Set Your Mind

Does it ever feel like you are on an elementary school playground where kids are name calling and whispering about one another and you’re the kid standing there by yourself wondering if they are talking about you? You wonder if what they are saying is true. Were you ever that kid? If you were, you can probably still sense the emotion you felt. At some point we were all that kid and at times, we are that adult participating in playground shenanigans.

It is so easy to be distracted by negative politics, people, and personal problems but we are instructed by Paul in Colossians 3:1-2 to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. By doing this, we can keep our focus on the right things and not be distracted by the snares of the evil one who would love to discourage and distract.

Paul continues by instructing us to “put to death” some earthly distractions. He writes, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.”

If Paul stopped right there, many would certainly agree with a hearty, “Amen!” We know those things are sin and they are earthly things that shouldn’t have any part in the Christian’s life. I can imagine as this letter was being read to the congregation that lots of good Christians would shout, “Amen!” They might even stand in agreement with thunderous applause…even those who were participating in these secret sins.

These sins that Paul lists are easily hidden from others and kept under wraps. After all, who knows what desires we have in our hearts unless they manifest themselves publicly. No one really knows my desires. No one knows if I struggle with lust, greed, or evil desires. Those are private. They are secret and no one knows except me, God, and anyone I’ve confessed those to.

But Paul didn’t stop with those private, undetectable, and unidentifiable sins. He continued to list some other things we must rid ourselves of. He wrote, “But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices.”

Uh oh. Everyone be seated and stop shouting, “Amen!” Why? Because we are all guilty.

As these believers looked around the room they could possibly recall the conversations they had with other people in the room, or, if this were a model day setting, their latest Facebook post where they were hateful enough to slander someone publicly but “spiritual” enough not to use their name. I can imagine the hush that came over the congregation as this letter was being read aloud. I picture Christians looking around the auditorium and looking into the eyes of the other Christians they had just been gossiping about in the hallway before church started.  Or, in the modern setting, I picture these Christians pulling out their phones and deleting the tweets and Facebook posts where they slandered others publicly but privately by not calling any names.

When it comes to spiritual maturity and setting our minds on things above we must deal with secret matters of the heart and outward matters of the tongue. The immaturity in us loves to burst out in rage like a child, express anger in ungodly and unhealthy ways, post our ill will toward others even if we don’t call them by name, twist the truth in a way that slanders someone else and harms their reputation, and sometimes just outright lie to make ourselves look better. It is time to get away from the playground shenanigans and start thinking and acting like a mature Christian.

I don’t know how it is for you, but for me, this journey of faith is hard. There are plenty of days I want to quit and most of those days are directly related to the things Paul listed above.  When we bring others down by acting out in immature ways, we are not setting our minds on things above. As a matter of fact, we are usually making ourselves the center of our thoughts. We are setting our minds on earthly things, things that are in the realm of the temporary. So before you and I take an opportunity to say or post something that might discourage another believer, we should set our mind on the eternal and use that same energy to bless and encourage. I’ll bet it would be more healthy for all involved.