Monday, August 22, 2016
510 - Girding Up the Mind
Spirituality Column No. 510
August 23, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
In older versions of the Bible, instead of “preparing your mind” this verse reads “girding up the loins of your mind.” In either case, it is Peter’s sober call to wise action.
Physically, “girding” means unencumbering one’s legs to maximize one’s mobility. This can be accomplished with a belt or sash, tightening the waist of the garment (think “girdle”), or by lifting, wrapping and tying the “skirt” around one’s “loins,” the human mid-section between the bottom of the rib cage and the pelvis. “Girding up the loins” is what robe-wearers do when preparing for labor or battle.
Shifting the context to Peter’s call for intellectual discernment, prayer and action, “girding up the loins of your mind” instructs us that we most effectively pursue God’s will when we unencumber our minds from things that hinder truth and slow our salvation; thereby freeing ourselves for right-minded, holy action. In other words, Peter tells us to dismiss worldly culture and cares, and to clearly, tenaciously and exclusively pursue and emphasize hope, grace and the risen Christ in all that we see, think and do.
A few books earlier in the Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:17), the Apostle Paul tells us to do the seemingly impossible: “Pray continually.” That’s actually not so impossible if one’s mind focuses on the hope, grace and revelation of Christ. Instead of worrying what our neighbors (whom we are to love) think, we set our default mental filter on “revelation of Christ.” That turns everything we think into a prayer as our days present us with joys, challenges, blessings, worldly iniquities, grievous temptations and a plethora of God-neutering machinations by an intellectually overbearing, culturally arrogant, “politically correct,” bullying, morally bereft and academically disingenuous society at large.
Every day our culture challenges the “girded” sharpness of our Christian minds. Consider:
- Vice president Joe Biden, a confessing Roman Catholic, on Aug. 1 presided at a gay wedding in direct opposition to Catholic teaching, thumbing his nose at Church doctrine.
- The New York Times on Aug. 13 ran an academically heinous op-ed guest “editorial” that claimed God is transgender. That the Times ran a pro-LGBTQ editorial maliciously mischaracterizing God (God transcends gender) is not surprising; that the linguistic and scriptural argument presented is utterly specious – the Bible translation was wrong – was evidently not something Times editors considered important.
Beware the heretics and libertines. Whether it is the best of times, the worst of times or the end of times, now is the time to be mentally prepared, in Christ, all the time.
– Commentary on God’s Transgender: Click here: No, God Isn’t Transgender | First Things
August 23, 2016
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Girding Up the Mind
By Bob Walters”
“Therefore, preparing
your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace
that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 1:13
In older versions of the Bible, instead of “preparing your mind” this verse reads “girding up the loins of your mind.” In either case, it is Peter’s sober call to wise action.
Physically, “girding” means unencumbering one’s legs to maximize one’s mobility. This can be accomplished with a belt or sash, tightening the waist of the garment (think “girdle”), or by lifting, wrapping and tying the “skirt” around one’s “loins,” the human mid-section between the bottom of the rib cage and the pelvis. “Girding up the loins” is what robe-wearers do when preparing for labor or battle.
Shifting the context to Peter’s call for intellectual discernment, prayer and action, “girding up the loins of your mind” instructs us that we most effectively pursue God’s will when we unencumber our minds from things that hinder truth and slow our salvation; thereby freeing ourselves for right-minded, holy action. In other words, Peter tells us to dismiss worldly culture and cares, and to clearly, tenaciously and exclusively pursue and emphasize hope, grace and the risen Christ in all that we see, think and do.
A few books earlier in the Bible (1 Thessalonians 5:17), the Apostle Paul tells us to do the seemingly impossible: “Pray continually.” That’s actually not so impossible if one’s mind focuses on the hope, grace and revelation of Christ. Instead of worrying what our neighbors (whom we are to love) think, we set our default mental filter on “revelation of Christ.” That turns everything we think into a prayer as our days present us with joys, challenges, blessings, worldly iniquities, grievous temptations and a plethora of God-neutering machinations by an intellectually overbearing, culturally arrogant, “politically correct,” bullying, morally bereft and academically disingenuous society at large.
Every day our culture challenges the “girded” sharpness of our Christian minds. Consider:
- Vice president Joe Biden, a confessing Roman Catholic, on Aug. 1 presided at a gay wedding in direct opposition to Catholic teaching, thumbing his nose at Church doctrine.
- The New York Times on Aug. 13 ran an academically heinous op-ed guest “editorial” that claimed God is transgender. That the Times ran a pro-LGBTQ editorial maliciously mischaracterizing God (God transcends gender) is not surprising; that the linguistic and scriptural argument presented is utterly specious – the Bible translation was wrong – was evidently not something Times editors considered important.
Beware the heretics and libertines. Whether it is the best of times, the worst of times or the end of times, now is the time to be mentally prepared, in Christ, all the time.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com) notes that being a Christian has never
been “easy,” not if you really believe.
The world is always taking the other side.
–
Commentary on Biden: Click
here: Hey, Joe! | First Things – Commentary on God’s Transgender: Click here: No, God Isn’t Transgender | First Things
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