RENEWING OF THE MIND

Edited by Thurman C. Petty, Jr.

The Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy stress the need for Christians controlling their minds—both in its day-to-day use, and in the content of the subject matter we put into it.

 (This think-piece merely gathers some of those statements with the hope that their combined weight will indicate the importance of the subject. All texts are from NIV unless otherwise noted. Emphasis has been supplied by the editor.)

 Rom 12:2, 3: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

 Deut 6:4-6: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

The content of the commandments (here referring first of all to the ten commandments, but also including all the other Biblical instruction God gives us) are so important that God pictures them as filling the time and conversations of His people. This immersion in His word has the result that it makes it possible for us to fulfill the command of verse 4: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

 Vs. 8: "Thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes."

 Commenting on vs. 8, Ellen White says, "As the word of God is meditated upon and practiced, the whole man will be ennobled. In righteous and merciful dealing, the hands will reveal, as a signet, the principles of God's law. They will be kept clean from bribes, and from all that is corrupt and deceptive. They will be active in works of love and compassion. The eyes, directed toward a noble purpose, will be clear and true. The expressive countenance, the speaking eye, will testify to the blameless character of him who loves and honors the word of God." DA 612:3:

 Josh 1:5-9: ". . . As I was with Moses, so I will be with you (Joshua); I will never leave you or forsake you. "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.  Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

 Joshua's strength lay in studying and meditating on the Book of the Law (here the five books of Moses—thence the, to us, the Bible) "day and night", and by "doing everything written in it."

 Phil 4:8: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble (holy, worthy, honorable), whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely (pleasing, agreeable, amenable), whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think (let your mind dwell on it; ponder) about such things."

 Prov. 23:7: "...as he thinks in his heart, so is he." NKJV

 Matt 12:33-35: "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."

Matt 15:18-20: "...the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man `unclean.'  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’;..." 

 Mark 7:23 "All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.' "

 Isa 29:13: "The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men’."

 Isa 33:14-17: "The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: ‘Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?' (an apt description of the fabulous glory of God from a human standpoint) He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against CONTEMPLATING EVIL--this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and water will not fail him. Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar."

 COL 281: "And let none flatter themselves that sins cherished for a time can easily be given up by and by. This is not so. Every sin cherished weakens the character and strengthens habit; and physical, mental, and moral depravity is the result. You may repent of the wrong you have done, and set your feet in right paths; but the mold of your mind and your familiarity with evil will make it difficult for you to distinguish between right and wrong. Through the wrong habits formed, Satan will assail you again and again."

 Ps 15: "LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his HEART and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellow man, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken."

 Drawing from these texts and references, we come to the conclusion that the Christian must be careful what he/she sees, hears, reads, and says, for all these things will affect his/her relationship with the Lord—and his/her eternal salvation.

 My personal experience, after weighing the evidence, can be summed up in this manner: Most of the popular programming on TV and in the best-selling books (even those that are billed as "true") tend to teach principles that are contrary to scripture, and thus lead away from the LORD. Even those programs that seem harmless have humanistic philosophies that lead us to put undo trust in man, and forget our need of "leaning on the everlasting arms."

 From my point of view it feels that I have particular mental/spiritual problems that seem to be affected more measurably by exposure to these influences than do others. But I suspect that everyone is so plagued in one or another of these areas as well. However, as the foregoing Scripture clearly indicates, everyone will be affected to one extent or another. The general tendency to exposure with the "worldly" philosophies promulgated by today's media will be to draw us away from God and His word, and toward a life more in tune with the lusts and pleasures of the world.

 The Apostle John offered us, I believe, counsel that fits our age of technology as well as it did his own:

 1 John 2:15-17: "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

 The “cravings of sinful man” would “. . . include all strong desires for indulgence contrary to the will of god . . . .” About the “lust of the eyes,” it could be said: “Many who would [not] . . . indulg[e] in open sin themselves, are eager to read about sin, to study it in a picture, or to watch it depicted upon the screen.” *

 Numbers 1-3 lists a number of things that would be included in the phrase “the boasting of what he has and does.” In the list would be: “Vainglory . . . display . . . materialistic satisfaction with worldly goods, . . . that which substitutes the material for the spiritual . . . work . . . possessions . . . [a person's] own beauty . . . children [etc.].”*

 There are so few programs on TV (including the news programs), that are not contaminated with worldly philosophy as to lead away from God—especially are the advertisements objectionable in this respect—that it would seem to me the only safe course would be to remove it from our home entirely. 

 But what about Bible DVDs and other Christian programming? How could we enjoy these if we no longer had a TV? If Television becomes a problem and we cannot control it, then it seems that we may need to sacrifice some good things in order to protect ourselves from evil.

I've also been alarmed at the lessening of desire for spiritual things that have appeared in children since the introduction of computer and internet games. While before they may have seemed to enjoy worship, now they show open aversion to it—anxious to get back to their games.   I wonder what kind of a monsters we've let into our homes, and what the effect of “surgery” (removing the TV and video games) would be at this point. Would we kill the patient while trying to save him?

 Christianity has got to be an all-or-nothing affair. We either put everything we have into it, live it, breath it, talk it, share it—or forget it and go to hell! I don't think we can straddle the fence any longer. It's time for decision and action. And I'm afraid that any compromise we make in the middle will only move the stumbling block on down the path—to trip us up later.

 What would we put in the place of TV and video games if we were to eject these from our homes? That would take a good deal of study, to be sure. But there are many positive things we could do: spend time together—seeing things in the area we've wanted to see but haven't had time to see (because of the pressure of getting home for whatever TV program we don’t want to miss); puzzles; games; knitting, art, writing, repair projects that keep getting put off; visiting with friends and neighbors; home Bible study (both as a family, and inviting interested people into our homes to share the truth with them); working in the yard, or the shop; out-door exercise—the list is endless!

 In short, we should go back to LIVING instead of rushing about from one commercial to another, trying to do some necessary thing, irritated with one another if we cause any delay in getting back to the PROGRAM!!!

 I don't think, in view of the Scriptural and Spirit of Prophecy counsel, that we need to pray about what we should do. I think it's obvious. But we will need to pray for courage to do it, and for the spirit of unity in our home as we carry out the painful “surgery” demanded by our commitment.

 God help us to help ourselves!

OTHER REFERENCES THAT BEAR ON THE SUBJECT

GC371.0: ". . . Though no man knoweth the day or the hour of His coming, we are instructed and required to know when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and refuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the flood was coming."

 GC 373.2: "For some weeks preceding the time [of the expected advent in 1844], worldly business was for the most part laid aside. The sincere believers carefully examined every thought and emotion of their hearts as if upon their death-beds and in a few hours to close their eyes upon earthly scenes. . . . All felt the need of internal evidence that they were prepared to meet the Savior; their white robes were purity of soul—characters cleansed from sin by the atoning blood of Christ."

 GC 374.1: God's purpose of allowing disappointment to come on His church—“He was testing the hearts of those who professed to be waiting for His appearing. There were among them many who had been actuated by no higher motive than fear. Their profession of faith had not affected their hearts or their lives."

 GC 377.3-378.0: ". . . The spiritual darkness which falls upon nations, upon church’s and individuals, is due, not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the succors of divine grace on the part of God, but to neglect or rejection of divine light on the part of men. . . . By . . . devotion to the world and forgetfulness of God and His word, . . ."

 GC 378.2-379.1: ". . . He who deliberately stifles his convictions of duty because it interferes with his inclinations, will finally lose the power to distinguish between truth and error. The understanding becomes darkened, the conscience callous, the heart hardened, and the soul is separated from God. Where the message of divine truth is spurned or slighted, there the church [or family] will be enshrouded in darkness; faith and love grow cold, and estrangement and dissension enter. Church members center their interests and energies in worldly pursuits, and sinners become hardened in their impenitence.

 "The first angel's message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of god's judgment, and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the world, and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and backsliding."

 GC 381.3: "The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence and affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly things to occupy the soul, is likened to the violation of the marriage vow."

 GC 387.2: "In [the] tide of worldliness and pleasure-seeking, self-denial and self-sacrifice for Christ's sake are almost wholly lost."

 GC 396.0: ". . . No man is proved to be a true Christian because he is found in company with the children of God, even in the house of worship and around the table of the Lord. Satan is frequently there upon the most solemn occasions, in the form of those whom he can use as his agents."

 GC 398.1: ". . . Let the people of God arouse out of sleep, and begin in earnest the work of repentance and reformation; let them search the Scriptures to learn the truth as it is in Jesus; let them make an entire consecration to God, and evidence will not be wanting that Satan is still active and vigilant."

GC 400, 401: (Characteristics of God's work in every age.)  "There was little ecstatic joy, but rather deep searching of heart, confession of sin, and forsaking of the world. A preparation to meet the Lord was the burden of agonizing spirits. There was persevering prayer, and unreserved consecration to God.

 "It produced . . . deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul before God . . . . weaning of affections from the things of this world, a healing of controversies and animosities, a confession of wrongs, . . . penitent, broken-hearted supplications to [God] for pardon and acceptance. . . . self-abasement and prostration of soul . . . rending of hearts and not of garments, and turning unto the Lord with fasting, and weeping, and mourning."

 GC 403.1: "Every morning they felt that it was their first duty to secure the evidence of their acceptance with God.  Their hearts were closely united, and they prayed much with and for one another. They often met together in secluded places to commune with God, and the voice of intercession ascended to heaven from the fields and groves. The assurance of the Savior's approval was more necessary to them than their daily food; and if a cloud darkened their minds, they did not rest until it was swept away."

 GC 405.3: "The fruits of the Advent Movement, the spirit of humility and heart-searching, of renouncing of the world and reformation of life, which had attended the work, testified that it was of God."

*[5:BC 641, 2]