INTRODUCTION:
- Love is the basic law of the Christian religion. It is the principle of all sound and acceptable conduct. It is, in the words of Paul, the greatest motivating influence known to man. 1 Cor. 13:13.
- When the lawyer sought to put Jesus to the test by asking Him a question, Jesus replied by asking the lawyer a question which required the latter to give from the law a clear statement of the four-fold analysis of the inner man – that is the heart, soul, strength, and mind. This is one way of saying that we are to love the Lord with all our physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual being. This attitude will always result in a balanced man. It would be profitable to consider each of the four component parts of man’s being; we at this time will deal with only one thing — the mind. What does it mean to love God with the mind? In seeking to ascertain that which is involved, let us consider three points.
WE LOVE GOD WITH THE MIND BY INTELLECTUAL HONESTY:
- It is true that a a man “thinketh in his heart so is he” (Prov. 23:7). It follows that a failure to think straight will sooner or later result in a failure to walk straight.
- Psychologists tell us that the tendency of every thought is to discharge itself into an act. Our intellectual processes, therefore, must be brought “into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
- Two illustrations regarding intellectual honesty:
- The story is told of a Hindu who contended that it was sinful to eat meat because it involved the killing of animals. He insisted, therefore, that it was one’s duty to live on a vegetable diet. When he was shown his vegetable diet under a microscope, he solved the problem, not by changing his diet, but by smashing the microscope! Isn’t that the attitude many of us take with the truth?
- One man is reported to have said, “If I am wrong, I am ready to be convinced of my error; but I would like to see the man who can convince me.”
WE LOVE GOD WITH THE MIND WHEN WE ENGAGE IN A FEARLESS QUEST FOR TRUTH:
- When someone says, “I am not seeking the truth, I already have it,” it is time to beware of him. In the language of another, that kind of a person is “bull-dogmatic.”
- The spirit that should characterize the seeker after truth is expressed in Proverbs 23:23 – “Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” John 8:31-32.
- There is close kinship between the spirit of scientific investigation and the spirit of the seeker after religious truth. Mark 10:15. Unless one is willing to sit down as a little child before the truth, be prepared to give up every preconceived idea, and humbly follow wherever and to whatever end it may lead him, he will learn nothing as he should. Acts 17:11-12.
“Of all human ambitions, an open mind, eagerly expectant of new discoveries and ready to remold convictions in the light of added knowledge and dispelled ignorance and misapprehensions, is the noblest, rarest, and the most difficult to achieve.”
WE LOVE GOD WITH THE MIND WHEN WE LIVE IN THE SPIRIT OF WISE TOLERANCE:
- Tolerance is not an easy-going indifference. If any one does not care what another believes in religion, that is not being tolerant; it is plain indifference. No genuine Christian can afford to be indifferent regarding what his fellow man believes; on the contrary, he should use every honorable means to leading him to see and accept that which he believes to be the truth, especially on questions which affect his personal salvation.
- To be open-minded does not mean that one is empty-minded. Neither does tolerance imply endorsement of what which one believes to be wrong. Genuine tolerance implies freedom from bias and bigotry with references to the view of others, and allows them freedom of thought in arriving at their conclusions.
- If one does not like the conclusions of another, the best way to correct that which he believes to be wrong is to present indisputable evidence of his error. This will involve one in controversy, but no one who is interested in learning the truth should shrink from free, full, and fearless discussion, especially when the truth of the gospel is involved. M. C. Kurfees once said that truth always flourishes in the soil of controversy.
the late Wayne E. Holland
in a sermon preached at:
Hiawassee, GA (09/04/1983)
Roxboro, NC (11/20/1988)
Henderson, NC (03/29/1998