A New Thought Process

The Word of God speaks to our thoughts in a very direct way, and in James' writing, James says this about thought and speaking. James 1:19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.

The lesson for each of us is to think things through in our lives and rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit to give us discernment in what we say and what we do. These writings in James could very well be his sermon without the mount. His words are very important in the area of discernment and interaction with other people. These words echo what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth^, and Paul took it a step further by saying the following in 2 Corinthians 10:³ We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. ⁴ We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. ⁵ We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.

Paul always took things a little further, and when he wrote this, he was defending his authority as an apostle so that they could see where he was coming from. Paul did not consider himself as much of a speaker, but his writings were colossal and strong. I was in a men's Bible study and one of the men said he had been reading the letters of Paul to many churches and his thought was "man this guy is out there", to which I replied, "Yes, and his example is what is needed for "the church" to truly "be" the church in every way.

Paul was trying to equip this church in Corinth to "take a stand" for the gospel in a very worldly city that was inundated with sin and wild living. Paul knew they needed to take a stand, but what they needed to rely on was the presentation of the gospel, and that was it. What a Godly focus!! Paul needed to be seen as an authority in his teaching to keep the church focused on the main thing, and in verses 7-8, Paul gets deeper in his explanation. ⁷ Look at the obvious facts. Those who say they belong to Christ must recognize that we belong to Christ as much as they do. ⁸ I may seem to be boasting too much about the authority given to us by the Lord. But our authority builds you up; it doesn’t tear you down. So I will not be ashamed of using my authority.

The church in Corinth needed to realize that Paul's authority came from the Lord, and their growth as a church fellowship was dependent on Paul remaining true to the mission and them following his direction. To keep their minds focused on the task at hand trumped their human way of thinking that Paul was calling for too much authority. They needed to trust him and join hearts with Paul in completing the work that needed to be done. We need this same thing today when thinking about our country's leaders and our church leaders, and take any negative thoughts captive and stay focused on the task. This is called unity, and even though one is leading, that person equips and spreads that leadership out among the church, and in spreading it out, more work gets done and more people are involved in the mission. It all begins with a new thought process and a new, fresh way of serving.

Today's Message,

David Warren