There used to be a common question asked – with bookmarks or wrist bands, asking, ‘What would Jesus do?’ It was intended to help us approach difficult situations with a sense of what Jesus response would be. When faced with a situation we were unsure about, it got us to ask the question, well, what would Jesus do in this situation?
It’s a good question, though the answer may not always be clear. It’s a bit like asking, who would Jesus vote for? Jesus certainly surprised people with what he said and did, so we in many cases we will need to be make our own judgments, informed by the example of Jesus and the breadth of biblical teaching.
My question today pushes back a little further: what would Jesus think? I think it is a fair question, as our thinking is vitally important. Education is meant to be about getting people to think. Christian education is learning to think Christianly.
One of the greatest challenges for Christians today is to think. We are called to love God with all our minds – as well as our hearts, St Paul speaks about having the ‘mind of Christ’ (1 Cor 2:16); Romans 12 speaks of a ‘transformed mind’; Philippians 2 speaks of having the mind of Christ in our attitudes. By contrast Paul says that ‘the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who are unbelieving’ (2 Cor 4:4).
There is a battle for the mind that happens every day. What do we think? What do we believe? What is true? What is important? Who or what can be trusted?
Thinking takes effort, but Christians, in my view, ought to be at the forefront of thinking, for we are to love God with our minds. That’s why any human endeavour – scientific research, medical, economic, technological, etc, are areas in which our minds can be used to understand more of God’s world. Indeed, not surprisingly, Christians have been at the forefront of much scientific and social development over the centuries.
My contention is that Christians ought be uniquely placed for insight and perceptive thinking for we have been given a foundation and framework for understanding the world in which we live. We have an understanding of truth based on revelation that there is a personal God at the heart of the universe, and who has given us an understanding of the true nature of life. This God has given us brains and minds with which to think, to puzzle, to solve, and this thinking itself reflects something of the divine mind at the heart of the universe.
What do you see as some of the key teachings or mind-shaping influences in our culture today? What do you see as the contribution Christians can make in thinking about life and the issues of life today? In what ways might the sweep of Bible teaching shape your views on these issues?