Changing the Way We Think

Changing the Way We Think

Philippians 4:8

            Behavior modification experts say it is easier to act your way into a new way of thinking than to think your way into a new way of acting.  They’re right.  Of course they’re right!  Thinking about beginning an exercise program rarely gets us off the couch.  Thinking about watching what we eat rarely keeps us out of fast food restaurants or the snack food aisles of the grocery stores.  Thinking about giving up smoking rarely stops us from buying the tobacco products we know we should leave alone.

            On the other hand, if we start the exercise program, or change where we eat or the kinds of food we buy, or pass up the smokes counter, sooner or later we’ll start changing our habits.  It may take a while, but we’ll get into shape, and perhaps even enjoy working out (at least some days).  We’ll find that healthy foods really don’t taste bad, and consist of more than just nuts and twigs and berries and leaves.  We’ll stop smoking and enjoy the taste of food again.

            I think Paul understood this.  Perhaps he was a behaviorist without knowing it.  The word didn’t exist during his lifetime.  How do we know he felt this way?  Read his letters.  He rarely talks about thinking, but often talks about doing.  In fact, much of the Bible is about doing.  We read about the Acts of the Apostles, not their thoughts.  Even the Ten Commandments describe actions, not modes of thinking.  Jesus taught about how we should live, not about how we should think.  His summation of the Commandments?  Love God and love neighbor.  Those of us who have ever loved anyone know that love is an action verb—possibly the most active verb in the English language.

            So why is Paul telling us to “think on these things,” as most translations render this verse?  Is it possible this man of action wants us to meditate, to have good thoughts running through our minds while we sit quietly, contemplating life?  Is this perhaps a less-than-accurate translation?  Does Paul have something else in mind?

            Let’s go back to the concept of acting our way into a new way of thinking.  I remember a story I heard many years ago.  A missionary to Africa was talking to a young man who had recently become a Christian.  The missionary suggested that the new convert might want to focus on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as a way of learning how to live a Christian life.  The young man went away.  Some time later he returned to tell the missionary that he had memorized the entire sermon.  The missionary was amazed, and asked how he had done it (remember, the Sermon on the Mount begins at Matthew 5:1 and ends at 7:27—a very long passage).

            “It was easy,” the young man said.  “I just went out and did what it said to do a little at a time until I had learned it by heart.”

            Easy!  He said it was easy!  Through his actions he had developed a new way of thinking, but it couldn’t have been easy.  If it were, more of us would do it, and I’ve never met anyone who has—including me.

            One translation, the English Standard Version, says “practice these things.”  I believe this is more to the point.  If we practice being true, honorable, just, and lovely, there will come a time when we think that way.  Certainly, we won’t be perfect in our new way of thinking, just as we’ll skip a few days of exercise or have an extra dessert from time to time.  But our habits will be formed.  Our inclination will be to do those things which lead to truth and justice, to demonstrate honor in our dealings with others, to have our actions be commendable.

            How do we begin?  Like the young man learning Jesus’ words—a little at a time.  Try being true, or just, or honorable for a week or two—or a month or two.  See what happens.