It’s Time for a Mind Reformation

I’ve been thinking lately about the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. October 31 will mark half a millennium since Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 complaints to the door of the church in Wittenberg. Luther was an Enneagram One—the Reformer!—so his movement was aptly named. You could say it was a thing he was uniquely qualified, even destined, to do.

Luther wanted a God he could love, not just one to be afraid of all the time or pay off with indulgences. He wanted a holy, loving and consistent God, and he found Him in the scriptures. His emphasis on grace rocked the world – and not always for the better. There was horrible violence for a time, but Luther’s ideas eventually won over much of Europe.

Which brings me to the point of this post: human beings are again embroiled in a war of ideas. It’s starkly apparent in the U.S. right now, but it’s going on around the world. Lance Wallnau says that “Reformation involves changing the thought processes of a culture.”  This goes either way – toward light or darkness.

I could write about how our nation has strayed from biblical values over the last half-century, but the problem goes deeper. We would need to go back to Scholasticism and then on to the so-called “Enlightenment” and rationalistic Western thinking. Actually, we would need to start with the Fall and the fracturing of our intimacy with God that led to human personality.

The point is that people steeped in Western “civilization” are mind-heavy, to steal David Alsobrook’s term. We choose our theology based on what makes sense to our brains and call it good. We fail to understand the multiple complex forces exerting their influence beneath our consciousness.

In all of this, we have left no room for the Holy Spirit, for the idea that divine revelation could be an actual thing, or the concept that maybe there is a higher way of knowing than our own brains.

So, my hope in this 500^th year of Reformation is for a change of no less consequence or impact: a reformation of our minds. How does that happen? Here are some recommendations:

-Learn the Enneagram. There’s no better model of human behavior that I’ve ever seen. It’s accurate and it gets to the root of why we do what we do. Once you know your patterns, you can choose to do something else and become your authentic self.

-Understand how your brain works! It’s really freeing to know the biological roots of some of what’s going on between our ears. I recommend “Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior” from The Great Courses.

-Learn to quiet your mind. Don’t be afraid of non-religious meditation. It helps you stop the constant chatter in your brain so you can hear your own true self and hear God better.

-Most importantly, press into Jesus. Do whatever it takes to get greater intimacy with him. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” is an awesome verse; it lets you know flat out that your mind needs renewing. We can do some things to help in this process, but the greatest transformation and reformation occurs in the love presence of the God who created you and your mind.

In closing, it must be said that Luther didn’t have everything right; who does? His anti-Semitism is legendary. The sentiment prevailed in his time and he did not question it. This happens to all of us and is inevitable. Good grief – some Christians used the Bible to justify slavery! And that’s just one example. There are things we assume now that our descendants will surely cringe at. Extend grace to yourself and to others as we walk this journey of life and mind transformation. Remember to take the plank out of your own eye first.

I welcome your thoughts on this idea of mind reformation – or of your own experience with it.

PLEASE SHARE