I write a short 350-450 word article for our church bulletin every week. You have no idea how difficult it is to reduce, edit and maintain my point in so few words! (ah, humor) This is my cross to bear; the limiting, not the article writing. On several occasions I have written on being aware of that which we give thought. It is easy to fall into the trap of negative thinking, believing our view is the only right view; rather than focused on godly matters over those of the world. Perhaps it is my tendency to over analyze things but I happen to believe that a lot of people do not consider issues that really matter over trivial issues. I think we also tend to take the ideologies of our culture and families as our own without considering why we believe as we do. For the sake of this article, I will refer to that as Status Quo Mentality.
I believe relying on a Status Quo Mentality can be a dangerous thing. Let's face it; little mental challenge is required. When considering the Christian faith, we are told we have the mind of Christ. I doubt Christ would recognize 'His’ own mind when listening to the thoughts of the everyday man/woman. We tend to be bogged down with paying bills or wondering how we will pay them and trying to figure out when we will possibly have time or energy for the demanding yard work. Then there is that irritating co-worker that occupies our thoughts because for some reason they seem out to get us. What in the world will I prepare for dinner tonight? There is laundry to do. What are those terrorist and warmongers up to today? With little effort, we can fill an entire day with thoughts without actually thinking about that on which we chose to think. We color our world with the thoughts we choose to give valuable time and allow to occupy our minds.
In conversation with my friend, Helen, we shared opinions and ideas that we had carried because those opinions and ideologies were fed to us over the dinner table and were told/taught were life's truths and beliefs. I, for one, heard many incredulous attitudes and beliefs that I challenged. I learned early on to question the status quo mentality. It made my life more difficult than it had to be, but it was not in me to accept opinions that would not settle in my belly. I know now that was the spirit in me holding issues to the light.
We've all heard someone justify an attitude by saying, "I can't help it, I was raised that way." We were all raised one way or another and not all of those can stand up to the light. My 'raising' certainly could not. I believe scripture addresses this, in part, in 1 Corinthians 13:11 when it says:
When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.
When I was a child, I believed in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy. It was not an evil plot on my parent's part to deceive me but to bring joy in a child's heart with a little fun fantasy. As I grew older, I questioned and pondered these things. The result: I made a determination based on what I thought rather than what I was taught. In the case of the aforementioned family traditions, no harm was perpetuated. Some family traditional thoughts and beliefs can cause very real harm. Racial issues jump to mind and prejudices of any sort can cripple a nation as easily as an individual. You only need look around the world today to see it daily.
On a more personal scale, allowing our thoughts to remain unchecked will dictate our lives. If you wake up angry at the world, the world seems hostile. If you wake up angry and question why you feel anger; the underlying issues may reveal themselves allowing you an opportunity to deal with them. You discover you can disarm and/or redirect those negative thoughts into something positive and productive. Your entire day can made better by simply taking a few moments while you brush your teeth to be in control of your thoughts rather than letting them control you. The Bible refers to this as taking your thoughts captive. More simply put: think about what you think about!
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