To The Saints At Lighthouse
By daniel | February 7, 2004
Dear brothers and sisters,
Hi! I had some extra time this week (a rare thing), so I thought I would use if for you. I just thought I would drop you a little note in hopes of offering some clarity to what we have been talking about on Sunday mornings.
First let us talk about how best to think about the new man. The 'new man' is the second aspect of the church presented in Ephesians, the first being the 'Body of Christ'. I think we are beginning to get the body idea, but the new man still seems cloudy. Try to think of it this way: Adam & Eve were created 'mankind'. When Adam sinned, mankind became 'old mankind' (i.e. 'old man'). Instead of scrapping the project and starting over, God persisted graciously with the original plan (God is notoriously difficult to distract or discourage). His plan was to get into mankind — to blend Himself with a global human society. So, He became a man and that man became the life-giving Spirit and that Spirit got into some of the individuals in the old mankind, making them now the new mankind by renewing their spirits. As planned, this spread from person to person until now it has reached you and me, including us in the new mankind by renewing our spirits, and recruiting us in the further recovery of the human race.
Now, here is the thing. Christ got into your spirit and gave you a new heart (core). But the rest of you was untouched. That is why, though in the new man, you can still think, feel, and choose to do as you did before. And God planned it that way. He never wanted a patient to operate on, but a partner to work with, so a large aspect of your transformation (of you becoming actually new through and through) is fully dependent upon your cooperation. And that, beloved, is ennobling. Instead of being strapped to the table and 'fixed', you have been told to get up and walk — of course with the understanding that you will have help.
Now, since your thoughts are the front door from your spirit out into the rest of your personality, your transforming cooperation must begin there. You must 'be transformed by the renewing of your mind' (Romans 2:2). Your mind is not all there is to your transformation, and we are getting to the rest of you on Sunday mornings, but without the constant, steady renewal of your thinking, nothing else will happen. So, how do you renew your mind? Where, exactly, do you apply the pressure? Folks typically start by making a list of all the bad things they think about. That is not such a great idea, because all you manage to do is return your attention to something you wish you could ignore. Instead, I have found two choices (and their consequent steps) very useful.
First, I choose to actually think. I turn off the radio, I shut down the comforting noise and I actually think. Passive minds are not transformed. Sometimes, I do not like where my thoughts go without the noise, but I face them and I offer them to God as they are.
Then, I choose what to think about, which is different from choosing what not to think about. Paul flatly tells us to actively engage this choice (read Phil 4:8 now). The key is to cultivate a condition such that when your mind drifts, it drifts to God, His Words, His ways, because you have accustomed your thoughts to going there. Of course, this is a process. We begin by occasionally remembering God. This eventually grows into a consistent consideration, because we are beginning to experience the benefits. In time, we will cultivate a constant obsession, because God is beautiful, and we will come to pray without ceasing simply because we cannot get this magnificent Christ out of our heads (and we do not want to). Note the progress from occasional to consistent to constant. Begin where you are — you can begin nowhere else — and move, and move with others (II Tim 2:22).
Cultivate habits of study, memorization and meditation upon the Word. This is the only safe way to a) prevent developing and obsession with your misperception about God, and b) employ your spirit (where Christ lives) in the process. If you read, study, and think a lot because you are supposed to, you have a difficult religion. If you do the same things because you want to saturate your mind with God and recruit you thoughts in the flowering of that relationship, then you have useful means to that end. Use them. Devote yourself to it. A renewed mind is no hobby; it means life or death (Romans 8).
Remember, the church is the new man. The new man necessarily requires new individuals. Your renewal is dependent largely upon what you do with your mind. Give Psalm 119:9-16 some attention this week. Center you interactions with other saints around the Word (Col3:16). That helps too.
I Love you all so much,
Virgil
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