Sunday, October 11, 2009

Brainwashed?

When I heard people accuse us Christians of being brainwashed, my first reaction was that we have been heartwashed, not brainwashed :). But then my next reaction was: maybe I want to be...maybe I am brainwashed because I want to have the mind of Christ! "The Lord knows the thoughts of man; He knows that they are futile." Psalm 94:11 I don't want to think as the world thinks. I don't want to think as I (sinner living in the flesh) used to think. I am now a new creation. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 My old way of thinking and living has gone, being replaced with the new way of thinking and living according to God's standard.

I believe being heartwashed (repenting, asking Jesus to wash away all our sins, giving our heart to Him, being filled with His love and the Holy Spirit) is/should be followed by being brainwashed (having the mind and the attitudes of Christ, being filled with Philippians 4:8 kind of thoughts, knowing God as the Creator of the universe, meditating day and night on God's Word, choosing/protecting human life no matter how small or how old, putting others above ourselves, etc.) The ways of God are mostly opposite of the ways of this world. The world thinks:- earth came into existence out of the Big Bang, men evolved from apes, killing unborn babies is a matter of choice (exercising women's rights), looking out for ourselves is the wisest thing to do, a white lie is okay, sleeping around is acceptable, young people don't need to obey or listen to their parents because their peers' opinions are more important, the goal in life should be getting rich, successful, and/or famous, women can dress as seductively as they want because they own their body and nothing's wrong with enjoying their "power" over men (playing with their lust and their visual-sensitive mind), couples should get a divorce when they no longer love each other or they fall in love with someone else, or they discover that they are not compatible, etc. From now on, if I were to be accused of having been brainwashed, I would gladly take it as a compliment :)!

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--His good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

P.S. "Brainwashing" can be a very bad thing. Here I'm talking about the kind that is washed by only God's Word and His Holy Spirit. Being brainwashed by man-made religions, cults, false teachings, or anything that goes against God's Word is detrimental. You need to be aware of that and be like the Bereans (comparing everything to the Scriptures) so that you may be able to detect any lies immediately and won't be brainwashed the wrong way.

Please visit here for the links to other Spiritual Sundays posts. Have a blessed day in the Lord, everyone!

13 comments:

Amydeanne said...

awesome post! this totally caught my attention.

Laurencita said...

yes! our church are reaching out these kind of people group.

RCUBEs said...

Great post. If they don't have the Spirit, they will never understand. But thanks be to God because when we believe, we have the Spirit, Who tells us things about God. Blessings to you. May many more be heart-washed and brainwashed by Christ!

Mary said...

Wonderful post! I love your way of saying what is so true...to have the heart and mind of Christ is the washing by the blood! How beautifully you've said this, and how beautifully we can express our "condition" to others when they ridicule us for our faith. I really appreciate your words and your wisdom. God bless you!
Mary

Ginger~~Enchanting Cottage said...

Thank-you for this devotional today. It was powerful!
God Bless,
Ginger

Cindy said...

Great post! Makes mine look like a childs.
Cindy

Musings of A Minister said...

Good post. Much food for thought. We need to heed your words of wisdom. Thanks for posting.

Debbie said...

This was a REALLY good post and I honestly was very blessed by the way you presented it all. It is so true of course. Thanks for sharing this. Have a great day..
Blessings to you, Debbie

Charlotte said...

You described the situation very good. I want to be brain-washed and heart-washed. The world just doesn't, and cannot understand.
Thank you for this thought provoking post.
Blessings,
Charlotte

Denise said...

Really wonderful post dear.

Regina said...

Great post!

Thank you for sharing.

A blessed day.
My "SPIRITUAL SUNDAY POST"

Regina

Unknown said...

I totally agree! I think being "brainwashed" by Christ is the only appropriate form of brainwashing, i.e. heart-washing. Love the parallel. Great post! Great writer!!

Jan Messali said...

I know this is not a new post... but I just discovered it and wanted to say, "You got it!" The world also says being weak is a bad thing. But, we ARE weak and need to accept that we need God.
How wonderful it is to know that we can rest, because God is strong.

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