Where's Your Head At? (Part Two)

Although I’ve called this blog “Part Two”, it’s very much a different aspect rather than a continuation. This blog looks at a Christian issue. Where are our heads at, fellow-Christians? Are we walking by faith or are we walking by sight? Are we fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith? Are we thinking about “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely?” Are we living like strangers in the world, or are we indistinguishable from it?

Assuming we want to be living as the Bible tells us, how do we do that? This is a subject which has been unnecessarily complicated by the accumulation of 2000 years’ worth of theology, philosophy and the collection of various isms. With a book the size of the Bible it’s hardly surprising if we get a bit confused sometimes. That’s why I’ve picked just a few verses to start us off in the opening paragraph.

It’s important to get our heads right. The mind needs to be renewed by the word of God and the Spirit of God. This is what will transform us into the likeness of Christ and help us not to conform to the pattern of the world (Romans 12:2). Unfortunately, there is a phenomenon in which the opposite happens. People become Christians or come into the church and bring their philosophies in with them. Rather than subjecting these thoughts to the Bible/Church they reject/adapt the Bible/Church to their ideology. I say “they”. We are all prone. Our minds need to be transformed. The Bible doesn’t. 

We are meant to walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) This is about pleasing God. We are meant to live in the knowledge of His presence, not as if this world is all there is. We are meant to live with a higher purpose in life than fulfilling earthly dreams. There is a resurrection and a judgement to come, and this should influence the way we act. We are meant to follow God’s heart, not our own evil inclinations. We are to avoid sin, not throw ourselves headlong into it. Where is our head at – pleasing God or pleasing ourselves? “We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:2) “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” (1 John 2:1) Sin should not be the norm for the Christian, but if we do sometimes give in, Jesus is there as the route to forgiveness.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) Paul felt it necessary to advise a first century audience about this. Living in pagan societies it would have been very relevant. It is still relevant today. There is so much that is the opposite of these things staring us in the face. It’s too easy to get engrossed in the negative, the wicked, the ugly. We don’t want to bury our heads in the sand but we also shouldn’t want to fill our heads with filth. 

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.” (1 Peter 2:11) We are in the world, but not of it. The way we act should emphasise that distinction. The world here clearly refers to a type of behaviour, not to the planet. Can people tell we are Christians? Can they see we are different? Or do we indulge in the same sins as if being a Christian were nothing special? The preceding verses are: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” The contrast between what we were in the world and what we are in Christ does not need me to expound it further.

In spite of all this, we are so prone to forget. It is as if we slip and slide away so easily. Our main hope is to keep our minds focussed on the Lord Jesus and all that we are in Him. And to encourage each other to do so.

Where's Your Head At? (Part One)

Which came first – thoughts or (in)actions? Where’s your head at? This is an important question because so much will flow from it, consciously or unconsciously. It’s good to cultivate a focussed mind if we can, rather than one that is scattered all over the place, overcrowded by thoughts which fill us which anxiety and dread. This will help us to put things in perspective and get things done in some sense of order, maybe even to get things done at all. I suggest we don’t really want to be “all over the place”, left hoping we’ll somehow manage to do something useful. We want to achieve, preferably by design. We want to have a target because otherwise we can’t hit it. 

If we notice our minds are dashing all over the place, buzzing around and unable to stay with one thing, we need to recognise that it’s happening, be calm with ourselves, decide we want to focus and then do it without moaning at ourselves or calling ourselves stupid or useless or whatever. We don’t want to stop thinking, we just want to order it. Maybe pause your thoughts, count to ten and say “right, I’m back in the room” and determine to decide what is most important to you now. Out of all the competing thoughts, worries, cares, excitements, which one needs your immediate attention? You may even find the answer to this is “none of them”! Get pen and paper (or some technological equivalent) and make yourself a list of the things you were thinking about. Then next to each one rank them by priority. Write down when they need to be done. Write down how difficult you expect them to be. You’ll probably find out, on reflection, that some things don’t even need to be thought about in advance – they are so straightforward they will take care of themselves when you come to do them. I’ve been like this often in the past, thinking through in detail how to do something which is just so obvious and easy to do that my angst was unnecessary. 

It’s helpful to declutter your mind, to realise that you don’t need to overthink most things. You can try to drop some thoughts which are unhelpful – you don’t have to cling on to thoughts just because you’ve had them. 

If you’ve now got your list, here’s an interesting experiment. Put it aside and do something for the next 30 minutes which isn’t even on it! Something you enjoy. See if you can do that thing without even thinking about your list. You may just find out that the world doesn’t collapse! Then go back to your list and reassess it. And relax.