The gray matter between our ears is just the judgement center, our mind is our heart and every cell of our body, our very DNA. This is why David cried out for Him to search his heart for any wickedness. This is the meaning of renewing our minds, to rewrite our DNA, in Romans 12.
Changing the way you think.
- Thread starter Big Moose
- Start date
Brother were does the "mind of Christ" dwell? In our physical brain or spiritual heart?
1Co 2:16 "For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Both
I do not change abruptly, or without study or reflection. I do know that there are those whom I respect greatly, as intelligent and reflective Christians, but I do not believe as they do, even though I think I have a fair understanding of their Biblical reasoning. The fact that I hold differing interpretations of some scripture apply other scriptures in differing ways does not cause me to think of them as wrong or unscriptural.
But there are doctrines that I was taught in my early Christian up bringing, which were wrongly narrow. The Pastor, believing another denomination was dangerously unBiblical. He would cite scripture and put forward interpretations that supported his view, but we would not be made aware the scriptural basis of the other church.
A minor example (and please do not start a war about this): In many Baptist churches, unfermented grape juice is used for communion. Most Baptist denominations forbid of strongly discourage the use of intoxicating beverages. Many Pastors go so far as to say that when our Lord changed water into wine (John 2:1-11) it was grape juice, and that the cup in the Last Supper contained grape juice mixed with bitter herbs.
I took this teaching at face value. I still use alcohol very seldom, although I do drink an occasional beer, or have some wine with dinner to celebrate things like anniversaries. But, I have little doubt that when Jesus turned water to wine, it contained the customary amount of alcohol, that the Last supper cup contained fermented wine, and that in 1 Corinthians 11:20-22, Paul was chiding early Christians in Corinth for getting drunk on communion wine.
As my Christian life expanded to include service and fellowship beyond my home congregation, eventually being severed from my home congregation when I entered the military, I learned that disagreements about scripture does not necessarily mean that one is more right than another.
The Bible is truly a miraculous book. The text, while requiring rigorous standards of exegesis (what does the text say) and hermeneutics (what does other scripture say and in what social and historical context), its living quality comes from the way the Holy Spirit reveals the meaning to us, both as individuals and as a wider community of believers, and how the Holy Spirit applies it to our individual and congregational lives.
So, when I am visiting another congregation, or talking to someone with a different take on Christian life, I really try to understand what their view is along with the background. I find that if I do not take someone else's positions as an affront to mine, I can come to a better understanding of it. It is more often that my understanding is enlarged than I find my understanding either clearly more correct, or in error. But, there have been specific instances, some more critical than whether 1st century communion involved alcohol that I have significantly changed my views.
1. From day 1 I used to always think about how my life rotated around certain things I did. Letting go of those would mean there was no more point to life. Then when saved I realized life is lived for two reasons. 1 To serve God and 2 to develop a relationship with God. If I concern myself with God, God concerns Himself with me. That way both I and God's needs are taken care of
. 2. According to that verse you gave it is changing our focus. Looking at the world from God's vantage point and not ours.
3. Not change but always working on trusting God to keep my family and I safe. When any of us think about the future for too long we can't help but get nervous and afraid. Trusting our future in God's hands is where the growth in thinking really comes in. I need to get more confidence in God having my back in the future. Thoughts like dying young and leaving my family fatherless / helpless haunt me. Or my wife dying early. Or my kids dying early. Or my kids getting permanent injuries.
4. Well I am constantly trying to reconcile the reality of God listening to me oneday when I am literally with Him as the same as Him listening to me now. Ie I don't need to tell God on my deathbed to return me to my family, when I can tell Him that right now.