The Christian Mind

Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”Matthew 16.22, 23

The Christian Mind
Harry Blamires (1916-)
“…the Christian mind has allowed itself to be subtly secularized by giving a purely chronological status to the eternal. That is to say, the Christian has relegated the significance of the eternal to the life that succeeds this one. In doing so, it has enabled itself to come to terms with the secular mind on a false basis. The basis is that here and now Christians and secularists can share the same conceptions, attitudes, and modes of action within the temporal sphere, since the essential difference between them – i.e. the dispute whether or not there is God’s eternity beyond this world – is one which begins to be applicable only when this life is ended…the Christian mind dechristianizes itself in this respect without intending to do so. Its conscious motives are good. It wants to operate in harmony with the secular mind wherever possible.”

Put another way, the Christian seems to think that, for the here and now, we must live in terms of here and now as understood by the mind that denies God, the spiritual realm, and spiritual beings interacting with the temporal sphere. We say we believe in all these things, but we keep them at arm’s length from our daily experience, so that we can keep peace with our unbelieving contemporaries. As for the then and there – the hereafter – well, it’s just that, after here and now. We want to keep an eye on it, because we’re hoping to get there one day; but as for any meaningful interaction or communication with that realm, apart from what we may engage in prayer, well, it just doesn’t exist. And we certainly would not want to disrupt our relationships with the unbelieving world by suggesting, much less insisting, that such unseen matters should be taken into consideration where issues concerning values, ethics, morality, culture, or public policy are concerned. Thus we live harmoniously, for the most part, but not Christianly.

What would it mean for you to begin living in the then and there, here and now? How can we cultivate such a mindset and outlook toward our lives?

Training for Christian Action
Our Mission Partners Outreach program is designed as a life-based training curriculum, to help church members identify and begin working their Personal Mission Fields for the purpose of making disciples and advancing Christ’s Kingdom. I’m looking for some men to lead through this training program, and to help you see how our Missions Partners Outreach programcan help your church overcome its failure to communicate. If you’re interested, drop me a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from The Christian Mind are from Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind (Ann Arbor: Servant Books, 1963, 1978).