What Are You Thinking?

When I was growing up my stay-at-home mom did most of the discipline because she was right there. I remember, though, on those few occasions when my transgressions were sufficient to be elevated to my dad, he seemed to always ask the same question. "What were you thinking?" Now, truth be told, the honest answer might have been something like, "What makes you think I was thinking?" It seemed like adults thought that we kids thought these things through and then, for whatever fine reasons we could come up with, carried out our hijinks. Not really. We did what we felt like.

I think it's generally the case. I don't think we think as much as feel, react, just do. We operate largely according to our nature, not our thinking. I was talking to someone the other day about their teen and some new, sinful actions and attitudes they were seeing. "I think it's the kids they're hanging around with." I don't. I think that we align ourselves with certain people because they strike a chord in us that we like. Maybe we weren't aware that we liked it before. Maybe that chord hadn't been struck before. But when they strike it, we find we like it. It resonates with us. It is us. Further, I think we know this, too. After all, aren't there people with whom we "have nothing in common"? They do not align with our values, our likes or dislikes, the things we really associate with. So when our associations cause us to go off in a wrong direction, it's not the fault of the associates; it is our own. They simply bring out in us that aspect of our sin nature that we like. We don't think it through. We don't examine it, evaluate it, consider all the pros and cons, and conclude, "Yes, I think this one makes more sense than the previous." So you'll hear young people (for instance) offering lame excuses like, "I don't think I'm convinced anymore that this whole 'Christianity and God' thing is true." What they mean is "I want to do what I want to do and will ignore those things that get in the way." Not thinking; feeling.

This runs counter to much of parenting and counseling. "Let's talk it through. Let's try to convince them. Let's give them our best arguments." Because we think that they're thinking about the things they're doing. They're not! So we offer sage advice and sound reasoning and they ignore us and we just can't figure out why. "What are you thinking?" What makes you think they're thinking?

Paul was clear. "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood" (Eph 6:12). It's not. It's not a struggle against bad thinking, although bad thinking is part of the problem. It's not against political foes or philosophical opponents or a poor education. Our struggle is against "the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph 6:12). The people of this world aren't merely misguided. They walk "according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience" (Eph 2:2). Like the dangerous demons of Matthew 17, "This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matt 17:21). We are damaged -- all of us. We need to have our minds renewed (Rom 12:2). We need to be aware that our hearts are deceived (Jer 17:9). We need to understand that everyone, us included, suffers from "the law of sin that dwells in my members" (Rom 7:23). As we engage our world, we need to be aware that the power we need to deal with those around us isn't a better-tuned argument or a well-placed verse. Those might be good, but only in the power of Christ in you. That's what we need.