“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)
The topic of perspective and worldview has been on my heart lately, and this verse is a great expression of the Bible’s view. We’re accustomed to thinking of regeneration as a change of heart, and rightly so. When we are born again, God takes out our stubborn, dead heart of stone that desires only to reject him and replaces it with a soft and living heart of flesh that longs for him instead. Yet it’s useful and proper to remember that regeneration touches the whole person, especially the mind.
In the context of this verse is the well-known passage where Paul declares that “[t]he natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him,” (verse 14). In other words, an unbeliever simply can’t understand spiritual things, simply can’t choose the right or judge for himself what is good. Why is this? Because spiritual things require spiritual discernment, and thus require the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit. Only the Spirit understands the thoughts of God (verse 11). The Holy Spirit does not dwell in unbelievers, and so they are dead not only in their sins, but in their perspective.
But the Christian has the mind of Christ! We have been born anew and have the Spirit within us. So the Christian can see things the unbeliever cannot, can understand things the unbeliever cannot comprehend. The Christian should have an entirely different perspective, a totally unique worldview. The way we as Christians look at the world, and the things we see, should be entirely distinct from the way unbelievers look at the world.
This is vital to remember in evangelism, because it reminds us that those we witness to simply don’t have the spiritual equipment to go where they need to go. There is no “neutral ground,” no way to convince an unbeliever of God’s truth by appealing to science or natural wisdom. The Spirit is needed to give them a new heart, and so prayer is needed. But the implications go far beyond evangelism. The Christian’s thinking has to be different. Our reference point or starting point when thinking about anything – whether it’s finances, or health, or the arts, or science, or what to do in our spare time – should be the glory of God in Jesus Christ. We need to be constantly asking ourselves, “What would the God of Scripture think about this?”
The bracelet tells us to ask, “What would Jesus do?” This verse tells us to ask, “What would Jesus think?” So: do you think this way? Are you asking yourself that question?