Avoiding "Concrete Minds"

When someone is stubbornly resistant to God, we sometimes say they have a hard heart. And one thing that can contribute to a hard heart is a hard mind. We might call it a “concrete” mind.

It involves hearing a false teaching, mixing it with personal prejudices, and letting it harden permanently like concrete in our minds. If we hold on tightly to these false beliefs, which are usually half-truths, they become more important to us than Scripture. And we get offended when they're challenged.

Colossians 2:8 calls this being taken “captive”: 

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

When false teachings take us captive, we begin building a wall in our mind to hide the truth. 

Over the years I've learned that if I'm not careful, I can pour cement in my brain too.

It's so important that we check every teaching with the full context of Scripture instead of highlighting a few passages. This means we can't trust others to do our studying for us. 

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 

Concrete is great for a patio but not for a mind! 

For more insights on understanding Scripture, see "Pieces Parts" Doesn't Work for Scripture! 

This is one reason I've written Lies in Disguise. Many half-truths are creeping into the church and filling people's minds like cement.

 

BLN