Thinking Soberly
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Drawing Illustration - Different voices have different messages to communicate .…
Turn to Romans 12 and Genesis 3
Our vision is to be a church that helps people reach their full potential in Christ: Physically, Spiritually and Emotionally.
Regarding our potential, we’ve been looking at Romans 12. And Paul says,
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Do not conform 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.
To reach our full potential in Christ, we offer ourselves fully to God, we prevent ourselves from being conformed, and we permit ourselves to be transformed by the work of the Holy. Transformation begins in the mind - learning to think correctly about God and about life.
Why the mind? Every mind needs renewed because every person has a sin nature, and sin causes brain damage! We can’t think right. Of course, wrong thinking leads to wrong behavior. But God desires to restore our hearts and minds and give us a new nature (that’s called sanctification). Our minds are restored as we immerse ourselves in the Word and learn to have the mind of Christ. As we do that, our thinking about other people and life should become more Christ-like. However,
Thinking properly and spiritually also includes how we think about ourselves.
I don’t need to go into detail here, because we all have experienced this. Everyone struggles with thinking properly about themselves. We either think too much or too little. Too good or too bad.
But in
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
So, Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, acknowledged we all have a thinking problem - we all have brain damage. You can read more about that in Romans 1 - that sin leads to a depraved or useless mind.
Now, understand, only God is perfect - so no one, other than God will ever think perfectly about themselves and others - nor should we expect others to think perfectly. We need to acknowledge that all of us think imperfectly at times. So,
The goal is not perfection in our thinking, but rather management of our imperfect thinking.
What does that mean? To manage our imperfect thinking simply means to
Recognize ungodly thoughts and replace them with righteous thoughts - that’s in alignment with Christ and His Word.
Let’s go back to Genesis 3 and look at some common thinking problems that need to be managed. And before we get there, just know that I’m not talking about chemical imbalances or mental illness or anything like that. Managing our thinking means we are to manage that which can be managed. If we can exert self-control - then do it. If we can take captive our thoughts - then do it. If we can learn to think Biblically, then do it.
Genesis 3 we find Adam and Eve in the Garden, and Eve is having this conversation with a serpent. I do not believe this is a literal snake or serpent, but rather an elohim, a spiritual being who has a serpentine but dazzling bright appearance.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
One of our thinking problems is
1. Polytheism: There are other standards.
Polytheism says,
Polytheism is the belief in and worship of other gods.
Part of worship is bowing down to and submitting to - and listening to. The deity says - I believe - I behave.
This goes back to what we talked about a few months ago that there are other elohim, other spiritual beings, other “gods” present in our world. Some are pro-Jesus and are here to help us. Others are anti-Jesus, and they seek our demise and often portray themselves as gods or equal to God. It’s these that I’m concerned about. There are multiple “gods” trying to influence us and corrupt our thinking. There are multiple external voices challenging, confusing and corrupting the truth of God - and consequently challenging, confusing and corrupting how we view ourselves. Therefore, we must be so careful with who and what we listen to.
If polytheism is a problem,
The solution is Monotheism. The belief in and worship of the One Sovereign God - who is above all gods.
It’s His voice, the voice of truth, the voice of His Son Jesus Christ and His Spirit that we should listen to and submit to. So you can see, we need to manage who we listen to.
Polytheism is a problem with external voices - what about the internal? Jump to verse six.
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
The second common problem with our thinking is
2. Pride: I’m above the standard.
And pride says, I’m above the standard. Whether it’s God’s standards, the laws of our nation, our employer, our parents - doesn’t matter - pride says I know the rules, I know the standards, but they don’t apply to me.
So, Eve heard the voice of another “god,” who challenged and confused God’s standard, and she fell for it. She believed, “Oh, there’s another standard here, and I’m going to follow that one.” That’s pride.
The third thinking problem we can struggle with is -
3. Passivity: I’m below the standard.
Look at the rest of verse 6 and notice how Adam responded. Eve took the fruit, that was pride, she ate it, then
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
For some reason, Adam took a passive role in this ordeal. He was with her and he did not protect her. He allowed another god into his home. Men, are you passive - allowing false gods into your home - to influence, to corrupt God’s standards? He did not say to his wife, “We should not do this!” Adam did not stand in the gap between his wife - his family - and the other standards. His thinking and his behavior were passive.
You know what passivity is? It’s allowing others to do your thinking for you. I’ll let other people tell me what’s right and what’s wrong. I’ll allow others to make the decisions and I’ll just go with the flow - even if I know it’s wrong.
The fourth thinking problem is
4. Shame: I don’t meet the standard.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
It’s interesting - Adam and Eve were just fine with their bodies, with their self-image, they had a great relationship with God until they bought into the lie of another god - until they accepted another standard.
See, sin and shame do several things:
Sin and shame confuse the standards, distort our self-image and cause fear.
We get confused. Whose standard do we live up to? His? Hers? Theirs? Photoshop? You can’t compete with a touch-up job. Our self-image is distorted. How many have thought I’m - “Too ugly. Too plain. Too tall. Too short. Too fat. Too skinny. Too dotty. Too spotty. Too dumb. Not good at anything.” We’ve all been there. And because of the sin and shame, we fear the only One who can truly help us.
So why do we need to know this? If the first part of the goal is to reach our full potential in Christ, then we must manage our imperfect thinking. We must manage the outside voice, the pride, the passivity and the shame. But why? Because the second part of the goal is to help others reach their full potential in Christ, and
How we manage our thinking about ourselves can greatly affect how others manage their thinking about God.
Paul says in 2 Cor. 6 not to put any stumbling blocks in anyone’s path toward salvation in Christ. And flawed thinking about ourselves could be a stumbling block? How so? Our job is to point people toward Christ. But if we’re incorporating the standards of other gods (in some cases doctrines of demons), if we’re being conformed to the world, then we’re not giving people a clear picture of the real Gospel of Jesus Christ. We’re not point people toward Him.
Both pride and passivity point to self. Pride says, “I can - even without God!” Passivity says, “I can’t - even with God.” Shame says, “God can’t forgive me. My sin is too big, and God is too small.” Fear says, “God won’t forgive me, because God is too mad.”
None of those point people toward God. They all point people away from God and who He really is. Proper thinking says, “I can’t without God. I can with God. God can forgive all sin, and will forgive any sin I confess.”
As we align our thinking with what Scripture says about who we are and who God is, we represent Him better. The only way to look at ourselves with sober judgment, with a correct self-perception is to look at ourselves through the eyes of God - that will be next week.
In the meantime,
What are some common phrases or words that you use to mentally describe yourself?
What do these phrases or words mean to you?
How do these phrases or words align or misalign with Scripture?
What words do you think Jesus would use to describe you? How does Jesus think about you?
Which thinking problem(s) do you struggle with the most?
Choose the heaviest one. What are some possible steps you could take to change improper thinking?