Prisons of the Mind

There are prisons of the mind that are far more difficult to bear than any bars and walls man can devise. Paul talks about being in bondage to sin. You are a slave to whatever you choose to serve. (Romans 6:16) This is so easy to understand. If you lie, you are forced to cover the lie with another and another until you are bound by the lies you have told. Cigarettes, drugs and alcohol clearly bind those who become addicted to their seducing pleasures. It is the same with gambling, pornography, and even video gaming or Internet fascinations. You become imprisoned by whatever you give yourself to.

I am reading a book by John Ortberg called Soul Keeping. Ortberg correctly insists that the human soul, that critical part of our inward being, requires a center. We get to choose what we center our soul upon. Bob Dylan said it right years ago in the song, “You Got to Serve Somebody.” Dylan sang that it may be the Devil, or it may be the Lord, but you are going to serve somebody. There are only the two choices. Anything that is not of God is of the Devil, God’s arch-enemy. There are things like alcohol or video games that are not evil in and of themselves, but when you make them the center of your life, that thing becomes evil, an idol to use Bible language, and everyone knows idolatry is a bad thing.

There are other ways to become imprisoned besides falling into sin or idolatry. It is quite easy to become enslaved by unhealthy attitudes, or stinkin’ thinkin’ as someone once called it. If you were raised by an abusive father or were without a father, for example, you may reject the idea of a good Heavenly Father. Your whole perception of who God is can become bound by your earthly experience. This leaves you outside of His adopted family and His gracious provision.

In the same way, you could be imprisoned by wrong thinking because you were raised in a home where God was discounted, and the philosophies of the world were embraced. This is easy to understand since it was the goal of Darwin and his many disciples to provide the theory of evolution as a way to escape human responsibility to the Creator. Most of us absorbed evolutionary thinking without realizing what it meant.

There are also those who may actually be Christians, believers, who allow themselves to be bound by belief systems that are not Biblical. Paul is especially hard on the people in Galatia, calling them foolish for abandoning the freedom of the Gospel of Christ and falling back into the bondage of salvation by works. (Galatians 3:1-4) This predicament is not unique to Jews. Many believers will assert that they are acceptable to God because they have lived a good life. These people are bound by the false assumption that God loves them because of what they do rather than whom they serve. This kind of thinking can make every day a struggle to be good enough.

Another sort of bondage is related to the idea of salvation by works. You may feel that you are not worthy to be loved by God. Psychologists refer to this as a poor self-image. This attitude highlights one of the strange paradoxes of the Christian faith. It is true that no one is worthy of God’s favor, yet He grants it to all who come to Jesus in faith. You don’t have to clean yourself up to present your life to God; while you were dead in sin and disobedient, Christ came to give you life. (Ephesians 2:1-5) The only people God can save are those who realize they are unworthy. You must nail your broken self on the cross of Jesus and give it up. That act initiates a transaction where your unrighteousness is traded for the righteousness of Jesus, God’ Son. (Romans 4:22-24) That act also qualifies you for adoption into the Family of God, otherwise known as the Church or Christ’s Body. (Ephesians 1:5)

A prison made of bricks and bars is an awful place. But even a person who is behind bars can become free in the most important way, by giving his life to Christ and gaining eternal freedom in Him. Conversely, a person who is walking freely about the world can be imprisoned by many things worse than bricks and bars. Paul reminded the wayward Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.” (5:1) I recommend that you do a “gut check” or perhaps it should be called a soul check. Are you “free indeed,” as Christ promised (John 8:36), or have you allowed something to enslave you. God opens prison doors; you have only to ask.

Worry is a Choice

I confess: I am a worrier. I don’t mean to be, but my constitution is such that I am always living some distance into the future. Sometimes that is a pleasant place to live when the prospects are clearly good. However, when the situation is unclear or clearly bad in some way, I tend to imagine what ill may fall. I rationalize this behavior by telling myself that I am simply preparing for the worst so that I am ready when it happens. I still live by the Boy Scout motto I learned when I was twelve: be prepared.

You can see, no doubt, that this is hooey. What I am doing is worrying about something that may or may not happen. “Be prepared” means taking your umbrella if the forecast promises rain or carrying chains in the trunk if you drive the mountains in winter. My little game of “what if” is just worry in a thin disguise. And worry is prohibited by my Master, a fact that was brought poignantly home to me this morning.

I listened to a sermon from Capital Church in Salt Lake City because I am away from home this Sunday. The guest speaker, Heather Zemple, preached on Matthew 6:25-34. That’s the part of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, “Do not be anxious about your life.” The Greek word translated “anxious” means to take care concerning something, also translated by some as “worry.” Heather correctly points out that anxiety can have chemical or psychological causes that require professional attention. This is not the kind of thing Jesus was addressing; He meant that I should stop playing “what if” with every little situation that does not appear to have a wonderful outcome. In other words, stop worrying.

My rational mind knows I am not supposed to worry. I don’t often harbor worried thoughts in my mind, but my gut does. I tend to center my worry subconsciously in my stomach. It can be quite uncomfortable. At one point some time ago, I was rushed to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack, only to discover it was my gastro-intestinal system crying out with worry. This is frequently where ulcers come from. I have learned to listen to my stomach and to ferret out the fret that is causing the discomfort. This condition indicates that I have been inappropriately dealing with something that needs to be addressed.

Heather led me to the answer to the problem of worry. It is found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians where he counsels us to worry about nothing, but to pray about everything. (4:6) He follows that admonition with one of the best promises in Scripture: “And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hears and your minds in Christ Jesus.” In other words, worry is a choice; neither Jesus nor Paul would command us not to worry if that were impossible. It is our choice to worry about something, or to pray about it and trust God to work it out. We can choose to worry, or we can lean on God and have peace.

Heather wisely pointed out that this does not mean we will necessarily be delivered from all our troubles. The well-known twenty-third Psalm says the divine Shepherd is with us “when [we] walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” Or as the popular song says, He will be with us through the storm rather than taking away the storm. Heather said if we trust God’s character, we can rest in the chaos. No worries. This does not mean we abandon our duties or escape into frivolous diversions. It means that we press on regardless of the circumstances knowing that God is in every circumstance working “all things for the good of them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

I received a wonderful confirmation of this lesson today. I have been trying not to worry that we may not have enough money to meet our obligations this month. After the sermon this morning, I confessed my worry and thanked God that He provides for me on a regular basis. When I checked the bank balance to see how far behind we would be, I discovered an automatic deposit that I had forgotten. We are fine, not rich, but fine. Back in Philippians Paul said that he had learned to be content, at peace, in whatever circumstance he was in. I am still working on that. For today anyway, I choose not to worry.

Why Bother with Church?

I have run across a number of people lately, several who are dear to my heart, who have bad feelings about going to church or they have stopped going altogether. The title of this blog is Why Heaven Matters, but today I want to explain why church matters. There is a direct link between Heaven and the Church of Christ, His body here on earth.

The simplest reason why believers should attend church is because it is commanded. The writer of Hebrews is addressing some believers who were falling short in certain areas of the Christian walk, and in the midst of his correction he makes the statement, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:23-25 Italics mine)

The second reason to be involved in church life is also hidden in the Hebrews passage above: “encouraging one another.” Some time ago I wrote a Bible study on the “one anothers” of the Bible; I counted 52 different places where the actual words “one another” appear in the New Testament or the concept is clearly intended. I categorized the many occurrences into five types, suggesting that our sharing in the Body of Christ falls into one or more of these: fostering peace and harmony with one another, encouraging one another, confessing to one another, loving or caring for one another, serving one another, and correcting one another. If we neglect meeting together, there is little chance for these important duties to take place.

If it is not enough to say church attendance is commanded, no doubt because of the many necessary responsibilities we have toward one another, there is one more reason I will mention: worship. I agree with all those who say that one can worship anywhere; in fact, I believe we are supposed to worship everywhere, if by worship we mean demonstrate our opinion that God is worthy to be praised. It is true that one can worship God on the golf course, on the lake, or in the woods. The trouble is that doing that to the regular exclusion of Sunday morning meetings is in violation of a clear command. The Bible has some pretty harsh things to say about people who offer worship to God while ignoring what He requires of His worshippers. Besides, there is something precious about gathering together with fellow-believers and joining in corporate worship, prayer, proclamation of the Word, and don’t forget the breaking of bread (communion) which Jesus also commanded to be done.

I sympathize with the negative feelings I have heard expressed by some. Three of the people I have recently heard from were hurt by people in the church at the very time they should have received comfort. A couple others have found it so frustrating to see little or no growth among their fellow-congregants that they see little use in continuing to attend. One person I know has fallen prey to the popular misinterpretation of our security in Christ, claiming that he “accepted Christ” as a child, and there is nothing he needs to do beyond that youthful confession.

The bottom line is that we don’t go to church expecting to find perfect people. Quite the opposite is true: we go to church because we are all imperfect people needing the support and guidance that the Body of Christ provides. If you or someone you know has fallen out of the habit of church attendance, consider this. Until we reach that glorious day when our flesh is totally redeemed by God’s grace at Heaven’s gate, the Church is the closest thing we have to Heaven on earth. I detest “church hopping” because of petty grievances, but there are plenty of churches out there who are “doing church” in a way that makes it worth attending. If you don’t have one, find one. It’s for your best in the long run.