The Christian Mind

“Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14.17

The Christian Mind
Harry Blamires (1916-)
“The Christian mind makes sense of passionate youthful longings and dissatisfactions as pointers to the divine creation of man and the fact that he is called to glory. Youth is constitutionally hungry to envelop with religious significance the yearnings aroused by natural beauty, by artistic experience, and by sexual love. Because there is no living Christian mind to interpret this hunger and to show how it may be fed, the young are led astray. False idolatries are enthusiastically pursued.”

We must begin forming people to think with the mind of Christ from an early age. Youthful “longings and dissatisfactions” abound, and if we can teach young people that these are witnesses from the Lord, summons for them to find their rest and joy and fulfillment in Him, then we will serve them well as their world expands and their worldview with it. As it stands, we too often trivialize Christian instruction of the young, more interested in entertaining them than in forming them to think with the mind of Christ. Thus we rob them of the perspective and skills they need to see the world aright, and to follow its every pointer to the footstool of the Lord, and leave them susceptible to the spirit of the naturalism of the age, and its half-truths, deceptions, and outright lies. God is bearing witness to our children and youth every moment of their lives. Our duty is to teach them to receive that witness and grow by it.

Where should we start in teaching young people to see the witness of God in creation, culture, and their own lives? How might your church begin to be more effective and consistent in this effort?

Kingdom Vision
Two books can help you begin to strengthen your vision of Christ and His Kingdom. Order a copy of The Kingship of Jesus (click here) to grow in your understanding of what in the world Jesus is doing as He sits at the Father’s right hand. And what He’s doing is bringing His Kingdom to earth as it is in heaven, which is the subject of The Kingdom Turn (click here). Let these two books challenge your vision of what Christ can do as He makes disciples and builds His Church.

Renewing the Mind
Our ReVision series on Renewing the Mind in our daily ReVision wraps up this week with installment 8, which is entitled, Pitfalls for the Mind, and is available as a free PDF download by going to the website, www.ailbe.org, clicking on today’s ReVision column entitled, “Not under Law?” (click the link at the end). If you’re looking for a place to grow your Christian mind, and to help others do so, this free 8-part series is a great place to start. Click hereto download all 8 parts.

Join us in giving thanks to God for the people He moves and enables to support The Fellowship of Ailbe with their prayers and gifts. Does He want to use you? You can contribute to The Fellowship of Ailbe by using the Contribute button at our website, or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452. Thank you.

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).