Many Christians live out their faith as if it only addressed spiritual matters. In doing so, they miss out on so many of the blessings it has to offer. When considering Romans 12:1-2, we are given a broader view of how we should live out the faith:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. 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.”
In verse 1 we are given our spiritual act of worship (offering our bodies as living sacrifices to God). However, notice the turn that the next verse makes. Instead of addressing a spiritual matter, verse 2 concerns an intellectual transformation: the renewing of our minds.
If we consider living the Christian faith in light of these two verses, it becomes evident that there is a dual-pronged approach. On one side we have spirituality, and on the other we have intellect. We are called to give Christ not only our lives, but our minds as well! Jesus addressed this in Matthew 22:37:
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ”
We are called to love God with our heart, with our soul, and with our mind. We can’t love Him with a couple of them and forget the third. He wants everything.
Before I end this post, I want to consider a quote by John Dewey, the man who made huge strides in establishing secular reforms in the American public education system:
“While you Christians examine your spiritual bellybuttons, we burly sinners will rule the world.”
Ouch! How painfully true Mr. Dewey’s statement is. As Christians, we can’t live our lives doing nothing more than “examining our spiritual bellybuttons”. There is a whole other intellectual dimension to the faith that we just don’t want to go to. We can’t be that selfish. If we want to see progress made, if we want to take back our schools, cities, businesses, etc., we are going to have to claim something more than the little space our culture allots us for exercising religion. We need to engage the world with our intellect, meeting them and ministering to them by giving them a reason for the hope that we have (1 Peter 3:15). Becoming well-rehearsed in apologetics and worldview-awareness is essential. Our goal isn’t limited to just giving the gospel, but also in getting those to whom we witness to think. If the mind isn’t open, the pathway to the heart is boarded shut. We can’t afford to just be “spiritual Christians”; we have to get down and accept the rigorous challenge of renewing our minds as well.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
