No. 6: Mindset

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I have been thinking about how easy it is to become locked into a certain way of thinking without even realizing it. Yes, we all have mindsets, some good and some not so good.

Not long ago, my wife and I enjoyed dinner at a Chinese restaurant with two other couples. I sat next to a good friend of ours who is part Sioux Indian. Now she’s as American middle class as me and the people I generally hang out with, but she does have an interesting family background. She and her husband make occasional trips to the Great Plains states where they visit some of her family living on reservations.

During dinner we discussed the idea of a name change for the Washington Redskins football team. Talk of a name change has been floating around for years. But I was surprised to hear my friend’s husband be quite bold about declaring that he thought the Redskins should change their name. I would have never expected that from him. He explained to me that his wife’s Midwest family thinks of the word “redskin” the same way that our African American neighbors think about the dreaded “n” word.

I had never heard that idea before and it jarred my mindset. If you would have asked me about this topic an hour before our conversation I would have blown off the idea of a Redskin’s name change with a disgruntled shake of the head, a scowl, and a judgmental attitude. But suddenly I am looking at this question much differently.

"The one who searches our hearts knows what the Spirit has in mind. The Spirit intercedes for God's people the way God wants him to." Romans 8:27 (GOD’S WORD Translation)

"For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so," Romans 8:6-7 (NAS)

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." Romans 8:6 (KJV)

In these two examples above, the Greek word for what we translate as “mind set” or “minded” is phronema (pronounced fron'-ay-mah) and it means to direct one's mind to a thing, to seek, to strive for, and to be of one's party.

We have discussed racial and ethnic mindsets. What about political mindsets? Do we have them? How about theological mindsets? Do they guide the way we read and interpret Scripture?
Can our minds be re-set?

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Romans 12:2 (KJV)

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," Philippians 2:5 (KJV)

"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." Colossians 3:2 (NAS)