The Purposeful Mind

What are younger generation of Christians are saying today:

63% do not believe Jesus is the Son of the true God.
58% believe all faiths teach equally valid truths.
51% do not believe Jesus rose from the dead.
65% do not believe Satan is a real entity.
68% Do not believe the Holy Spirit is a real entity. (Barna Research Group).

Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

What these young believers are saying is that their minds are not truly renewed, and they have been mislead somewhere by the church, friends and/or parents – the world. We are all to blame for this and there seems to be a real issue here. We are not teaching nor demonstrating how to respond to our world a purposeful mind.

There are only several ways that we can demonstrate how we are going to live out our faith. We can choose to live with a depraved mind that focuses first and foremost on the world and what it deems as important. You will be more worried about your looks, grades, money, reputation then the things of God. You base who you are on how the world sees you instead how Christ sees you. Probably more worried about the judgment of the world then the judgment of God. The Word of God tells us there is not a happy ending to this outlook. Romans 8:6-8, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” If you goal is to be an enemy of God then I would choose this path.

The next choice is responding with a lukewarm purpose. If you want to be lukewarm then you will play on both sides of the fence. The only difference between this purpose and the depraved mind is they want the acceptance of the church as well as the world. Your idea of spirituality is to attend church once in a while, probably during the Easter and Christmas season. If necessary maybe a couple of other times throughout the year to keep up appearance. You know the Christian jargon and how to use it to appear that you are spiritual. You will at times get involved in a church activity to make sure you are doing good deeds, as this will even out the worldly you do the rest of the time. Your personal spiritual life is sporadic prayer and Bible reading. Praying is mainly left before meals and if something is going wrong in your life and is typically never to truly develop a relationship with the Savior. Bible reading is when there is nothing left or possibly because you read one of those daily devotions with a verse, but otherwise you do not engage the word of God and use it as a love letter to you from the Alpha and Omega.

God tells us very directly what He will give as a response to the lukewarm at the day of judgment. Rev. 3:16, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Matthew 7: 22-23, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” There is nothing left to add to this response. Being a lukewarm Christian is not something that God smiles at.

Lastly, there is the mind that sees its purpose as Christ, and reflects on Him daily. 1 Peter 1:13-16, “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” We are to conform to the things of Christ.

This person reflects on the Word of God daily, prays to grow closer to God and not just for things (Genie in the lamp syndrome). A mind of God belongs and participates in church, because it is the fellowship of believers. Their worldview is guided by the Holy Spirit and they are able to hear Him because their mind is filled with Scripture and followed up with prayer. When you are praised you remember your gifts come from God and you are thankful for the opportunity to serve Him in any fashion He deems. You experience joy and not selfish pride. Loving others even in the face of criticism, and remembering that God supports what you do because you are following what He says over people or the world, continually remembering that God hates the things of this world.

Who you want to be is up to you, but there is only one way that God praises and accepts. It is the person who strives to be holy because the I AM is holy. You must choose and the choice will be very apparent by the way you live your life. Are you more worried about the world or the One who saved you from an eternity in Hell? Would you rather be accepted by the world temporarily or eternally by God? Now is the time to choose, and to not choose is really choosing the world. To remain stagnant in whether or not you are choosing Christ is to not choose Him. You are either for God or against Him. There is no middle ground.

Would our younger generation believe the things they do if we were choosing purpose that God wants for us? Would we see a change in who they are and what they believe? Only one way to find out! It is time for us to reject the world and accept Christ and His ways laid out in the Bible. Start engaging your hearts and your minds, conforming them to Christ and not the world.

“We often want to be able to hear guidance from God about important decisions such a whom to marry or what job to take. But we also want to reserve the right to feed our minds on whatever junk comes along.” – John Ortberg