The Christian Mind Under Siege

If there is one duty we do not take seriously enough, it is care for the Christian mind. Instead of cultivating a habit of profound, regenerate thinking, the Church today is too often guilty of passing off anti-intellectualism as spirituality. People who think become people who doubt, or so the logic goes.

Of course, this would all be quite alien to the Apostle Paul, who saw the Christian mind as a bulwark against sin: “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” (Romans 7:25b). If the flesh serves sin, then to avoid offense we must mortify the flesh. By the same token, if the mind serves God, then to grow in grace we must build up the Christian mind.

A City Without Walls

Your mind is under siege, and if you’re like most believers, you have done virtually nothing to prepare for the battle. Most of us stand flat-footed and oblivious until temptation puts us on the ground and starts kicking. Then, we count it a victory if we’re able to run away—not exactly ‘triumphant’ living.

Even the Christians who prepare for the struggle tend to forget the enemy’s true nature and strength. They prepare, but they remain unready. We know (or ought to know) that the Christian does all of his fighting ‘sword in hand’—i.e., holding fast to the Word of God. But without discipline and discernment this is no easy task.

Proverbs 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” That’s what most of us are: cities without walls. Our defenselessness invites attack. Our weakness is contemptible. Aristotle, writing in the Politics, declares, “…a city defended by walls has a choice of alternatives—to treat its city as walled, or to treat it as if it were unwalled—but a people without any walls is a people without any choice.”

Modern Christians are, by and large, a people without a choice. We dwell in the plain, intermarried with heathens and intermingled with sin. It is time to start building and defending our walls.

Bricks & Mortar

The bricks and mortar of a Christian’s walls are study and obedience, wisdom and action. Some practical observations: Fill your mind with positive reflections. Meditate on the pantheon of virtues outlined in Philippians 4:8—whatsoever things are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy. There is little strength in being passionately against everything. Be consumed with what you are passionately for.

   Also, make temptation hard. To reach Eve with his message, Satan had to sneak into the garden, take on the form of a serpent and engage in what must have been a humiliating piece of sophistry for such a proud being. In Christ’s case, he had to travel to the wilderness for forty days (a journey made all the more disheartening by his certainty failure). These days, Satan might as well set his alarm clock for noon, since we do so much of his work for him.

   If you’re going to build up walls of discernment around your mind, make the decision to stop negotiating. Antioch fell to the Crusaders not because they breached its perimeter, but because the captain of one of its towers began a conversation with Bohemond. Your conversations with the old man will deliver your citadel into his hands, so break them off.

Defending Your Walls

Speaking of sieges, you can learn a lot about defending your walls of discernment by studying a famous one: the siege of Constantinople in 1453.

   Don’t trust someone else to maintain your walls. That’s what the Byzantines did: they entrusted a couple of monks with the task of repairing the Theodosian walls. After the siege, the Turks found the money the Emperor had given to the monks buried in the ground—they had not spent a dime on the city’s defense. Learn from their mistake and make maintain your walls your personal responsibility.

     Re-build your walls. Every day, the Turkish cannon knocked breaches into the walls, and every night the Christians were forced to rebuild them. Your walls endure a similar assault each day, so take the time to rebuild them in study and prayer once the fighting is done.

      Guard your foundations. The Turks attempted to undermine the walls by digging out the foundations beneath them. To stop their plan, the Christians had to dig countermines and put the Turkish tunnels to the torch. Once your foundations are gone, your walls will tumble. Defend your foundations at all costs.

      Keep your gates locked. The Byzantines missed this one! They left a small gate—the kerkoporta—open after an attack, and the next wave of Turks made their way into the city. The lesson is simple: know where your gates are located and don’t forget to lock them when the fighting starts!

The Strong City

Isaiah writes, “We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (26:1-3).

The Christian mind is stayed on God and draws its strength from Jesus Christ. It is His wisdom, and not our own, that keeps our feet. We study to understand His ways more clearly, and we learn discernment to better please Him with our actions. As Christians we can enjoy the life of the mind in its fullness, because our trust is in the Giver of life.