Think About It: Why Christians Should Use Their Brains

Sheep aren’t known for thinking prowess. Dolphins? Absolutely. They’re poets in deep saltwater. Cats? Cunning, even if neurotic. Frogs? Wily, good at chess. Heck, even my sister’s dog, Dill, is inspired by a good novel.

But sheep? Um… not exactly known for critical thinking. They’re too busy being clannish on a hillside somewhere. They eat and they sleep - away from the world. They don’t have a stellar reputation for being introspective. In fact their use of “gray matter” is pretty much limited to producing some amazing wool that looks fetching on an Irishman. Sheep are not philosophers.

Maybe that’s why Jesus called us sheep. We’re clumsy, stinky, passive, messy blobs in need of leadership and lots of love.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to be a sheep. I’m glad that John 3:16 does not equal MC². I’m glad that salvation is not some esoteric equation to be solved by mathematical eggheads, but a free gift—for you and me, no less.

But I’m also glad that, stereotypes aside, it’s not an oxymoron to be a Christian thinker.

Why Ask Why?

There are a slew of believers out there who use their skulls on a daily basis - and not just because they want to but because they have to. Why? It’s so that they can relate to the world on its own terms.

Moral relativism? They’ve thought about it. They strongly believe that truth does not equal fiction, and they can articulate why.

Politics? They’ve studied and analyzed. They see the problems on both sides but conclude that God is neither Democrat nor Republican. Better yet they can have a thoughtful, cool-headed conversation to tell you why.

What else? Sex? War? They’ve thought it through from a biblical perspective.

These believers have wrestled with the why of these things so that they can better understand the what. They’ve studied and thought and prayed, and as a result they have a better feel for the pulse of the culture at large. Some might say that these believers think too much, but in doing so they are actually on the right track.

Lindsey Farris of Colorado Springs, Colo., argues that as Christians we should keep the neurons firing because our time on earth is short. “It is extremely important for us to wrestle with tough questions because people are asking them whether we have the answers or not,” she says. “If we are going to be ‘salt and light’ to the world that God desires to love and save, then we must examine and expand our knowledge of what God’s character looks like and how we can reflect it to others.”

Nichole Nordeman, a singer-songwriter who’s known for her thoughtful lyrics, chimes in, saying that Christians are called to be critical thinkers “not because you read something in a book or because you heard something from a pulpit but because you care enough about the condition of your soul that you decide to invite your brain to the party.”

Reading Is Fundamental

Yet as cynical as it may sound, the quip from famous atheist Bertrand Russell that “most Christians would rather die than think” makes me wince because it sometimes smacks a little too much of the truth.

James Emery White, author of A Mind for God, sees a non-thinking trend among believers today, which he likens to a deficiency of a soldier on the battlefield. “The peril of our day,” White says, “is that when a Christian mind is most needed, Christians express little need for the mind. … There is even the sense that the undeveloped mind is more virtuous than the one prepared for battle.”

The challenge for today’s believer, White says, is twofold: first, to win the wrestling match of introspection on the issues of our day (with Scripture as our guide) and to better understand them; and second, to engage our culture for Christ - something that takes faith as well as intellectual horsepower.

“We were made in God’s image,” White says, “and one of the most precious and noble dynamics within that image is the ability to think.”

And that’s not going to happen on the hillside but in a library. “Reading is the foundation for intellectual development,” White says. “Reading prepares us to think, for it is reading which allows us to understand and interpret the events of our day.”

Yet words alone are not the panacea for our dilemma. White says that we must also take the time to think about what we read. “Most of us are familiar with the practice of a daily quiet time in order to pray, read, and reflect on the Bible and perhaps journal a bit,” he says. “But we must also have regular quiet times for the purpose of wrestling with an issue, thinking through a matter, and attempting to gain an insight.”

Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “Great Christian thinkers are often those who have simply taken the time to do it.” Or in the words of a fisherman named Peter, “Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15).

Break Out of the Bubble

Book knowledge isn’t all we need, though. We need to know our culture. That’s because we’re dealing with stigmas and stereotypes and caricatures in a complex world—one that has often been scarred by legalism and whipped by the Bible Belt.

Theologian Karl Barth once said that every Christian should live his or her life “with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” In other words Barth argued that Christians should be well versed in our culture—if we hope to actually impact the people living in it.

And that, says Dr. David Clark, who heads up the Christian Thought program at Bethel University in Arden Hills, Minn., is the reason we’re here. He suggests that Christians need to be critical thinkers, and we need to know why we believe what we believe. Why? So we can engage non-believers, many of whom are “sophisticated and thoughtful” in their own worldview.

Hiding from the world is tempting because it feels safe, but Scot McKnight, professor of religious studies at North Park University and author of The Jesus Creed, stresses the need for Christians to be culturally savvy. There is a way, to twist an old cliche, to be in the world but not necessarily buy into all that it’s about.

“Wise Christians comprehend their own culture,” McKnight says. “They read newspapers, they read magazines, they seek to comprehend all sides of the political frays of our day, they grapple with influential philosophers and thinkers, and they come to terms with modern cultural expressions.”

The goal is not for us to be culturally snobbish or even to simply be “in the know.” It’s to be culturally aware. There is a difference.

Thinking Christians who are impacting culture don’t remain cloistered away in an ivory tower, spouting wisdom. They’re applying their understanding to the world around them, and they’re talking to people to find out what makes them tick. They’re analyzing movies and listening to the lyrics in music, and they’re talking about underlying meanings. They’re grappling with the struggles and questions people have. And perhaps most importantly they’re asking their own good questions during those conversations.

While some seem to be spinning their wheels to make Christianity appear cool, Christian thinkers like McKnight and Clark are trying to bring us back to the main point: not to argue or to retreat but to engage in relationships that lead to conversations about Jesus.

Nordeman puts it like this: “I have always been fascinated by the historical lives of contemplative people—monks and the like - who went to live in caves and mountains and monasteries to spend their lives better knowing God without the distraction of His fallen creation. Sometimes that sounds incredibly inviting. But other times I want to say, ‘No fair! You don’t just get to take your ball and go home because you don’t like the way the other kids play.’ But a lot of Christians live that way. They don’t know how to engage other people who don’t operate in their sphere of belief and conviction, and so they just go play somewhere else - like church, with all the other Churchinators from Churchitron.”

“We have to be thoughtful, dialogical, and responsive,” Clark explains. “We have to listen and respond intelligently and thoughtfully. And we do that on a one-on-one-on-one-on-one basis. The only way to help is for us to be collectively involved in those kind of thoughtful dialogues.” The goal, he adds, is to be “thoughtful listeners who are true to the Bible and relevant to culture simultaneously.”

And that’s not easy to do, he concedes. “Yet when we do it well,” Clark says, “our culture will listen.”