If we have Christ in the heart, we have Christ in only part of life, and life doesn't change like it must. Only when Christ is in the mind, can we be transformed. Otherwise, we seek only the comfort and sustaining power of faith. In such a situation we know there is something missing.
If the head isn't changed, then we will appropriate only those dimensions of scripture and tradition that confirm our prior values and commitments. That makes us susceptible to false teaching, or, at the least, generates in us a sense of complacency in which the ideas formed in early life are never challenged or deepened. How did that popular book put it, "Everything I need to know I learned in Kindergarten" Yeah, and we learned a whole lot more that was destructive. Yeah, we become anxious consumers of whatever the world, or for that matter, our peers tell us we ought to be doing.
Without transformation Christians expect the church to reflect the values they learned elsewhere. Christians can't pay attention only to those Christian ideas and scriptures that agree with their views. That prevents transformation. On PBS a couple of years ago, I was watching the program on the Eisenhower presidency. He didn't want to send those troops to Little Rock. But he did. Why? He said that he could not simply support the court when it only agreed with his views. Christians are called to deal with scripture in its totality, not just to its tones that echo our own convictions. Scripture speaks over against and beyond our experience as well. It offers fresh and fuller understanding; it tests our personal experience; it offers transformation. If we hear only what we want to hear how will we be transformed by the renewing of our minds? If only our needs define what we expect from church and life, doesn't that bless the identity we have formed elsewhere? That allows us to stay the same and not go through the process of transformation. Being born again does not guarantee personal happiness, inner peace, and worldly success, nor does it enhance the emotional life. No, it's about transformation in the head! And that's risky as it can be.
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