Insights

The long practiced art of mindfulness has in recent years become popular in the Western world. Though some consider mindfulness to have its roots in Hinduism and Buddhism, the Word of God teaches us that we can and should be mindful. Oxford Languages defines being mindful as being conscious or aware of something. We are instructed to practice mindfulness in 2 Corinthians 2:10-15 where we are told to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Further, we are told to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2), and to renew our minds that we may know His will (Romans 12:2). Mindlessness has never been consistent with a life lived with Christ yet many Christians allow mindlessness to pervade their days and nights.

In his 1903 literary essay As a Man Thinketh, James Allen says, “The aphorism, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,’ not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.” The aphorism to which he refers is plucked straight from Proverbs 23:7. 

Allen goes on to claim that “as the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called ‘spontaneous’ and ‘unpremeditated’ as to those, which are deliberately executed.”

If Allen’s claims are true, and I believe that they are, we must follow Paul’s exhortation to take our thoughts captive. From the moment we wake until the moment we once again go to sleep, we have a choice about what we allow into our minds. Our children have a choice about what they allow into their minds. Thoughts once planted will produce attitudes and actions. 

“Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind,” Allen said.

I have to wonder what Allen would have said of the things we allow into our minds today. Would he have applauded the antics of Tik Tokers or understood the attraction of binge watching New Girls on Netflix? Probably not. And while I’m not suggesting these things are inherently evil, I am suggesting that we must spend the greater part of our waking hours using our mind with intent - intent to learn, intent to grow, and intent to listen. We must not be controlled by thoughts but have control over that which we think. We must not allow for the excuse of lack of control or mindlessness. Instead, we must learn to practice mindfulness. 

Tammy McIlvoy
Head of School
Logos Preparatory Academy

One of the joys of working at Logos Prep is getting to teach our Worldview class alongside our principal, Mr. Henderson. When we start our comparative religion section we start off with a recap of Christianity so that we can come back and show how the other religions that we cover will compare with Christianity. During this section we bring up the fact that Christianity has over 20,000 subdivisions. 

Yes. You read that correctly. 20,000+ subdivisions of Christianity. 

We then pause and talk about what could possibly contribute to these subdivisions. Stories are told and jaws are picked up off the floor. If Christ has called us to unity, why are Christians and Christian churches not unified? At some point our students realize that throughout history, the Christian church has lost the concept of Jesus as teacher and we have begun to follow other “truths”.

One of the questions we ask often in Worldview is, “Where is that in the Bible?” or “What does Jesus say about that?”. We want our students to consistently come back to the Scriptures. In the culture that our students are growing up in, and the social media accounts that they are being influenced by it is very easy for our students to lose Christ as teacher. Anybody can make a statement about what it means to be a Christian and put it on social media. It could be true. It could be 100% off base. But because it is on social media...we don’t take the time to question it.

As adults we do this as well. We have, over the years, come to define our Christianity by a set of checkboxes instead of simply doing all we can to live like Jesus lived. We are more concerned with stances than the Fruit of the Spirit. We have forgotten what it is to be a people defined by their love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and in doing so, we are slowly but surely adding to more of those 20,000+ subdivisions.

So, may we, as those who claim the name of Jesus, return to Him as teacher. May we fall in love with the Word made flesh, again and again. May we take his teachings seriously. May we believe that His way is the best way and may we work towards unity in the Church for the sake of the name of Jesus.

Joel Gutowsky
Director of Student Life
Logos Preparatory Academy