Guarding the Mind

In todays day and age, there are many different idioms, ideas, ideologies, isms, and methods within this cosmos (world) that have been developed for the sole purpose of tripping up the average Christ Follower. The funny thing is, there is nothing new under the sun: everything that we run up against today has been tried at least once before. The good news, when it comes to combating these myriad of isms, is that the methods for defeating these attacks are simple, timeless, and most importantly, have the ring of utter Truth.

The first way to defeat false philosophies is to keep our eyes upon Christ; He is the Head over everything, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega; from Him we draw all of our Truth, all of our Strength, and all of our Wisdom. When we keep Him in focus and Him in the forefront of our lives, it becomes suddenly very difficult for any man to take his place. When I was a young Christ Follower, I went to a church here in Tucson that I called "Pastor X's Church." Was that really Pastor X's church? Was I going to church to hear Pastor X, or was I going to church to hear my Savior? Unfortunately for me at that time, I hadn't fully realized the distinction. The end result, of course, was that I ended up being disillusioned by Pastor X, because he is only a human being; he has feet of clay! The same is true of any cult or ism out there. Why follow a man, or a couple, or a family? Christ must be the head.

The second way to defeat a false ideology is to stay focused on bible-measured teaching. We need to keep the scriptures paramount. God's Word is to be our guide, our measuring stick, our magnifying glass for examining everything that comes our way. Why should we follow something that "sounds good?" There is an old saying, that holds true; if you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything. When we aren't diligently searching the scriptures, when we aren't hearing the adequate and proper teachings of the scriptures, then we are left open to any wind of ideology or change that comes our way. How many Cults have said, "there is a better way," or "there is a new way," or, "there is something else." No: read your scripture. There needs be nothing else! Everything needed for understanding God, seeing the Father, learning of our Human Condition and the subsequent Cure, is contained within the Word of God.

The third way to defeat false doctrine and to keep strong, is to abound in Grace, and to not be bound by laws. Cults, doctrines, and any other religion will always give a list of do's and dont's. Do wear This. Don't eat That. Say This. Don't Say That. Do This Now. Don't Go There. A Real ____ Will Only Read This Type of Book... Now, truly there has to be a list, but it must align to Christ (see #1) and be found in scripture (see #2) and be taken in the proper context, proper grammar, and within the History of the Church. But everything else? My favorite fight with another Christian is about this: What To Wear To Church. Do you truly want to know what to wear to Church? Read Colossians 3:12: 12)Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13)Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14)And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Does it matter one iota if I should wear sandals or a suit to church? Absolutely not. Yet I have met, and argued with, men and women who believe that if I were truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit then I would dress a certain way. Reader, Following Christ has absolutely nothing to do with the outward appearance. Jesus' strongest words were reserved for the religious elitists of His day; 25 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:25-28). I hate to break it to you, Reader, but the majority of American Christians that I run across fall into this category. It's one thing to adhere to the bible, to the Word of the Living God, and it's another to put your own social ideals, personal opinions, and "Church Culture" ahead of the King of Kings.

The fourth way to defend our hearts against ideologies is to remain Joyous, Authentic, and Balanced. This means putting away our plastic smile and our canned answers, our false glad-handing when we're at church. In a pissy mood? Say so! Our honesty will be refreshing to those we run across. Happy? Good! Be happy! As a Christ Follower we come across many hard spots in our lives; my pastor said today that every believer comes across their own Garden of Gethsemane moment (because we are being carved into the image of Christ... heavy words), so we aren't required to be over-the-top happy at all times; but neither are we to be dour, quiet, and have a sort of lamentation over our faith. One basic tenet of Following Christ is the joy in knowing that our sins are forgiven, that we have an Advocate in Heaven, and that one day we shall be seen as we truly are, and that the veil that has been drawn across our Humanity shall be withdrawn, and we shall live with Christ as our True King, as we were meant to live from the very beginning!!

So there you have it; the four guideposts to protecting ourselves from empty words of empty religions. Adhere to them; stick to them; and don't just take my own word for it, because I am simply a man, but examine it for yourself; open up a dialogue with God; do your own research. Come to your own conclusions. You won't be disappointed.