Worship and Study

Part 6 of 6

Obviously, one of the primary reasons universities exist is to develop the mind. But we will never truly understand the importance and value of higher education until we grasp two principles of faith. First, academic study is a spiritual discipline. It strengthens the mind, just as other disciplines (like fasting and prayer) strengthen other aspects of our being. It helps shape us into the image of Christ. It is not something we do as an afterthought the night before an exam, or as a filler when we are bored and can't find anything better to do. No, scholarship is a high and joyous purpose, because the pursuit of truth is a joyful and sacred journey, and it deserves the very best we can give it.

And second, learning is an offering and a form of worship. Imagine two students meeting on the sidewalk. One is holding a Bible, and is on the way to a Bible study. The other is holding a history textbook, and is on the way to the library. Can you understand that both students are on their way to worship God? I can praise and glorify God in reading an anthology of literature, or solving a difficult math problem. God is both the source of truth and the path into truth. In the simple act of studying the world, then, we ascribe worth to the Creator, which is the very definition of the word "worship." If you are like me, sometimes you wonder if you have anything at all that is truly worth giving to God. When the offering plate is put in front of you, your pockets feel empty. May I suggest that one of the greatest offerings you can ever give to God is your intelligence?

God in His sovereign grace has brought you to here. Do not miss this fundamental truth: attending Simpson is not just preparation for good thing later; it is a good thing in itself. It is a season of your life. Of course education is a lifelong process, but this is the purest setting you will ever have for focusing simply on learning, on acquiring facts, knowledge and intellectual skills. So let God be the Lord of this season.

God is worthy of everything you have. Worship him by learning; love Him with your whole mind.
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The Power of Education

Part 5 of 6

But there is and even broader truth behind the Great Commandment. We often think of the human mind strictly in terms of the individual. In other words, most of us only care about our own minds, and perhaps those of our friends, but not the minds of the billions of people on the earth. To be so narrow in outlook is to miss one of the most significant points of all to be co-creators, to steward the earth's resources, to apply our minds to solving problems. Human potential is a vast God-given planetary resource, and imagine what the world would be like if every single human was developed to his or her full potential.

The fact we can only imagine such a world, and do not actually see it, is witness to the monumental impact of sin. Human potential is clearly not operating at 100 percent of capacity in this fallen world. Instead, it is seriously underdeveloped, and this has always been the case. There are many reasons for this, including poverty, oppression, racism, laziness, drug abuse, inadequate education, and selfishness. It must grieve God to see the waste of his good gift!

Developing human potential, then, both in ourselves and in others is the call and duty of everyone who wants to be a steward in the Kingdom. And higher education is one of the best means we have to unlock this vast resource.
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What Would Jesus Think?

Part 4 of 6

Everyone of us can identify individuals whom we consider to be role models of intelligence. Perhaps it is a professor, or an author you have read. A frequent theme of our hymns and choruses is wanting to be like Jesus. We think of Jesus as a master teacher, a model leader, a true servant. But have you ever thought of Jesus as an intellectual? He was literate, he was an orator and storyteller. When he preached, he used illustrations from the natural and social world. He studied the ancient Scriptures. He debated with the religious leader, using historical texts and logical arguments. In fact, the passage we heard from Mark 12 is an excellent example of Jesus at his intellectual best. If we love God and want to be like him, then, we need to have the mind of Christ, to think after his thoughts, in other words, to think like a Christian.

I love the phrase "What would Jesus do?" While it may have been trivialized through overuse, it helps to guide my behavior and determine my priorities,. But here is another phrase to consider: "What would Jesus think?" ...about advertising, or 19th century philosophy, or voting, or global warming, or Islamic extremism? Christ want us to visualize the world through his eyes and his intellect, and through the lens of Scripture and faith. This, too, is what it means to love God with your mind.

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The Whole Person

Part 3 of 6

So the human mind is a central aspect of our identity in Christ, and part of what makes us the integrated beings we were designed to be. The truth behind "the Great Commandment" is that we are made as whole persons, body, mind and spirit. We simply cannot be effective if any of these elements are ignored or undeveloped.

Consider basketball: to play well you must be physically well conditioned. You must have skills important to the game, such as jumping ability and eye/hand coordination. And you also need analytical skills, to understand the structure of the game, and its strategies. One cannot excel in basketball unless all of these skills are well developed and working together. Imagine a player who has great endurance, but can't dribble or handle the ball well; or a player with a solid understanding of the game and strong skills, but who is out of shape physically. Neither athlete is likely to make a lasting contribution to the team.

Unless our potential is fully developed, then, with all component parts working together, we will never achieve maximum impact in sports or any other endeavor. This applies to the life of the mind, too. The full value of our minds can only be realized through disciplined learning. We can't hold back some parts of our intelligence from the control of the Spirit Nor can we use our minds only some of the time, or only in those areas where it is easy to do so. Higher education is tough work, but nobody said serving God would be easy.

Returning again to Mark 12, note the important modifiers in the commandment about our minds. Christ said to love God with ALL your mind, not just part of it; and to love God with all YOUR mind, not someone else's. In other words, think fully, and think for yourself; in so doing, you will be expressing your love for God.
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The Importance of the Mind

Part 2 of 6

But how important is it, really, to develop our minds? Does a Christian need a sharp intellect to serve God? No; even a child can serve God. But consider the automobile: how can a car run efficiently on an engine that is badly tuned, or composed of inferior parts, or not large and powerful enough for the chassis? Or how can a computer operate properly when its memory is insufficient to run the software?
The mind is a wonderful and powerful tool, by far the most important one we posses. We use it to navigate through daily life, to form opinions, to draw conclusions and solve problems. And as we use our minds, a remarkable thing happens: our character is being shaped. Learning makes us certain kinds of persons. What we read, and talk about, and think about, forms who we are. In the company of great truths, and rigorous intellectual pursuit, we flourish.
John Calvin once said, "The mind of man, though fallen and perverted from its wholeness, is nevertheless clothed and ornamented with God's excellent gifts." The mind is a gift; and like every other such gift, it is from God; it is good; it is to be fully developed; and it is to be used in service. In Luke 19, Jesus tells a parable about a nobleman and his servants. The point of this disturbing story, as described in verse 26, is clear: those who develop their gifts please the master, and those who ignore or bury their gifts will have them taken away. So we are dealing with a very serious issue.
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What Does It Mean to Love God With Our Minds?

Part 1 of 6.

It is not
too hard
to under-
stand most
of this passage.
To love God
with our
whole heart
(kardia) means
to have no
idols, no
wavering, no affairs with other gods; in other words, total captivation to Him. To love God with our soul (psuche) means with our entire being, our whole person. And to love God with our strength (ischus) means to serve without growing weary or giving up, holding nothing back. But, what does it mean to love God with dianoia (our mind, our intellect)? What is "intellectual love" for God?

In his book Reaching for the Invisible God, Phillip Yancey tells the story of Frank Laubach, the man who founded the modern literacy movement. His lifetime goal was to think continuously about Jesus. Yancey describes how he practiced this discipline with increasing success, keeping a log of how often he thought about God. He gradually got to the point where on his best days, he thought about God every few seconds. But is this what the passage means? Do we "love God" by thinking about Him?

Unfortunately, many Christians think that our intelligence is somehow not honoring to God. Intellectual activity is seen as being "worldly," and an intellectually strong person cannot possibly be spiritually strong. As a result of this serious error, some Christians do not even try to develop their minds, defaulting instead to simplistic thinking and emotionalism. This is a dangerous posture to take, and it creates a poor testimony: non-believers assume that to be a Christian one has to give up thinking, and when they hear us using God's name, they assume we are either praying or preaching. There is double sin at work here: to be against intellectual activity is an insult to God, since our gifts and abilities all come from him; and it is poor stewardship to not develop and use every gift we have by His grace. In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, commenting on Jesus' teaching that we will never enter the kingdom of God unless we become like little children, said: "Christ never meant that we were to remain children in intelligence: on the contrary...He wants a child's heart, but a grown-up's head."

To love God with our mind, then, means to love God by thinking. The human mind is a good gift from the Creator. To think is a godly thing to do.
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