Over the years as you pursue a relationship with Jesus you discover a few treasures, by that I mean, truths or understandings that really make a difference in being a ‘son’ of God. You could say the penny dropped or the light went on, however, I like to put it like this, that, as you search out God’s treasure a curtain gets drawn back on a truth that always existed in the heart of God.
Some of those treasures have been coming to an understanding that ‘There is no normal’ there is just life with God; I am either a ‘Victim or Volunteer’ in every situation; and ‘I am a new creation’ completely transformed and made a clean. Another truth or revelation has been that Mindset matters – how we think about who we are matters!
This is not an original thought of mine, I was reading “A Culture of Honor” by Ps Danny Silk and the chapter on mindset jumped out at me.
In brief Danny Silk contends that there are three mindsets – a poverty mindset; a middle class mindset; and a wealthy mindset in the church just as you might find these same class divisions in society.
Now my roots, my family of origin was very middle class and the church I have been part of has likewise been very middle class. Nothing wrong with that except that in the middle class church the prevailing mindset is that one must always work hard to achieve your goals; to attain a better status; to gather belongings so that when you are gone you might leave an inheritance – while you have enough and more, you are careful with your resources and keep some in reserve for a rainy day.
The revelation for me was that this is not the mindset that Jesus modelled. Rather the mindset we should function from is one of ‘wealth’. In this mindset what matters most is our connections ‘with God and with one another’ – it is not what we do for God but with God – we already have an inheritance to draw down – we believe that what Jesus did was enough. In this mindset we act as benefactors who have something valuable to give away, not as a source of pride but rather for the benefit of those in need.
Life with Jesus is not ‘just a tweak here’ or a tweak there’ its a new way of thinking and being. Jesus’ way is a completely different mindset and while this summary is very inadequate I hope that even this brief thought might provoke you to think about how you think. Read the book, ask Holy Spirit for some discernment on this ‘mindset matter’. Personally I have found it helpful in my relationship with God.