The Mature Mind (1)

Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. 1 Corinthians 14.20

Use your head!
Has anyone ever said to you – usually in exasperation – “Use your head!”? We don’t hear that so much as adults, but we’ve probably all said that to our kids at one time or another, or may remember having been told that by a parent, teacher, or coach.

The point of this exhortation is, of course, to encourage mature thinking, to avoid childish living.

Psychologists tell us that we don’t use anywhere near the full capacity of our brain power. The mind is a powerful agent in the soul; and as the college ads from a while back rightly reminded us, a mind is a terrible thing to waste.

The Corinthians, however, were making an art of it – wasting their minds, that is.

Paul had already chastised them for being “babes” in Christ; now he suggested that they were “children in their thinking.” They had the mind of Christ, Paul insisted (1 Cor. 2.16), and yet, in so many ways, they were thinking like children, wasting their minds on schism, self-interest, and splashy but shallow spirituality, when they should have been devoting their minds to the hard work of ministering and building the Church of the Lord.

Mind work
The mind is one of the components of the soul, together with the heart and the conscience. While we tend to associate the mind with the brain – and neuroscientists today seem dead-set to confine it there – the mind is a spiritual essence and, with the other components of the soul, inhabits the entirety of a person’s bodily existence.

The mind is that facet of the soul that manages thinking. We who have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and King are called to be continually renewed in our minds (Rom. 12.1, 2). We must no longer use our minds like unbelievers do; instead, we must learn to think like Jesus about everything (Eph. 4.17-24). We cannot live the full and abundant life in Christ without increasing engagement and right use of the mind and all its functions.

To the mind falls the task of gathering, comparing, sorting, and storing all the information that comes our way. The mind creates ideas out of fragments of thought. With our minds, we formulate plans, organize our work, direct our speech, and routinely assess our progress in every facet of life.

The process of thinking includes the varied activities of observing, analyzing, comparing, combining, revising, refining, improving, cataloguing, and organizing everything we think, say, and do.

Further, our minds are continuously active. The mind pursues its God-given functions at all times, no matter the circumstances or conditions. If we’re not diligently and faithfully attending to those functions, the world spirit of the age will obligingly squeeze our thinking into its own mold (Rom. 12.1, 2 Phillips version).

As John Stott indicated in an important book by this title, your mind matters, and it matters very much, indeed. It is indeed a terrible gift to waste, and, if we find that we’re acting like children in our thinking, as the Corinthians were, then we need to take steps to bring the mind of Christ which we possess to higher levels of maturity in serving the Lord and others.

The hard work of maturing
But this is easier said than done. Becoming mature in our thinking is hard work. It’s so much easier to think like a child – looking out only for ourselves; latching on to all things frivolous and fun and avoiding anything that might make our brains ache; whining about having to learn new ideas or think things through for ourselves; and being content with games and play and the status quo, rather than the hard work of personal transformation and culture change.

But this is what mature minds do – minds that function with the vision, focus, resolve, and intellectual clarity and conviction of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Paul urged the Corinthians to get over being children in their thinking, and to start living out of the mature mind of Christ, which was theirs by the anointing of God’s Spirit.

We have the mind of Christ. We may not be satisfied with thinking like children, for thinking like children will result in our living a childish Christian life, one centered only on ourselves and our comfort and convenience. It is our duty and privilege to use our minds as Jesus would, and to make the most of this great gift for the greater glory of God. And to that end, let us take up the challenge and mandate issued by the Apostle Paul, and begin learning to think with the mature mind of Jesus Christ.

For reflection
1.  What are some of the characteristics of childish thinking? What does childish thinking produce in a person?

2.  Why did Paul say the Corinthians were thinking like children? What evidence did he point to in his first epistle to shame them into repentance?

3.  What would you say are the marks of mature thinking?

Next steps – Preparation: On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is the highest rating you could give, how would you assess your own thoughts and thinking? Are you more toward the childish end of the spectrum (1) or the mature end (10)? Why did you choose the number you did? Invite a Christian friend to join you in this exercise.

T. M. Moore

This is part 2 of a multi-part series on the Christian mind. To download this week’s study as a free PDF, click here.

How’s your Christian worldview? Are you stretching your mind to think about life and the world as Jesus does? Our free online course, One in Twelve: Introduction to Christian Worldview, can provide the categories, terms, and framework for you to begin nurturing a more expansive Christian mind. For more information and to register, click here.

The mind of Christ is set for the Kingdom of God. Is yours? Our book, The Kingdom Turn, provides a concise and practical overview of what it means to live for Christ from within the framework of His Kingdom. Order your copy by clicking here.

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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.