Matthew 21:29 NIV
"'I will not,' he answered, but later he
changed his mind and went.
Have You Changed Your Mind Lately?
I am not very fickle and I rarely change my mind
when I have decided something but the other day I was ready to get rid of our
cat. She doesn’t really care about
anyone but our daughter, she drags her claws on the sofa, she sheds all over
the house and lately she has taken up going to the bathroom in our shower. Our cat is grumpy, eats too much and doesn’t
care if you come or go. She only
demands, never gives. I can’t say she
even really wants any of us to touch her.
So when a family friend said she was interested in taking our cat if we
didn’t want her, I was very happy about the prospect. Unfortunately it only lasted a week. Our friend was hoping for a cat that purred,
rested quietly on her lap, wanted to stay inside and liked her. Our cat has absolutely no people skills and
is not interested in making anyone happy and soon she was back in our apartment
shedding once more everywhere. But, I
must say that I changed my mind about our cat.
I still would not get too upset if she got into drugs and was busted by
the police or found a boyfriend and decided to move with him to Michigan but I
was glad she was back with us because I saw how much my daughter loved
her. What seemed so dreadful, that our
cat would be returned to us, I actually felt good about. I changed my mind.
Perhaps you have changed your mind about how you
thought of someone. An enemy actually
became a friend, a job you disliked you now enjoy doing. Perhaps you now like where you live or have
changed your mind about someone who asked you out for a date. It could be that your thoughts about God have
changed over time or even your views of heaven and eternity are different. Sometimes it is quite a major change in
thinking that we experience; even our family members are shocked, co-workers
and classmates are surprised. Would you
shock even yourself if you changed political parties or made a flip-flop on
your view of climate change, eating meat or which sports teams were your favorites? How easy is it for you to change your mind
and when it comes to how you think, is it true that “change is good”? Do you need a change in how you think, in the
way your life is going? Do you think it
really is possible for you to change in regard to the most important parts of
your life?
The New Testament uses a particular word that
carries with it negative connotations for many people. You may have heard preachers use it and it
bothered you the way it was expressed in sermons. Unfortunately this word is often misunderstood
and viewed as strictly a “religious word”.
John the Baptist is quoted in one of his sermons using it. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
(Matthew 3:8 NIV) Jesus used the word to
explain His work. I have not come to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32 NIV) The Apostle Paul stated that it was also his
mission to present the same message. I
have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance
and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (Acts 20:21 NIV) Repentance is a great word that despite what
some people think of it, presents the perfect picture of what every helping
profession from psychologists to doctors and dentists hope to accomplish. The goal of all these professionals is to
bring about repentance. Let me explain!
The English word “to repent” has Latin and French
roots and speaks mostly of feeling badly about what one has done. Guilt is a key component in the Latin and
French terms. That is often what we
associate with repentance. Repentance,
at least as the early French and Catholics indicated, was all about the
emotional side of realizing what you had done was wrong; it was about feeling
guilty for bad behavior. To some degree,
that is how repentance may work for many of us but that is not the Biblical
sense of repentance. Repentance is a
rather narrow English translation of the Greek word found in the New Testament
and this Greek word means more than just feeling badly about your actions. The Biblical expression is actually a
combination of two Greek words which when put together mean, “to change the
mind”. It describes a morphing from one
way of thinking to another, a “conversion” of thinking.
We see this illustrated by Martha, the sister of
Lazarus who was raised by Jesus from the dead.
In Luke 10, Martha is agitated that she has to work hard in the kitchen
while her sister is free to sit at Jesus’ feet and relax. As Jesus and his disciples were on their
way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he
said. But Martha was distracted by all
the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord,
don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to
help me!" "Martha,
Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many
things but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will
not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42 NIV) There is not a more believable and
unremarkable account in the entire Bible than this. Most of us have been incensed that all the
work has fallen upon us while others get to play. We have felt just like Martha and have even
expressed our frustration about it. But
something happened that brought about a change in thinking with our
friend. It was the resurrection of her
brother Lazarus.
In John 11 is the famous account of Jesus raising
Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary from the dead. At first, Martha was perturbed with Jesus for
not coming when she and her sister sent for him when Lazarus was just sick. When Jesus, in her mind, wasted his time on
trivial matters and got to their house too late because Lazarus in the meantime
had died, she chastised him for his cavalier attitude toward her brother’s dire
circumstance. But when Jesus raised him
from the dead and Martha realized that not even death should dictate how she
thought about things, and even more so how she thought about being left alone
to serve everyone, she “changed her mind”.
Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus
lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus'
honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with
him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure
nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet
with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
(John 12:1-3 NIV)
Much is made of Mary pouring all that expensive
perfume on Jesus’ feet and drying them with her hair but someone should notice
Martha here too. No longer is she complaining
about Mary lounging when there was work to be done. There was no more animosity about all the
work she had to do on her own. Her mind
had changed: there was a conversion of her thinking! The same could be said of the Apostle John
who along with his brother James was furious over the lack of respect Jesus
received in one of the Samaritan villages.
As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus
resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went
into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did
not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James
and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down
from heaven to destroy them?" But
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village. (Luke
9:51-56 NIV) It was never a small matter
for Jesus to rebuke anyone and it would leave a lasting impression. It clearly resulted in John “changing his
mind” about the Samaritans because after Jesus crucified and risen left the
disciples and they became apostles, sent out into the world, one of the very
first things John did was join with Peter and begin an evangelistic tour
throughout Samaria, preaching there the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Peter and John returned to Jerusalem,
preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages. (Acts 8:25b NIV)
It is one thing to feel badly about what you have
done; another altogether to change your mind about your actions and alter your
course. One of the great questions
facing the field of psychology is how to get people to change their minds about
things…to change their minds sufficiently that it results in a different
lifestyle. All sorts of methods are
used: punishment, rewards, talking, reviewing past personal history, mentoring,
administering of drugs. What everyone
knows is that no matter how expensive and elaborate the intervention may be,
unless a person’s mind is changed, behavior change is never long lasting. For centuries however, Christian people have
been changing their minds and dramatically altering their behavior as a result. Not every person who names himself Christian
has a changed mind; that is why so many so-called Christians look just like
non-Christians…their morals are just as loose, their honesty is just as
undependable and their addictions are just as resolute and harmful as those of non-Christian
people.
What is needed is a real change of mind brought
about by God’s kindness. The Apostle
Paul puts it this way. …do you show
contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing
that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? (Romans 2:4 NIV) What happened with Paul has been occurring
for centuries. As soon as Paul realized
what a great kindness God had done for Him by dying on the Cross for his sins,
the hateful and angry Paul embraced the very people he wanted dead. Why?
Because Jesus Christ became a part of Paul and the Savior began to work
His way into Paul’s thinking. Literally,
this verse states that God’s kindness leads you into a changed mind! How does this happen? Paul let the cat out of the bag in his
closing remarks to the leaders of the church of Ephesus. The NIV translates it this way. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks
that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (Acts 20:21 NIV) The original Greek wording puts it this way,
“having declared to Jews and Greeks the changed mind into God and faith into
our Lord Jesus.” What this means is that
the changed mind which is immersed in God’s mind is always in conjunction with
faith into the Lord Jesus. Without
developing and expanding faith into Jesus Christ, the mind never develops God’s
mind; it just stays the same with only its own strength and understanding. Faith in Christ though brings God into our
thinking and with Him there, habits can be broken, memories that have haunted
us can lose their power over us and we will have the kind of thinking we need
to overcome bad behaviors and bad attitudes.
Faith in Christ is the most dramatic and powerful
way to change both what we do and how we think.
Yet it is so simple to place your faith in Christ and gain God’s power
in thinking. You ask Christ to guide you
and help you with everything you can think of as you go through your day. When you read something in the Bible that
insists you change what you are doing, then you believe Christ is right and you
make the change. When there is a choice
between something you think is good and fair and what the Holy Spirit clearly
says is not for you, then you accept God’s guidance and trust Christ in
it. Faith in Christ is not a once for
all decision; it is a hundred little decisions each day which when added
together give you God’s power to become the sort of person you want to be and
God intends for you to be.