One of the greatest blessings you and I possess as followers of Jesus, is His wisdom and His mind. Through Jesus we have a new perspective, new eyes, and a new outlook. There are things we are being divinely equipped to understand that the unbelieving world cannot comprehend.

I truly wish the spiritual discernment we've been granted as believers in Jesus Christ was an aspect of our salvation that was valued, appreciated, and utilized more than it is. The older I get, and the more I observe the lives of those I care about, the more concerned I'm becoming that many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are buying into the smoke screens and delusions of the age in which we live.

In every generation, Satan attempts to propagate values and priorities that aren't biblical. Those values are preached to us constantly through nearly every channel of communication and source of entertainment. Those values work their way into our textbooks, conversations, and parenting trends. Two things leave us wide open to buying into them; lack of prayer and lack of time in the Bible. We buy into a mindset that we should be guarding against because our minds are being fed a steady diet of worldly beliefs while being starved of the word of God.

Are we willing to admit this is a problem that's presently affecting the church? Would we be willing to ask ourselves the hard question, "Am I spiritually discerning, dull, disinterested, or dead?"

I. Your mind needs to be regenerated in order to have true spiritual understanding

"The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) 

The other day, my youngest daughter and I were engaged in a debate. It wasn't contentious or argumentative like some debates in this world can become. Our discussion centered around the application of a particular portion of Scripture and whether or not we should interpret it as a hard and fast issue, or if there was some room for liberty in our understanding of that passage. I thought it was a good discussion, and I appreciated the spirit in which she approached the topic with me. She genuinely wanted to learn and didn't resist giving my viewpoint some consideration.

My daughter values the teaching of Scripture because she trusts in Jesus, and the Spirit of God lives within her. A stark contrast to that worldview is illustrated by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:14. In that passage, Paul tells us that a person with a mind that hasn't been regenerated by the Spirit of God cannot understand the things pertaining to the Spirit of God. It's a foreign language to him. It sounds like foolishness, and the unspiritual person probably scratches his head wondering why anyone would believe something that cannot be observed in nature.

I think there's a lot of irony present in that viewpoint, however. The unspiritual person thinks spiritual truth is folly and can't fathom why we place so much trust in a God we can't see, but I can't help but wonder how much such a person would be willing to examine the nature of their own beliefs or who they're placing their trust in.

Everyone believes things they haven't seen. Everyone places their trust in people they haven't laid eyes on. Everyone believes theories and ideas they haven't personally verified. Have you ever considered that much of what you believe comes down to the fact that you have chosen to trust the person who delivered information to you first, and many of your core convictions are things you've never taken much time to research or examine?

If an online influencer or celebrity got to your mind first, you may treat their views as verifiable truth. If a parent, teacher, or pastor got to your mind first, you may also trust what they've told you. It may be accurate or it may not be, but you may be basing the way you live your life, the way you treat your spouse, the way you raise your children, and the way you relate to God based on information that may be false, yet you treat it as true.

So what should we do about this? I think one of the best examples we're given is found in the history of the early church as recorded in Acts 17:11-12 which says, "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men." They searched the Scriptures for themselves with the goal to learn what was true.

The natural person doesn't have the power to discern spiritual truth. They are an open vessel for the whims and wishes of destructive earthly philosophies to take hold in their minds. But those who trust in Jesus Christ have the internal witness of the Holy Spirit who leads us toward the truth and uses His revealed word, which He encourages us to examine, to help us differentiate between what is true and what isn't.

If you're walking by faith in Christ, keeping in step with the Spirit, you'll understand what He's telling you. But if you don't believe, or if you keep fighting Him, or if you never seem to get around to examining the Scriptures for yourself, you'll be ripe for deception and Satan will gladly swoop in, put a bag over your head, and encourage you to spend decades on this earth stumbling around in utter confusion while you wait for the world to tell you what to believe next.

II. Someone in a state of unbelief cannot make accurate spiritual judgements

"The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one." (1 Corinthians 2:15) 

Have you ever had to stand before a judge? Depending on your reason for standing before one, it can be an intimidating experience. Your hope is that the judge rules justly and makes the right decisions, but you know there's a risk that he might not.

When you become a parent, a coach, a teacher, or an employer, you also become a judge. When I was directing a conference center, I had to make daily judgement calls with campers and staff. I had to decide when to chastise and when to show mercy. I had to try to decipher truth when competing stories were presented before me.

I still remember a camper who was accused of vandalizing part of the camp's property. He denied doing it, so I asked that he be brought before me. I looked at him in the face, confronted him with the details I knew, carefully watched his body language and facial expressions while I was talking, then finished my statement with, "You did what you're being accused of, didn't you." When I made the right judgement call, he confessed and said, "Yes, I did." Then I thanked him for his confession and told him, "If you go back and fix it, there will be no further problems and I'll have no issue with you either." He undid his vandalism and didn't cause any further difficulties. I had to make a judgement call, and I think I made the right one.

In 1 Corinthians 2:15, Paul speaks of judgement, but he also makes it clear that an unspiritual person cannot make accurate spiritual judgements, while a spiritual person can. If you have genuine faith in Jesus Christ, your assessment of the the value of His life, death, and resurrection will differ greatly from the assessments of the unspiritual person. Your understanding of the nature and need of salvation will differ greatly as well, and the unspiritual person will not be able to see what you're seeing until their spiritual eyes are opened.

Are there people in your life who seem spiritually disinterested or spiritually dead to you? If you know Jesus, what role has the Lord called you to play in their life?

Christ is offering Himself to them just like He offered Himself to you. In fact, He's making His appeal to them through your words and your life. Your task is to pray for them, model genuine faith to them, value them, spend time with them, speak to them, pray with them, and then mentor them in the faith if they eventually come to believe in Jesus. I hope someone once did that for you as well.

III. Are we making the best use of the insight and understanding made available to us?

“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)

I used to spend a lot of time at my grandmother's house when I was a child. Her sister, my great-aunt lived there as well and was like a bonus grandmother to me. In their living room, they had end tables that doubled as book shelves. I used to walk past them all the time, but finally got curious enough to start reading the books my aunt had purchased. One was an almanac filled with interesting details about American history. For years, I read it and re-read it whenever I visited. It's amazing what happened to my history grades when I stopped walking past the books and started picking them up.

Do you ever feel like you're walking right past the insight and understanding God is making available to you?

It's obvious that we are not in a position to instruct the Lord about anything. He is omniscient. He knowns all things, and His thoughts are far above our own. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8)

But as Paul wraps up this chapter, he does so with a clear declaration that if we know Christ, we have been blessed with the mind of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, we are made able to see what He sees and think what He thinks. Are we making the best use of that ability?

Possessing the mind of Christ enables us to see ourselves from God's perspective.

Possessing the mind of Christ enables us to see others with the eyes of God.

Possessing the mind of Christ enables us to understand more clearly the times in which we live.

"Of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command."  (1 Chronicles 12:32)

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." (Ephesians 5:15-16)

The mind of Christ is a gift given to all believers. Don't waste that gift. Understand the times in which you live. Walk in the wisdom of the Spirit, and resist the fallacies of the evil one that compete daily for space and dominance in your mind.

© John Stange, 2020