A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"Brainwashing?"

The young man sat on the platform as the host of the TV Talk Show walked among the audience. The young man was introduced as a man "rescued from a fundamentalist Christian oppression and deprogrammed from the mind altering they had done to him." He shared his story telling the audience that he had been "brainwashed" by his parents, teachers and pastors. He was glad to finally be free. As I listened a flood of emotions ran through me. I was frustrated, even angered, that the television talk show gave this man an uncontested platform to speak. Yet, my heart also went out to this young man. Not because of his so-called oppression. My heart ached for him because he had so completely misunderstood Christianity and had fallen prey to the world's delusion and lies about it. But, the thing that really caught my attention was the word "brainwashing."

Brainwashing is understood as a negative term. It denotes a method by which a person's cognitive abilities are broken down so that they can be thoroughly indoctrinated into thinking and acting in a programmed way, most often contrary to their own will. This was the way that this young man was using it. As I considered this word I came to realize that it could be understood in a totally different way. Can it not be said, and I say this with the utmost care, that God "brainwashes" His people?

Wait! Please stay with me! Scripture instructs us in Romans 12:2 "not to conform any longer to the pattern to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Paul prays in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that God Himself would sanctify Christians through and through. Does not a renewing of the mind require a radical cleansing - a "brain-washing?" This is not a negative thing. This sanctifying of our mind is not for the purpose of getting us to think and act against our wills. Rather it is a cleansing of the world's conditioning and the renewing our minds with the holy things of God. Only then are our wills truly free to will one will with God.

The world is a master of mental conditioning. With unrelenting persistence the world gets us to think and act according to its values, standards, philosophies, and cultures. Using every possible medium, the world pounds its message into our minds: music, education, art, media, and advertisement, are all masterfully used to push everyone to its mold. Even history is now being rewritten so that it says what the world wants it to say. This process is so thorough that people believe that they are thinking for themselves, when in fact they are conforming to a mold. This is why the Scriptural imperative is so strong. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."

Such a complete transformation cannot take place without a washing and renewing of our minds. God does not do this against our will. We must surrender ourselves in absolute consecration to God, as Romans 12:1 states, "Therefore, I plead with you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable* act of worship." When we consecrate ourselves to Him God cleanses and renews. He places within us the very mind and disposition of Christ. We then are empowered to think and to nurture this mind through the study of His Word and immersion of ourselves into the things of God.

Beloved, let's not be brainwashed by the world, but be brain-cleansed by God. Let us pray with the Psalmist, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive thing in me and lead me in the way of everlasting."

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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