Intentional Thinking

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Dear Friends in Christ,

Reason and clear thinking has an important place in human history. We might call some cultures “barbaric” if they are led by impulse and violence and the gut feel of the powerful. But we call “civilized” those cultures that at least attempt to restrain human impulse by principles, values, ideas, clear thinking and accountability. American founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence because they felt it necessary to publicly set forth the sound reasons for their actions. Reason should act not merely as excuse making (human beings are great at excuse making), but rather as a means of holding ourselves and others accountable. The worldview of Modernism appealed heavily to reason in the formation of the conscience of a person.

Post-modernism, on the other hand, discounts reason. “Follow your heart,” or “sometimes you just have to do what you have to do” passes for compelling reasons these days. Just to be clear, these are not compelling reasons. They are excuses to throw off restraint and follow your gut impulses, including destructive and self-destructive impulses. This week, we saw this in the “thinking” of the would-be assassin in Washington. Perhaps we need to call ourselves back to the pursuit of good theological reason.

When Anglicans think theologically, we tend to appeal to Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. We start with scripture as the authoritative basis for the Christian faith and life. We then read scripture through the lens of Christians who have handed down this faith to us. We do this, in part, so that we are not merely inventing some new meaning from scripture that has no coherence with the faith that came from Jesus himself and his followers. Reason, then, is seeking the mind of God and testing with clear thinking how to understand scripture and tradition and how to respond to new challenges we face. Reason is not a way of thinking that shuts God out or refuses to consider the spiritual or supernatural (that secular sense of reason developed in the 1800s). Rather, reason in the Christian tradition involves discernment of the guidance of the Holy Spirit, humility enough to know that I might be wrong, listening to the voices of other Christians (in history and in the present), and being open to correction for a better understanding that leads us closer to God.

Nothing in this process should get short-circuited by anger or fear or defensiveness or gut-level impulse. Reason restrains those animal impulses that so often get the best of us (as can be seen in all flavors of politics and religion these days). Of course, reason can get hijacked by our relentless ability to self-justify and make poor excuses for ourselves, which is why we restrain reason with scripture and tradition, humble enough to look to what God has revealed, and how the church has received that revelation.

And for us? When someone takes a shot at our enemy, do we make comments that delight in the vengeance of it all? Do we buy into the same excuses to justify the bad actions of our own “team?” Or do we restrain our comments, aim for something better, seek God’s guidance and God’s virtue, and encourage others to do the same? Do we use reason to justify ourselves and our friends, or do we use reason to seek the mind of God?

If we chose better, and encouraged it in others, how would that impact our culture and our country and the world? How would that change each of us?

Yours in Christ,

-Tom