All Your Mind

This month I have been reading the fascinating biography by Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe. For someone who barely passed physics in high school, this book has been a stretch for me! Einstein’s life and accomplishments are legendary. He was so delayed in learning how to speak as a child his parents took him to a doctor deeply concerned. He flunked a physics class and graduated near the bottom of his college class. One of his professors described Einstein as a “lazy dog.” One person who knew him as a student claimed he would never amount to anything because he couldn’t remember anything. Upon graduating from college he was the only graduate from his class not to be offered a position. He sent applications all over Europe for even the most humble teaching post and usually did not even receive the courtesy of a reply. In desperation he applied to teach math and geometry at a high school in Zurich and did not even make the top three candidates. Yet history would prove that Einstein was one of the most brilliant people in history. On many occasions, Einstein would look at a problem that had stumped scientists for decades and see what others had missed. When he applied his great mind to solving the great mysteries of the universe, he made discoveries that astonished the world. Unfortunately, despite his great brain power, he never came to a saving knowledge of God. He did, however, confess: “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernable laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion . . . “ Einstein applied his great mind to the questions facing humanity and he forever changed the way people thought and viewed the universe.

Jesus said that as His followers we were to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). What does it mean to love the Lord with all of your mind? It probably includes applying our minds to think about the great issues of life. It may mean reading challenging books, attending seminars that stretch us and spending time around people who know how to think deeply. It probably means we don’t just allow others to do all of our thinking for us. It means we won’t jump on the latest fad or follow the most recent trend without thinking, as so many do. It may involve poring over God’s word and allowing the Holy Spirit to open our spiritual understanding to life’s mysteries. It is thinking at a higher level than the average person is content to think. I have recently felt challenged that churches today will not overcome today’s challenges by simply thinking the same way they always have. The challenges we face today requires a higher level of thinking than we have yet done.

This summer I visited England with my wife Lisa and my kids Daniel and Carrie. At one point my sixteen year old daughter begged, “No Dad! Not another graveyard filled with famous dead people!” I finally had to bribe her with a trip to Harrods. But even she was interested as we visited the home of C.S. Lewis. I told my kids, “Here was a man who used his brain for God’s service and people are still being blessed by what God showed him.” We visited Cambridge University and saw the memorial to Sir Isaac Newton. He was another Christian who applied his mind to the service of his Lord and he changed the way people thought. We live in an age when people are looking for those who know how to think. Totalitarian movements are attempting to do all the thinking for people. The media is filled with “talking heads” who spin their opinions and seek to influence the way millions of viewers view important issues. Our churches are filled with people who want to make sense of their confusing world. Our children need parents who don’t give simple clichés to complex life issues.

I thoroughly enjoy working with Christian CEOs. I was recently in a training session in Atlanta with a great group of business leaders. It was so encouraging to see how they were placing all their skills, talents, and business savvy on the altar for their Lord’s service. They intend to change their world! I’ll be traveling to Singapore soon to meet with Christian business leaders from Asia. They believe God has gifted them and they want to use those gifts to extend God’s kingdom throughout Asia and the world.

Can I challenge you? Are you still thinking and solving problems at the same level you were five years ago? What are you doing to elevate your thinking? What book have you read lately that stretched you? How are you loving God and honouring Him with all your mind?

Posted by Richard Blackaby at 11:42 pm