rest of the cosmos. You become aware that you are you. I find out Iam L For me this occurred sometime just before the seventh grade. We hhad moved from the country to a small town in northern Nebraska. Thad begun attending the village church just across the street from our house. And I had become a Christian. My bestfriend was the son of a missionary on furlough from Aftica. We spent a lot of time together, discussing all kinds of things, some of them religious. ‘One day the same question occurred to both of us, and we couldn't puzzle out an answer: If God is all powerful, why would he ask people to believe in him? Why didn't he make them believe in him? Predestination and free will—there it was, one of the alltime phil- osophic stumpers. Our minds were turned on. Counsel was sought from my friend's father. The answer was, as I recall, a rather good ‘one. But the damage—some would say—was done. My mind would never turn off again. Experience alone—standing thoughtless under the waterfall—was no longer enough. I would have to know why— why the waterfall, why me, why anybody, why anything at all. And, since I was a Christian and knew that God was always involved in some way, the answers would have to be Christian. Now, nearly fifty years later, my mind on that point has not changed. God has got to be involved in every thought—the conscious or unconscious backdrop to all consciousness, all nonconsciousness, But how? What does it mean to have a Christian mind? On that my mind has changed over the years. > ‘Thave long wanted to put down in orderty fashion my best thoughts ‘on just what a Christian mind is, how it comes into formation, how it can be shaped and honed and made to reflect more and more the ‘mind of Christ. And I have begun to do this over the past twenty years, ‘often lecturing on what I labeled the Christian world view. It has only been recently, however, that I have taken seriously what many others have known all along. ‘The Christian mind does not begin with a world view, not even the x Christian world view. It begins with an attimde. Granted that attitude is rooted in the Christian world view, itis nonetheless first of all an attitude. As an adolescent I would never have asked about predesti- nation and free will if I had not already been impressed by God's awesome power. My question came froma primitive recognition that God is God and Iam not, ‘The Christan Mind as an Atude toward God God is God and I am not. Put in its simplest form that is the basic orientation of every Christian mind—child, adolescent or adult, sim- ple or profound, The Bible puts it much more elegantly, of course. ; Ps 11:10). But perhaps Job, when he quotes st. Souggling to understand his undeserved suffering, Job asks his friends who have come to comfort him: Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? tis hidden from the eyes of every living thing, concealed even from the birds of the air. Destruction and Death say, “Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.” God understands the way to it01 pray rsnur afipajouy ‘POH oF SouaTpaqS wT yasAT TER TRAN WERE SaIMUSD ‘pony se 994 Jo uEDL axp siaIUa 19A9u ING aTeqeP Teaojoatp ur safieSua ren purus & ‘ySnom uayo st rem aBepuadde ssoyosn otp oq 01 Suro 10u st purr wenseyS dan e reyp suo TET, .3qnsax pansap op upeB 01 te|d 1axi0> axp Suyioy Jo ‘ryssavons ‘Suyaq jo ue ap sy wopsym, syBnomn mauqaH Uy “PBpaynouy suMTSs SL "(88:88 Go) .Surpuersiopun st pao unys on, ‘shes Gof sg) Suypumsispun pool aaey sidacard sry Moyoy om Ire, ‘shes ysnuyesd ay, uojsuaunp 1ompny ppe osye wopsya jo Sun Bog amp se p107 ag fo sf arg Surwonusu sexo) o1Feq 91A JO OMT, 2, 3urew Aq sfosumpy papeaaar ‘Sey OY IWEUDAOD arp Jo Poo arp 01 (4ve/) orss~uqns Suddrysiom e,, Uy poois ay :2aejd sadoud sry mauy paapuy sasopy (9-G°¢ ¥g) ,POD TE Yoo] on preye sem ay asneraq ‘383 Sty pry, S980 ,'GoIe[ Jo pop ax Pure ees] JO pop arp ‘ureyerqy Jo pop arp ‘s3yIy MOK Jo pox ap, se sjosuy pognuepr poo sy , punox# Ajoy sy SuypurES axe nos a19qM sed omp 403 ‘sjepues nok yo ayBy, “9s0P Aue urO> rou og, :ysN Buyaing a1 Jo 3no ayods oym poo ax YW pares axe dM SSOP DAL] “ame uy puis Ayu0 ue aM ‘uy 01 UORETaX Uy PUES aM axay o9s aM LYM “DozOd om ‘omaguy atp sy aH “ways ‘owuy—saunnearo syy ye axe aM “(6I¢ St OHM aH ‘AY I teax8 amp ‘yamuyeA—PoN se pox uo pareaqpaid sf 1] ‘uozuoy stp wo da Busy uyermout e wet aout 20] B UO pareaypard 1a 33 84 U0 a4 fo svAf oxy Tey sy yeM—sanI] INO 4940 ‘Shep 1940 asysiad Aoxp Uay spoour asorp ‘5} TEM MOU ,LOP J PLE a19q HO ‘Sujo8 sy Sunpouos yexp osuos very , SsoUn4zep,, Terp ,BU}Dq JO sopour "umowyim Jo asuas pauruayepun pu mp, TEIN , Poour sNOHdS, TELL, “wonsas9p E14 3 aprayios 2 eo ‘ssaunqzep © Suny azoxy ue« seein 40 anoniege an canim wvtisten 30 siy8nowp kur 39,0 ‘Buyaq Jo sapour umouyun JQ 2su9s paunuaropun pure UN w YAM PIYLOA, ‘upeaq ur skep Aureus 203 ‘sppenods wey ‘uaas pet 1 J9ye mq :poour smouas Puy ‘axei8 uy uaM premauoy sMopeom arp ySnomp Puy ‘teoq 2tp paxoouias ‘a1oys 01 eq poum Appmb yuomspioy, “uny 19g apins o} Ps ‘ToySiy asor ‘urenumont otf “ere0 2 JO fans yowO WIAA “IOUS axp WO AdIA WO ‘wsppry yead Joy3iy Yonut & pareadde yeod awry zexp puryoq wo ‘Aquappns ‘panos ay sy “wy Jo 1uo¥y wy ead ABBexD e ujod aoua19 4 sty se pasn oy ano Suymor way ssop duo se ‘aioys axp Aupey “wo snow 120q kur pip sao1}29 UrEINOM JQ ‘29104 atp now Jou ‘amnseayd pajqnon pay ‘pears Jo 338 we sem IT 278] ure uo Mo pamou pure 1209 ke 2]o18 9y SuTUDA2 uO wy souaadxa pooyiog s,yOMspION OI} 9stI98 29H e198 LED Of “opmme ano JO punoiByoeq a~ 9q Wea] 7e Pnoys yey Anfenb snouyumu afuens 3p sn Jo You 40 wens yus90p amv 194 amo ay OW ‘paUTEA ans auows 51 pu07 249 fo soof ayy, suopows Buyssed inq asuayuy are sayy, aujodun ze sn spjoy oym Joqqox pauuze ue Jo 40 148}u amp Jo ‘uazquap pouyBemy awos 30 10 yep atp Jo pareas Buroq swsoBRns 1 03 ‘adsouoo amp 103 arenbapeur 51 pom ysy3uq 1nQ Tp SE TEUM, ‘asuy atuoo smu p10 2¢p Jo 80g o1p woIp ‘Buy “Pueisiapun poo8 10 a8papmouy axey 30 asym 9q 01 81 2U0 J] “PLOT A fo 4vef ng caseryd oures arp tpi suyfaq sBurtes yeyqronoad asaip jo yoeg (86 *¥2-08'86 9°f) .Suypuerssapun sy Ao UNYs Oy puE “WLOpsyM 5} yeU}—PAOT o1p JO s095 YL, ‘weu 01 pres ay puy +++ -suaavay otp zopun Buytpdsosa soos pue aiea amp Jo spus arp saya 944203 ‘STPMp 3 219ym sMOUy QUOTE oy PUY nvm 3a ao aueavaiane > oObieeiruceaie oF rae wa action. We will see more of how this works out in chapter six, ‘The main point here is that the Christian mind has a spiritual base. Itbegins with an attitude toward God. He is the source of all wisdom, f a4) ‘all knowledge. What a contrast to René Descartes who founded his i nT whole method on the one thing he took as indubitable, his own ego: “T think; therefore I am"! Quite the opposite is tre. We are depend- ent on God as I AM and hence as our creator. We are not because | bes (iat yaetecaserm ens oe ore oF ‘The Christan Mind ag an Attude toward Ouresves ‘The flip side of the Christian mind is our attitude toward ourselves, ‘This can be stated in one word: humility. But what a word! We founder at every attempt to make it charac- teristic of our lives. But Jesus was humble, and in this as in many other things he is both our model and our pioneer. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ‘who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:5-11 RSV) Jesus left what was rightfully his—his place in glory. He became every- thing we are as human beings, even bearing in our place the burden. of our sins. Jesus is humble. And—dare we say it? Of course, we do. God is humble. Jesus is the kind of God God is? In his infinite knowl- the world,” we so often say. But only if he were also humble could his {HE eNRIATIAN mnDs THE BEGIAMINE OF wisteM > 9 love be expressed as it was in sending himself in his Son to take on the form of his own creation and to pay the just penalty for our sin. Ibis indeed Jesus’ humility that led to his exaltation. As Paul says, “Therefore God has highly exalted him.” There is a fragment from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus which has always fascinated me as, ‘a commentary on this notion: “The way up and down is one and the “We have the mind of Christ" says Paul (1 Cor 2:16) as he con- ludes another long passage about the central message of the Chris- tian faith. What he means is not that we somehow have the physical mind of Christ or even his supernatural mind in some mystical form, but that we have the mentality of Jesus as he lived a life that led to have thought. He is instead saying that God's foolishness, the foolish- ness of the cross, is wiser than the wisdom of the world. And-we who are Christians have that mind. We live in the shadow of the cross of Christ, shouldering our own cross, bearing the burdens of one an- other, standing counter to the world and suffering for it. To have the mind of Christ is no mystical experience granted to those Christians who are especially holy. It is simply the attitude of humility toward oneself and service to God and others ‘ARecipe for Homity? But how can we be humble? We fail so miserably when we consciously try. When we examine ourselves to see just how humble we are, we ‘become proud of our humility and undercut our efforts. Are we for- ever trapped in a paradox? Well, I'm no expert in humility, but I don't think so. 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AMO TEEN MOTD, ‘au yeIp proud owiov9q Aquappns 9 “skux yo purus du davy, Pure pog uo sada Aux daay J 3] “proy oyp 30 seay atp Jo wnposdkq &a sauscircesni oF ree nina to Moses, This difficultto-translate Hebrew phrase may well include the idea “I will be what I will be” or “I will be whoever I show myself tobe Tn any case, itis the death of any perfect human theology of like the lines of Alfred, Lord Tennyson: Our litle systems have their day; ‘They have their day and cease to be; ‘They are but broken lights of thee, And thou, O Lord, art more than they.* Lesslie Newbigin echoes this in prose: ‘We can never clain that either our understanding or our action is absolutely right. We have no way of proving that we are right. That {kind of proof belongs only at the end And John Stott comments, ‘Systematic theology is certainly a legitimate and even necessary academic discipline, but God did not choose to reveal himself in systematic form, and all systems are exposed to the same tempta- tion, namely to trim God's revelation to fit our system instead of adapting our system to accommodate his revelation.”* ‘There is, of course, a balance. We.need to be confident enough in our beliefs to act but not so dogmatic about them that we do not allow them to come under scrutiny. We should recognize the inadequacy of our own understanding and the sinfulness of many of our actions and yet commit ourselves to kingdom actions with a vision of the city of God always in our sights. Jesus has gone before us through death. ‘We should, then, put these twin attitudes of fear and humility into the perspective of the end times. What is worth preserving in ourllives, ‘will be like the wealth of the nations that Isaiah envisions the kings of the surrounding nations bringing into Zion, the city of David (Is 60:1-14), and that the book of Revelation sees being brought into the heavenly city at the end of time (20:24-27). But there will be much dross that will be left behind. ‘THe GanUATIAN Aino. THE aeouOHUNG OF wit00H > 2 ‘The Chistian Min in Maton ‘The Christian mind is always in both formation and reformation. For any given person or community of believers it is never a finished product. On the one hand, itis being hewed from a Christian's grow- ing grasp of Scripture in the context of a recalcitrant culture. On the other hand, it is being reformed through experience with God and his people and a growing understanding of what Scripture really teaches. ‘In formation it seeks to operate under the values of the kingdom of God. This requires persistent Bible study, not just as we engage in private devotions each day, but also as we intentionally address Scrip We shall see how those questions are answered in the ensuing chap- ters. ‘Moreover, in formation the Christian mind requires regular read- ing of books writen from a Christian perspective. Others have been. down these paths before us; their trailblazing can make the way easier for us. For a guide to what I think are the best and most basic books, see the appendix Finally, in formation the Christian mind requires persistent obe- ing Scripture and reading Christian books. This is what Os Guinness calls “the respon- sibility of knowledge.™” If we think we know yet do not do, then from a purely biblical sense we do not really know. We will look at this theme in chapter six. In reformation the Christian mind is self-critical. Regardless of how long we have been Christians, we must be critical of our past under- standing. Doubt itself can be the midpoint between error and truth. Most of all, a Christian mind is always open to new understanding from Scripture. 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