Discipline of the Mind - 6.1

Welcome to The Student Podcast. This is where two guys get together and we discuss and learn how to be students of Jesus Christ. So good to have you today. like what we are like oh you're just a doctor i'm like well but sure we'll leave it at that yeah there's a there's a youtube channel i like watching it's called demolition ranch and yeah just shoot stuff and blow stuff up it's really most of the time it's pretty funny yeah every once in a while you know crude humor you're like okay i just want to watch that one great but anyways uh in his i'm not sure if it's still in his intro or not but he used to be like because he went to vet school.
And he's like, I'm a doctor. Ish. Yeah. The sad thing is like vet school is often harder to get into med school. It's very competitive and it's just as expensive if not more. And you don't reap the benefit from it financially when you get out. Oh, that's surprising. Yeah, it's a, you would have to be a lifelong vet to make that turn to benefit. And you just need to like doing it. But I mean, if you really want to do that kind of thing, it's a long road. It's expensive road. And it's got a lot of, I mean, it's four years of med school for dogs, for animals. It's intense.
Yeah. Wow, and I've heard from people that, you're like the second or third doctor who's told me this. And one of the doctors I talked to made the comment, yeah, my patients can tell me what's wrong. Yeah. Yeah, I can't necessarily get a story from my dog. Yeah, yeah. From their owner maybe. Yeah, really, right? Yeah, that's how I mean, it's special. I mean, I think it'd be really cool. I mean, especially really to get to do that. I know that Rob's son. Mm hmm. Yep.
Is that but he travels a lot. Yeah, but Caleb is a really specialized vet. So he deals only in hogs. And so I think he does okay. You know, financially, I think he does fine. But he really loves it. And being raised in the country, you know, he just, he likes being with animals. Yeah, it runs in the Rob family. Yes, it does. From what I hear. Yep. Yep. It's good. It's good. Well, hey, do you want to pray for us before we start? Sure. Let's do it.
Lord Jesus, we just thank you for this time that you've given to us. We ask that you would help us to redeem it and use it for your glory. We pray that we would be grounded in your word and that it would sharpen us and that you would use your sword of the spirit through each other. We would sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron. And we ask, Lord, that you'd receive the glory. We give you thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Well, when I was rereading through this chapter, I was reminded that chapter six was the chapter I came into a Bible study the first time I ever put my hands on this book. Yeah. And so I was at Calvary Reform Presbyterian Church in Hampton, Virginia. And this is Pastor Snaps.
I think it might even have his name in it. Oh, really? No, it doesn't. He gave you that copy? Yeah. We were doing the Bible study or the book study, and it was just a men's study, and he invited me to it. I had never done anything like that before, and that's where I found out that Panera Bread existed. Oh, yeah. I can't remember you doing that.
Was it Panera Bread or St. Louis Bread Company? It was Panera Bread. Okay. You know, the first time we drove through St. Louis, we were sitting there, and I kept seeing these St. Louis Bread Company, and I was like, I don't know how they're getting away with this. Like, like that's Benera's logo. Like that's trademarked. Yeah, that was a surprise. But yeah, anyways, they that's the first time I remember but I didn't I've read through the book a few times since then, but not realizing until, you know, a couple of weeks ago when I read through this chapter again, that realizing how much of a profound influence this book started to make in my life when I was very brand new to Reformed theology and very new to my Christian walk.
So he starts off this, just saying, you know, God's given us this mind, the apex in the possibility of possessing the mind of Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, a possibility affirmed by Paul when he said, but we have the mind of Christ, a mind which is constantly renewed, 1 Corinthians 2.16 and Romans 12.2. And he goes on with this idea that the mind is more powerful than a supercomputer.
But then he points out something that, have you heard of the historian Mark Knoll? No, I haven't. Okay, so he's a church historian. He taught at Notre Dame for a long time and really well respected in the history of religion field. But Mark Knoll wrote a book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. Basically, the thesis of that book is, there's not much mind. There's not much thinking in the evangelical world. And he's the guy who wrote the book, What is Evangelicalism?
So, I mean, he's a very learned guy. I don't see eye to eye with him on everything. But just the more time I spent reflecting on my time in a broad evangelical type church, and then just being in the church realizing, I think this is largely true. To an extent, that's a broad brushstroke. What do you think growing up? Because you grew up in a very different Christian milieu than I grew up in. Yeah.
I always just think of my dad, who I really respect, had this tons of books on his shelf and he has more books on his shelf than, he'll tell you he has more books on his shelf than he'll read in his lifetime. That's probably true because he's the kind of guy that doesn't need anything. So for his birthday, my mom just keeps on getting him more books, but he, he's very, disciplined about keeping himself interested in literature and reading things and picking up books and finding them to be interesting. And so that's, that's kind of modeled for me. Like, I don't care if I'm interested about the subject, let me start and let's see where this goes, you know? And so I think that that was helpful.
But as I was exposed to more broad evangelicalism in college through campus ministry, It was so refreshing. I knew I was connecting with an awesome guy when he mentioned the Puritans, because it was just so rare. Everyone was just reading blogs off the Gospel Coalition was their deepest reading, which I'm not throwing shade on the Gospel Coalition necessarily for everything they do. But that was the deepest it would get. Or somebody's blog, I'm like, this is what I read today in the Bible. And again, I don't want to dismiss those things. there was something to be said for a guy who is serious enough to like sit down and read a Puritan.
And I was like, yes, this is my kind of guy. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So, uh, so I think you were raised in just this, uh, this very different culture than I was raised in where, Oh, I'm sorry. My, that was odd. My computer decided to go to sleep. Um, but, uh, this, now I know why. Help if I press start recording. Okay, the audio has been recording but the video wasn't okay, but It's I think this is somewhat true in reformed circles right reformed circles tend to be more read more learned more Theologically oriented than brought evangelical.
Yeah. Yeah, they can be I think it can be a something that we carry out on our shirts, leave a little too much to our detriment. But yeah, I think studying, studying some of these doctrines that are inherent to the reform faith, take like, take a little bit more, more of a deeper pass than just a cursory reading of the Bible. And there's godly people before who were guided by the Holy Spirit to do that. And I think that can, a lot of that goes hand in hand. Yeah, I'd like to actually pick up on your point, right? Because I think there's two dangers, right? It seems like there's always a ditch on both sides of the road, right?
And the one ditch is just this mindless Christianity. And the other ditch is this over-intellectualized Christianity. And I remember my friend, Dr. Eshel Mendown in Florida, now he's at Orlando RP Church, and he was telling a story one time about how he was interacting with a guy who had just come to the Reformed faith, and they were talking about different types of churches, and as they were talking about these different churches, The guy was saying Well, like if this this church would be like the hands of the if the whole church is like the Bride of Christ, you know Then the Salvation Army would be like the hands, you know They're always busy about doing stuff and feeding the poor and things like that And this church would be like this and this church would be like this and this guy who is brand new to reform Theology was like yeah, and the reformed church would be the head Yeah And Dr. Eshleman was like, there's only one head of the church and his name is Jesus Christ. If you think that you're the head of the church, that you're the intellect of the church, you've put your mind in an idolatrous place. And I remember just being like, Like put right in my place and I mean this was I'm not like talking about me here like legitimately this is him talking about someone else, but I was just kind of like What spiritual insight he had to be able to correct that young man to be able like don't get so prideful in your theology, bud And so so I'm trying to avoid both of those ditches, right? so He talks about the divine program So picking up on this idea of how the Lord has taught us to think.
And so what does he start off with in Philippians 4.8 about what we're supposed to be thinking about?
Yeah, he just quotes Paul's exhortation in Philippians 4.8.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. And then he explains that there's not just a positive command here, but there's a negative. And he kind of goes through and he says, finally brothers, whatever is untrue, whatever is dishonorable, whatever is unjust, impure, unlovely, uncommendable, if there's anything inferior or unworthy of praise, do not think about these things. So kind of saying like, Paul commands us to do this, but what does that imply? Don't do these things. And what is scripture guiding us into for how we should be thinking and training our minds?
Do you think that's a valid hermeneutic to take a positive command and flip it into its negative? The only thing that is coming to my mind right now is the Westminster Garter Catechism and its rules for expositing the Ten Commandments, that where a positive command is given the negative is implied, and where a negative command is given, the positive is implied. Yeah, I think it's the right hermeneutic.
I was hoping you would go there, you know. I think it's fine, right? I hadn't thought about doing that with Philippians, but I mean, it would just go with two verses above that, right? Be anxious about nothing, but in all things, with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.
There, he specifically uses the negative and the positive, you know. And I think that's typically Paul's way, you know, let him who steal, steal no longer, right? There's always the labor with his hands that he might have to give to those who are in need. And so I think that I think that that's a valid hermeneutic he used there. But I thought I hadn't crossed my mind to think of it that way. And so he gives this idea that Christian, as Christians, we are free to have a Christian mind. This is tough, right?
Because theologians talk about the Noahic effects of sin. So Noah, how you thinking, you know, so, so the effects of sin on our thinking, on our mind. And, you know, that, even our intellect is twisted, warped, touched, poisoned by the fall. And so part of the redeeming aspect of the Holy Spirit is actually redeeming our minds as well. That brings up all sorts of theological implications, but it also brings up a whole vista of hope.
You know, Well, let's go let's go ahead and. Oh, no, let's just sit there for a while, right? You're a thinking guy. Can we trust our mind? No. No. Come on, man. I don't know. Romans eight tells us what our mind does for us. But to be carnally minded is death. but to be spiritually minded is life in peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." And so, I mean, Scripture gives us a really helpful truth about ourselves.
Your mind is running from God. And no matter how good you think you might be, you can't even get your mind to start running the other direction. And so every thought is not taken captive to obedience to Christ. It's running from him. It's an rebellion from him. And that leads you to death. So understanding that about my mind and the sinfulness and the fallenness of my mind means following my mind is a very dangerous thing.
Now, I think there's some common grace God has given to everyone, right? Because the biology professor at Stanford knows a ton about God's creation and has a lot of it right. And yet the entire way, if he's an atheistic biology professor, his mind is kicking against God. And that way will lead to death. So it's not that God has let his mind be so darkened that he can't even understand cellular biology.
He might've given a lot of common grace to where he won a Nobel prize for it, right? But ultimately, his mind, without the Spirit of God renewing it and redeeming it, cannot run towards God and cannot be subject to Him. And that's where my mind came from before God's grace got a hold of me.
Yeah, amen. I mean, I think about the ways in which I thought, you know, the highways of my brain where my train of thinking would go regularly. It was directed regularly, almost always towards selfishness, indulgence, self pleasure. And still now, you know, and I think that wonderful part of like the Holy Spirit renewing our minds is that Now, you know, I love to talk with people about neuroplasticity, especially somebody who's really been struggling with sin or anger or something like that, and like, hold on, no, no, no. God's made your physical brain in such a way that as you think upon those things which are noble, true, right, and just, pure, praiseworthy, and of good report, as you continue to put away your anxiety and you put on thankfulness, you actually can carve new neural pathways into your own brain, right? The Holy Spirit can do this. This isn't just positive thinking. This is like, your brain will physically change.
And so, you know, talking to guys who have looked at pornography for far too long and, you know, having them having a really hard time with, you know, how to interact with women and stuff like that, and just trying to encourage them, like, Continue to fight this. Continue to think about those things that are lovely. Continue to think about those things that are praiseworthy. Continue to look women in the eyes and care about them as human beings.
And those old pathways, as you shut the door in your mind, no, I'm not allowed to think that. No, I won't go that way. Plead with God for forgiveness right away. Repent in your thinking turn. And the Lord does give victory. Now, it doesn't mean that you're never going to struggle. But I mean, I know in my own life, I know talking to a whole bunch of guys. So like, this is one, one of those areas where it's like, no, your mind can be removed or renewed. Sorry. But you know, he does heal.
And talking to a guy who's really struggled with anger, you know, I'm like, no, as you continue to work on loving your wife, those ways of thinking that led to you know, sinful responses towards her can change. The things which once annoyed you, as you think upon, change your thinking. You'll see her as, those are God given traits often. Parts of her personality that you actually used to love.
I think it's helpful to like, we have this mind that's so depraved and running from God, but we live in a world that is downstream current, pulling our mind that way. And I mean, Paul called this out in Romans 12, you know, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Stop going that way, that the world is pulling your mind and your renewing has to go this way.
Yeah. Right. And we have, I mean, It's like we were battled from within and we're battled from without. I remember hearing a Scottish pastor talk about Philippians, one of the themes in Philippians. He says, it's a battle for your mind. And he's right. I mean, you know, Paul says, you know, let this mind be in you, you know, in Philippians four, think about these things.
And we are in a battle for a mind. And it takes a proactive not just okay. I'm not gonna let this world swoosh in with the identity It speaks into my life and I'm not gonna let my old man come and rile up and run away from God And this takes supernatural power. Yeah. Yeah.
And so that's actually right where Archon Hughes goes, right? In this, we are fighting an upstream or swimming upstream against the current, right? He brings up the story. Do you remember the story with Chuck Colson and the TV exec? Yeah. Yeah. I was talking about how, um, who is Chuck Colson here?
Um, he was sitting at dinner with the president of, I think it's CBS here just saying like, Hey, we need to have more family friendly entertainment. And basically he's like, yeah, that doesn't sell. We sell what people want and they don't want family friendly. Like he brought up the example of chariots of fire.
Yeah. Yeah. And it got horrible ratings compared to some other sleazy shows or whatever shows, you know? Um, Yeah, it's true. You know, it's just that reality that I mean, he points us out here. Just. To attract and hold its audience, the TV industry feels it has to parade the taboos of culture, adultery, promiscuity, homosexuality, incest, violence, and sadism.
As a result, the lowest of activities become commonplace even Moral are morally cachet I've written next to to mine Page there the word normalization. I like it's we look at our society and I try to tell people this all the time when they'll push back against like things that I'll say about like You got to shut off TikTok, right? You got to spend less time on Instagram. You don't keep watching so many YouTube reels, like, or whatever they're called, shorts.
But like, you can't just continue to sit there and stay there. Well, you know, and they'll act like it's neutral. But it's, it's the drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip. trip, trip, trip relentlessly. And this is what Paul's talking about in Romans chapter 12, right? Don't be conformed. It just happens.
I mean, I remember it might have been Toy Story 4, maybe it was 4062. I don't remember which Toy Story it was, you know, but one of them, Olivia and I were watching and I was I watched the movie a few times and then all of a sudden I, at one time I was watching it with the kids and Olivia and I paused it and I was like, do you see that? And she was like, no. And so I rewinded it 10 seconds. And it's this point in which this little kid is going to kindergarten for the first time, you know, it's kindergarten orientation and all the parents are dropping off the kids. And in the background you see a same-sex couple dropping off the kid. And I was like, I'm telling you, Olivia, it's there. It's just making things normalize.
And so I went online and I was like, I wonder, there's gotta be talk about this, you know? So I went online and I searched and sure enough, there's Christians who are raising a red flag like, hey, look, this is right there. And then a whole bunch of LGBTQ people who are just like, no, you're making a big deal out of this and all this stuff, which I thought was really interesting. And then I find other segments of the internet where they're pro-LGBTQ websites, and they're praising the normalization that this is. And I'm like, no, there is an agenda here. Satan has an agenda. The world has an agenda.
You know, there are people who are producers and directors and actors who have an agenda for what they think the home should look like, how they think society should be structured, how they think, you know, if you were to take a class at Geneva College Humanities 101 or 103, whatever they call it, you know, they would call it, what is the good life? And the picture that the world sells you on what is the good life is very different than what the scriptures call us to as what is the good life? What is the life that is going to actually bring you eternal satisfaction? Um, and so, uh, this is an area where it's, it's just really easy to kind of, somebody might call him a legalist. That's fine. Um, I wondered if my, my, I think mine might be one of the original editions of this, it's probably from like 1902.
Does yours include any statistics for social media on there? Or is it all television still? Yeah, mine doesn't have anything for social media because it wasn't existed when this was printed. So he talks about TV execs versus the viewing public and just pointing out that TV execs go to church less and have no religious affiliation more than the general public, but then he talks about In our digital world, media consumption is the true metric.
The average American consumes over 10 and a half hours of media per day. This includes five hours of TV, live and recorded, two hours of radio, and three hours of internet and mobile device usage. To me, it's probably like eight hours of internet and mobile device usage. We live in a cyber haze from the moment our eyes open in the morning until they close again at night.
Yeah. Yeah, I went online just because my version is so old that it didn't have those statistics. And I was just curious, and Forbes magazine was quoting in an article, a switch, whatever that is, June 24, 2021 is when this was written. And they said the average person in America spends 1300 hours per year on social media. Globally, two hours and 27 minutes average per day. And they said the World Economic Forum when they were talking about that, they said that two hours and 27 minutes was before the pandemic. Yeah. And so after the pandemic, you know, people might not, people might be cutting the cord, you know, and they don't want to pay Comcast for stuff anymore.
But I, dude, I was driving the other week, you know, we were driving to Chicago to get that camper. And as we were driving, the guy in front of me, literally, he's got his phone like where you would put your phone for your maps. He's got it on his dashboard. And he's sitting there as he's driving, watching TikTok.
Really? I watch him swiping up. And because like, I'm in the suburb, you know, so I could see straight through his back window and I wanted to like, honk my horn or something. I'm like, what are you doing, man? Like, like we're in like city traffic and he's just flipping through TikTok. And I'm like, but that's the culture we live in, you know, just and to act as if that doesn't affect our minds or souls. Yeah. Yeah.
Even like break room culture. Like it is so painfully obvious and awkward if you are not on your phone in the break room. Really? Everyone is on their phone in the break room and no one talks to each other. I mean, that's the last couple of jobs I've been at. No, like no one talks to each other. Everyone's on their phone.
You say something like what? I mean, and that, and even on the bus, like I'll write, The bus is kind of sketchy at some parts of the day. So I usually try to be socially aware where I'm at. And I'll just look around and one of like two people on the bus packed with 50, 60 people that's not on their device. Just everyone. I'm like, literally someone could walk in with an AR-15 right now and no one would care. Like, because they wouldn't know. They probably would. And then they'd start recording it on their phones.
Look at this guy walking around and post it on TikTok. But there's actually a book. It's underneath a journal over there that the book is written by Abigail Schreier. She's a Jewish lady who writes for opinion columns for the Washington. Wall Street Journal, and so it's. Oh, the name of the book is unrepairable damage or something like that.
And anyways, just talking about especially how the rise of social media has given huge sway, especially on places like YouTube, for the rise of sudden onset gender dysphoria. And so just these especially young girls who are being taken by this in this time in their lives, you know, when they're struggling with figuring out who they are as a person.
And, and, you know, there's a whole nother aspect to this where, you know, at least when I was growing up, there was stuff on TV, but if you didn't have cable, you were shielded from a lot of things. But if a lot of things you would have to be up at like one or two o'clock in the morning to see stuff that you shouldn't see. Now, I mean, the statistics for just children stumbling onto pornography, I think the average age is something like eight. You know, I remember reading a book and I'm talking about how sad it is that the average boy will accidentally see nudity or people having sex by stumbling on it on the internet before he's ever held a girl's hand.
And just like, Like that's not the way that God intended us to think, you know, and the algorithms are set in such a way where this is even more, and this is where I'm saying, I think the book is somewhat dated because even more than television, I mean, I remember when Instagram first came out for our business, we set up an account, but because I was a guy and I set up the account, I was on there for like a day and a half and I turned it off because the algorithm was set up in such a way that, oh, you're a dude? Here's all the stuff that we think a dude should want to see, you know, and I'm like, I don't want to see any of that.
And so I purposely, I'm sure it probably hurt our business for a little while, but for the first year and a half, we had our business. I wouldn't touch Instagram because I didn't want to deal with the feed. And then eventually, Olivia got on there. And as she started liking more of her friends and stuff, it started changing. But I was just like, I haven't had this account for more than five minutes. And I don't want to see this junk.
Yeah. The market's not stupid. They focus saying like they, they sell what's in demand. And I think there's also an aspect of, um, why this is so prevalent and why this is so pressured is a bit of Romans one going on and not only do the same, but take pleasure in those who do. Yeah.
Right. Um, and so the more good can be called evil and evil can be called good. the more normal it is, right? And the less, I mean, we were just reading Proverbs and God's like, this is an abomination to me. And the more we, you know, the culture is trying to move away from that, the more normal they can be, the more they take pleasure in those who do. Yeah.
And, and I mean, I, I hope that if anybody's listening to this, you know, and I'm sure there's like two people who are, that they would understand that when I say like, I don't want to see that, I say that out of my redeemed will. But I know that outside the grace of Jesus Christ, Brian 15 years ago would have loved to see that.
And so, you know, it could come off to someone as just being very judgmental, looking down our nose, but it's the question of what is right? What is righteousness? What is the way in which we bring God glory with how we talk, how we view the world? Do we look at God's world the way he does?
Do we pick up Proverbs 1 through 6 and actually heed the voice of the Father and say, stay far away from that door, kid. I'm telling you. You go by her door, it's only going to lead down to ruin and death. Do we actually listen to the Lord or do we go that way? And we've picked on a whole lot of sexual sins and stuff like that, but man, it's even when you think about how people spend their money.
We don't, we don't have a television. But we were, we were at Miss Virginia. You haven't gotten a chance to meet Miss Virginia, but we were at her cabin down in the Ozarks and her son is an announcer for wrestling. And so the NCAA championships for wrestling were on. So we were like, okay, we'll watch the NCAA championships. And I was just laughing at the commercials, you know, there's like this infinity car commercial, you know, and it's got this really, you know, cathedral-like voice going and, you know, talking about this amazing life and getting the things you want.
And this car is driving at sunset down Pacific Coast Highway. And I'm like, they're literally trying to sell you, if you'll buy this $90,000 car, this will be your life." And I'm sitting there going, no, if your covetous heart goes after that, you know what's going to happen? You're going to be working for the next seven to eight years trying to pay off for that car.
Well, and even if you can't afford it, like just reading first Timothy, he's like, don't, don't desire riches. He's like, the end of that is basically wreckage. You know, many have shipwrecked their faith by just pursuing money. It's like, even if you have that, you're not satisfied. You want more. Um, and I was talking with my brother, um, who recently got a job and got a new race. He's like, you know, I am more discontent now. than I was when I was making what I was making. And he's like, just watch out. He's like, cause it's, you do. I mean, that's where our heart goes. And even Natalie and I have to check ourselves. Like, how are we, how are we viewing our finances? How are we viewing our financial goals as a family? And cause I mean, it's a black hole.
Culture will feed that right to you. Yeah, you always have to have the newest gizmo, the best gadget, the next thing to be satisfied and happy. You know, I love, I have a love-hate relationship with Dave Ramsey. I love him most like 99.9% of the time, you know, but He will specifically talk about how it doesn't matter if you're making a quarter million dollars a year, your expenditures will always keep up with your income if you don't learn contentment. Like if you don't actually learn, I don't need this and have self-control. And, you know, to put that into biblical language, right? If the idolatry of covetousness of the material stuff is what you want, it's going to drive your life. And so I think that's part of this aspect here, right?
Is the TV executive wants to make money. How do they make money off of advertisement? That was a hard door slam. So the TV executive wants to make money. They make money off of advertisement. How do the advertisers make money? Well, they make money off of you buying more things.
And so there's a symbiotic relationship here. How do we get your attention so we can sell you more stuff? And so, you know, this especially rampant materialism in the West, followed by this rampant, quick, get your attention in Western media. And I shouldn't even just say Western media, because I mean, I talk to people in Africa and India. And it's the same thing. You talk to people in China. It's the same thing. There might be cultural differences and stuff, but just people trying to get stuff.
And so that idea of how do we stop this cycle? What does he say here? What's his advice? My advice, I'm not sure if it says the same thing in your edition or not. It does, yeah. Okay. Stop watching television. Yeah, right, stop watching TV. Here's a question though, right?
Is that just legalism? No, I think it's just trying to godly wisdom, like time management to some degree. I think it's understanding that Hey, I only have so much time in this earth. Christ calls me to redeem this time. I was in bondage to not do that and to use my mind for whatever I want, but now I've been freed, you know, and I living in freedom isn't legalism, right? Living, living in what God has called you to do isn't legalism. And I think, I think he's just trying to get us to have a different perspective, a counter-cultural perspective on how we use our time.
Yeah. Yeah. I really liked that. Um, that idea of how do we use our time redeeming our time? I think it's good. Um, again, I didn't realize where this nascent idea of mine came from that I didn't want to own a television until I reread this chapter. And I was like, Oh yeah, that's where I first read about that.
You know? So I'm dead serious. Let's, let's see, that was in 2007. Yeah. I read this. So in 2007, I read this book and it was just like that, you know, he's right. Yeah. And I was just like, I probably shouldn't have a TV. Yeah. And I haven't owned a TV since then. Yeah.
You know, now we've made the mistake before of buying a streaming service. You know, during the pandemic, we got Disney Plus and and we're just kind of like, yeah. No, we stopped that after the subscription ran out. Just recently, with this idea of time management, Lord really working on my heart, how much time I spend on the internet, even on good things, that I just realized I don't need to read every newsletter that comes across my desk. I don't need to watch every YouTube channel I'm subscribed to, none of them being immoral, but do I really need to watch about the next Falcon 9 launch and the 14 extra Starlink satellites that went into space this week?
Probably not. I think it's helpful to acknowledge that the internet in and of itself is not evil. TV in and of itself is not evil. Our problem is we're very good at taking good things that God has allowed man to create or God has given himself and turning them into bad things.
Exactly. And so can the internet be used for blessing others and blessing myself? Absolutely. Yeah. I think, and that's where like, I don't want to just be like, the internet is wicked and perverted and don't go near that hellish thing. But at the same time, understanding that, The Internet in a culture of fallen people is a loaded gun. Yeah. Right.
And it's it's like walking a tightrope across the Grand Canyon. Like, yeah, you can get to the other side, but, you know, you really got to watch what you're doing. The same thing with TV. It's not like TV, like throughout the TV and all your your problems will stop. Right. Oh, yeah.
Because that we still have that hard. You know, you know, Simon, to be honest with you, I got rid of the TV. And I almost became a Wesleyan Methodist. You know, I haven't willfully sinned since I got rid of that TV. Really? Yeah. Wow. Good for you. No, no. You'll be at a higher place in heaven. No, right? No, you're spot on, right? It's not the television. The godly principle still stands, right?
If you're a person who's given over to watching too much television, stop watching TV. If I have a problem, my wife knows it. I got ADD. If the wide vistas of the internet are open to me, thank God that not every corner of it is. Covenant Eyes is a wonderful gift from the Lord, that there's all sorts of things that just Well, one, I haven't gone to those websites for well over a decade, but the point is that there's all sorts of things. I can research car repairs all day long. I could try to figure out how to sell my bus. Anybody want to buy a bus? I need to sell my school bus, right?
But the point being is like, how do we redeem that time? Like in my heart, it was, am I really loving God more? Am I really loving my children? by by spending my time this way. You know, I noticed one of the things that really bothered me is I noticed my attention span going down.
Right. I'd gotten my iPhone and I was just used to like I would I would be reading a theology book or doing exegesis and come to this place where it was a difficult portion or part. And I would immediately be like. Well, I'm going to go check Facebook. I was just like, What? Yeah. Like, like, in my brain, like, hold on. What are you doing?
Like, focus and get this done, man. And so trying to create a kind of a dark space here in the house where it's like, if I need internet, you know, I do coffee and devotions every day at the church. You know, I talk to pastors in India every week and I go to the church and do that. But the point is trying to limit the time. So trying to put parameters around, okay, how do I do this? best.
For me, it has to be a physical separation, just how my brain works, how things work. It just works best for us. For Olivia, she still has her iPhone, but she doesn't like having an unlimited data plan. She has five gigabytes and she figures when she's out, You guys are on the five megabyte plan, huh? We have two gigs, I think, apiece. Oh, wow. Woo, doggie.
That's great, though, because we're Wi-Fi at school, Wi-Fi at work, and Wi-Fi at home. Okay, well then that, yeah, when you don't have Wi-Fi around, it makes it, there's quite a few times where it feels like, I'm gonna drive to the church and download this real quick. Oh yeah, especially downloading and streaming.
So, but the point being is that, how do you as an individual know that you live in a culture, in a time when the world is trying to get you to conform to its way of thinking? its way of doing stuff, its way of selling what the family should look like, what happiness should look like, how you should parent your children, how you should think about your spouse, how you should look, how you should feel about things.
The world is selling a philosophy all the time. And so how do we as Christians ensure that we're actually not just guarding our minds, but proactively. Here he's talking about the negative side, right? Guarding our minds. And we're going to get into, I'm guessing next week, there's no way we're going to do this whole chapter in one week, but how do we guard our minds knowing this is what the enemy does? I mean, I think you face us up at the university. I mean, I live in a Christian bubble. So tell me, tell me what the world is like, man. Yeah.
Well, like you were saying, this isn't just sexual things. It is especially sexual things, but it's, I mean, it's as much as approaching medicine from an evolutionary standpoint, you know, looking at the human body and not seeing the glory of the creator in it. approaching ethical tangles in medicine, like end of life care or beginning of life care without God, um, navigating abortion, which is a hot topic right now. Um, a huge thing in Iowa city is the LGBTQ plus, and that has a huge intersection. I'll use that word, uh, with healthcare. Um, and how do we normalize that as providers, right?
This is all getting piped 20 not 24 7, but every time I'm in the classroom and every time I'm looking at material it's there and I even remember specifically Last semester we were studying the immune system. Mm-hmm. And I mean the immune system is smart really intricately Amazingly engineered system and Over and over again the professor who has gotten stuff from the NIH. I mean it's smart accomplished man He would be like, so why does your immune system have this? You know, I think this is odd.
He's like, well, we were great apes in the Serengeti Desert. And his last slide, I mean, he was harping on this over and over and over again. He's like, it's been the last class of the semester. He's like, it's been a great semester with y'all. I hope you took a lot away from this class. He's like, but if there's one last thing I'd leave you with, and his last slide is, remember, you were a great ape from the Serengeti Desert.
And that's the framework everyone is working in. And it is so easy where you're like that drip, drip, drip, drip. Everyone's operating in this framework and I'm over here trying to operate in this framework. And part of me is just like, can I go on sleep and just default? That's the easy way, right? That flood is pulling you that way. And when you ask, And you ask me if you ask anyone who's trying to live in a biblical framework, like, are you pro-life?
Well, yes, I am. Right. Of course. Like if you ask me point blank, yes. But does that not mean that there's this current that just drips on you all the time? Do you believe God created the world? Well, yes, I do. But how many times have I heard that I'm a great ape from the Serengeti? Right.
And like, Okay, I see how he's thinking that and, you know, it wears on you. And again, it's not just a sexual, it can be sexual. And that narrative is there too. But it, I mean, again, that Paul gets it right, like the carnal mind is an enmity with God, they are going to deny God at every single place in that framework that they're operating in. And it is, it's everywhere. Yeah.
And so I hope that like, as we talk through this and work through this, you know, I pray about this with my own kids and they're homeschooled. So I don't, maybe they're going to leave here and just think, oh, dad was a, you know, overprotective goon. He didn't, he didn't really know what the world was like, you know. But I really pray that this is a wake up call. You know, like I think about the youth in our, in our congregation, think about my own children. I think about the people I disciple on a regular basis and just like, you can't drink of the world.
Like if we go on autopilot, we're going backwards. There's a headwind against us all the time. And so, It's exhausting, though. I think that's one of the difficult things, you know, like, it's exhausting. I think it's Difficult to just with the nature of the mind. Mm-hmm.
This isn't like Stop going to the porn shop Yeah, stop getting on your feet and using your muscles and expending energy and going moving your location This is stuff I can flip through in milliseconds in my brain a hundred different thoughts Yeah, and it takes zero energy for the most part, right?
Yeah and And so it's just a whole different nature of the beast, right? Once we get to this point in Christian discipleship where we actually talk about putting sinful thoughts to death, We're talking about what Jesus is dealing with, right? It's not just that you've committed adultery, but you've lusted after a woman in your heart, right? It's not just that you've committed murder, but you hated your brother in your heart, right? You did these things in your mind, right?
I think this is especially why Jesus, specifically when he is interpreting the great Shema, you know, hero is where the Lord, your God, the Lord is one, right? You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your, and Jesus says, mind.
That's not typically how you would translate the word in Hebrew, me'odecha. So your me'od is like all your veriness, like all your strength. But Jesus takes it to the depth of where your strength is. It's not just your physical strength. It's not just, you know, you're going to physically build the temple and you're going to wrestle down the sheep and slaughter the animal. You're going to have to wrestle with the hardest thing it is to pin down your mind. Oh, good thing it's mostly vanilla. It's vanilla and oil. Can you put it here on the shelf?
Yeah, she's not supposed to. Yeah. Thanks, bud. Deborah, or Ellie, getting into a natural bug soother, like fly deterrent. So, yes, Daniel? Yeah, I know. We'll check him out in a little bit. Okay, you want to go out while we finish our conversation, buddy? Okay. Thanks, bud. Maybe I'll have a doctor look at that or an almost doctor. Okay, bring it over. Okay, we'll see if it's the last time. I'll just make a note here for Annie. Annie, please cut all this noise out. Thanks, bud.
Well, this is where he's getting at, right? When he says he's not suggesting a new legalism, but he's getting at what Jesus says. If you cannot control what you watch and read, perhaps it needs to go. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away from you. Right? He talks about Psalm 101. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. just that radical repentance. Yeah.
You know, if there's, it might be that there's some people who can't handle the major that they're in. Like legitimately, I think there are some people who are invested deeply in going along a path and they know that that path or that school that they've chosen to go to is detrimental to their faith. And to be honest with you, man, this is why I decided not to go to a state school. So I was going to go to UC Riverside, stay near my parents, save money, et cetera, you know.
But I was a brand new Christian. And what we're going to get into in the second half of this chapter is I knew that I needed help to figure out how to think about things. And so going to a Christian school isn't going to guarantee anybody, you know, thinks biblically, but I at least needed the greenhouse to grow in, where as I was studying history as a baby Christian, I'd only been a Christian for two years, two and a half years, something like that, you know, how was I supposed to understand God's providential hand? How was I supposed to interact with things? I didn't have a framework in which to place things. And so, you know, I had just read the Bible cover to cover for the first time the year before and was, well, that was my second time, but in a more like actually studying way.
And so I really do think some people, legitimately need to quit their jobs because they can't handle being around certain coworkers. And I don't think that that's running away. Your belly hurts. Okay. I'll check your belly in a second, sweetie. I don't think that that's legalism. That's pastoral, just saying like there are places that are so dark for someone's soul that they shouldn't be.
And if they're in that place, you know, reaching out to other, if they can't get out of that place, you know, trying to get a hold of other Christians and being honest. Yeah, I think, dude, along with that, just knowing yourself. Knowing that you are a weak sinner and that you stand in grace. And the only way you're going to survive at all in this fight for your mind is through standing in the strength of God.
And, you know, I think it's a very foolish thing to be like, oh, I don't need a blocker or I don't, you know, I can handle this. You know, I think I'm man enough to do it or I've got the grit to do it. It's not a problem. It's really not that big of a problem.
Don't underestimate yourself. Like you are weak. Yeah. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to devour you. Right. Right. And, you know, Paul says, take heed lest you fall. Right. Like we are, we don't stand in our own strength. Amen. We are feeble, weak, shortcoming, sinners. Yeah. But we're justified sinners who stand in grace and have the power of the sovereign of the universe at our disposal to fight them. So holding both of those things true, we walk forward in fear and in trepidation and wisdom, depending on God's grace. Amen. Amen. Wait, let me pray for us. I think we've already gone way over. No surprise.
Father, thank you so much for the renewing work of your Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord. that you do not leave us to continue to wallow in the filth and mire of our own mind. But Lord, you have redeemed us and you have redeemed our minds. Lord, you have shown us that we were once in darkness, but now we are light. Father, we pray that we would walk in that light, that we would love you with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Lord, and that is we love you with our minds, that we would desire what you tell us to desire, that we would not be conformed to this world, but that we would be transformed. Lord, we pray that you would transform us through the renewing of our minds, that we would love your word, that we would seek your face, that we would desire to walk before you in wisdom and in holiness out of a love for the grace you have shown us in Jesus. Give us strength, we pray, Lord, in Jesus's name.
Amen. Thanks so much for listening to this episode of The Student Podcast. Feel free to go over to the website, sharonharpc.org backslash student and find more information and other shows. Also, don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. We appreciate it. Have a great day.