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“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Mark 12:30).

These words have echoed for
thousands of years, beginning with Moses and leading to Jesus. They contain the
first of what I call Directives for the Mind. To love someone we must know him
or her. In the case of my wife, for instance, it would have been absurd to
declare that I loved her before ever meeting her. My love for her implies an
intimate knowledge about and knowledge of her. In the same manner we are to
strive both to know about God and to know Him intimately. Our minds are crucial
to this directive. It is my contention that one of the major problems in
contemporary Christianity is that too many of us are attempting know God
without using our minds to investigate what He has told us of Himself in
Scripture.

The second directive is
that the Christian mind should strive for truth. “Jesus therefore was saying to
those Jews who had believed Him, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31-32). Abiding in His
word implies a continual dedication to using the mind to search the Scriptures,
the place where His truth is written.

The third directive
pertains to maturity. Romans 12:2 declares: "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." It is
pertinent to note that the words conformed, transformed, and prove refer to
continuous action. Thus, the Christian mind is to be characterized by
continuous development toward maturity. Hebrews 5:14 refers to Scripture
as “solid food” as the writer describes the mature mind. He then asserts that
the Christian is to “press on [continually] to maturity” (Heb. 6:1). Such
maturity is a strategic need in the contemporary church.

The fourth directive
involves proclaiming and defending the faith. The maturing Christian mind will
actively engage the minds of those around him. For example, Paul modeled this
while in Athens: "He went to the synagogue to debate with the Jews and the God-fearing
Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened
to be there. He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers." (Acts17:17-18).
Paul proclaimed and defended the truth of the gospel in the synagogue with his
own people, among the populace, and even with the intellectual elite of the
time. Such encounters are easily duplicated in our day.

The fifth directive refers
to the need for study. Philippians 4:8 states: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is
pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Note the final phrase: “think about such things,” a clause indicative of the need for concentration, or study. The phrase
also includes a command that such study is to be continuous. We are to ponder,
or think on the things of God.

Instead of compiling a list or
resources that one needs to read and digest for spiritual growth, I feel it is
imperative for one to have the mindset of growth. If someone does not want
to grow, the best discipleship class or material is for naught. As leaders
in the church, we must teach people that to love and know God is done also with
the mind and not just the heart. A recent television ad of the past several years
says, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste.” That indeed is a tragic
statement, but more so is the Christian mind a terrible thing to waste.