Perhaps one of the most obvious discoveries in my life is that most of the thinking I do is passive, not active. When I read my Bible every day, I often actively compare specific beliefs against the light of God’s Word to see if I believe anything incorrectly. Simultaneously, through the simple act of reading well, hundreds of other truths settle into my mind, even if I’m not struggling with any of them at the moment.
Active learning, or active thinking, is not the kind of thinking that most of us do most of our time each day. And yet we are all thinking about something all day every day. Thinking is something we do when we are conscious. It’s something we do even when we’re eating vegetables in front of YouTube or Netflix.
Gresham Machen says: “When any new data enters the human mind, it must proceed to feel at home; You must proceed to introduce yourself to the previous inhabitants of the house. That process of introducing new data is called thinking. And, contrary to what seems to be generally assumed, the Christian man cannot help but think.
Whether we are reflecting on an event at any given moment or not, we are always thinking, and that thinking forms us in profound ways.
What tutors have you hired?
As we casually scroll through social media, or watch cult classic sitcoms, or munch on the latest British drama, or trance through 24/7 news coverage, we’ve hired tutors to tutor us.
These tutors continuously present facts and knowledge from various disciplines (sociology, politics, theology, science…). As we listen, we welcome into our minds any teaching they have to give us. And often when we watch television or listen to podcastour mental guard is down, so the “teaching” can have a stronger and more subtle foothold.
These tutors also do not teach for free. They collect a bill, either directly through your paid subscription to their service, or indirectly through the information they collect about you. Just as college students pay tuition to sit in a classroom and learn from teachers and professors, we also pay tuition every time we enter a movie theater or pay for cable TV or on-demand programming. The only difference is that instead of calling the shows “education”, they are called “entertainment”. By thinking of shows as entertainment rather than education, we assume that we are entering a space free of thought, a space where we can suspend reality in favor of enjoyment.
But as Machen says, whenever new data enters our minds, we are engaged in a type of thinking whether we want to or not. Watching shows is one of the most passive thought forms, which makes it one of the most powerful. Because we are not engaged in active thought, we allow any number of morally suspect thoughts to enter our mind unimpeded. These thoughts immediately feel comfortable in their new home – they begin to settle and hang curtains.
To say that this is a cunning move by our adversary is an understatement. Under the guise of entertainment, evil thoughts often move into our minds and entrench themselves unopposed.
The vital role of passive thought
When most of us think of growing in holiness, especially with regard to our mind or our thoughts, we probably think of an active battle like the one Paul describes: “destroying speculations and all haughty reasoning that stands against the knowledge of God, and putting every thought in bondage to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Taking every thought captive to Christ is the way to wage war in the mind. We actively isolate and identify our thoughts so we can hold them hostage. We hold our thoughts captive to the Word of God. Do we agree with what God says, or are we arguing with Him? Do we love what he loves? Do we hate what he hates?
When we find ourselves out of step with God’s Word, let the killing begin. Destroy that argument; make war on that opinion; take that thought captive. This is an essential battle tactic that every Christian should learn, but it is not the only battle tactic.
Every time we read the Bible well, much more happens than we realize at the time.
Every time we read the Bible well, much more happens than we realize in the moment, just like when we watch our favorite shows. God’s thoughts are entering the human mind, more than we may realize, much less in isolation, and they feel at home and present themselves before the ideas they encounter. While we may focus on a verse or two while reading a chapter, we are standing under a cascade of teaching and absorbing much more than we realize.
Where justice feels at home
We want our minds to be a hospitable place where justice dwells. How do we do it? We do it the same way the immoral entertainment industry tries to educate and acclimate our minds to injustice. Our minds become a home for righteous thought when we regularly and submissively immerse ourselves in God’s Word, either by reading or listening, and letting God himself (through his Word) be our most formative tutor. and transform. The Word of God is more powerful than a movie. It is more insightful and compelling than social media.
Step daily in the stream of the waterfall that cleanses and purifies in the holiness and grace of Scripture
Fill your mind with God’s thoughts by acclimating your thinking to the stories, laws, letters, and poetry in the Bible, rather than the stories the world sells you. Put yourself daily in the stream of the waterfall that cleanses and purifies in the holiness and grace of the Scriptures. Reading is often passive, just as watching is often passive. But reading is also a way of thinking, just as watching shows is a way of thinking. Both affect the atmosphere of our minds, either for better or for worse, to give us clean air that leads to pure thoughts or polluted air that leads to evil thoughts.
The Bible is not the only place we can go for this kind of sanctification, although it is by far the best place. There are also histories and biographies and movies and documentaries and nonfiction and poetry and sermons that help us think better. They put thoughts in our minds that we want to consider. They change and sanctify us in ways we don’t always understand.
What stories are forming you?
when i read the Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson with my children, I am putting in a stream of water that allows me to wash away the dirt that has accumulated in my mind. Reading about Nia, the strong and gentle mother, strengthens my arms. The saga reminds me why God made me. Expand my imagination so that loyalty, honor, sacrifice, and truth become habituated in my mind: justice becomes the normal air of my thoughts.
Destroying evil thoughts and high opinions really starts with passive thinking. It begins with refusing to put ourselves in the polluted streams of entertainment, and acclimating and habituating our minds to justice through God’s Word and the echoes of his stories we find in other stories. We know when to destroy the strongholds of wrong thought: when we have tasted what right thought tastes like, when we have fed on it, when it has nurtured our thoughts and imaginations.
We will learn, over and over again, that his thoughts are not like our thoughts (Is. 55:8), and then we will experience the sheer joy of surrendering to His high thoughts.
Originally posted on. Translated by Team Coalition.
Image: .