Right Thinking (Phil. 4:8)

The Book of Proverbs gives precise guidelines regarding how an individual should react to a miser: ‘Do not eat the bread of a miser, nor desire his delicacies; for as he thinks in his heart, so is he.  “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you’ (Prov. 23:6-7). His heart is not involved in his sharing; instead he regrets having to give anything away. The principle that summarises the motives of the miser is not limited to such people. Of each person it can be said, ‘as he thinks in his heart, so is he.’ Outward actions of righteousness are not sufficient; there has no be an inner agreement with them. Otherwise we are guilty of hypocrisy.

Why do we need right thinking?

As we have noted in previous studies, Paul in this section is urging his readers to live in a certain way because of the imminent arrival of the King. He has also stressed that the coming King is also present with his people, near to them. Obviously, King Jesus does not want wrong thinking by his people in his presence or wrong thinking by his disciples as they await his second coming. It is not an assumption to say that the list of items to think about in Philippians 4:8 are the same list that would have been said of Jesus himself.

It also seems to me that Paul is giving a key for helping his readers develop or maintain the other attitudes and outlooks that he wants them to have – harmony, joy, gentleness, prayer and peace. For example, we can take the ongoing dispute between Euodia and Syntyche. Their disagreement was sadly true in the sense of being a fact, but it was not noble or lovely. Others might say that they thought about their behaviour because it was true, but Paul says that it was not appropriate for others to focus on the behaviour of these ladies because the break in their relationship was not also praiseworthy and of good report. Similarly, such a factual situation would not result in corporate joy in the congregation because of the failure to include the other qualifications Paul mentions.

Therefore, the importance of right thinking is seen both in personal sanctification and in corporate sanctification. My thought life has repercussions for others as well as for myself. If I think about unsuitable things, then it is likely that I will not be gentle. Should I allow my mind to dwell on violent physical or verbal situations recorded in a book or seen on a film, I will develop these traits in my speech and gestures. Obviously, a failure to be gentle or full of joy affects others as well as myself.

A clear reason for using our minds in such a way as Paul stated here is that such a practice honours the God that created us with the capability of thinking. The possession of a mind is part of what it means to be made in the image of God. The Lord expects us to use our minds, but he has limited the ways in which we are to choose to use it.

Why must a believer take care regarding his thoughts? The answer is that sin usually begins in the mind. Listen to the words of James: ‘But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death’ (Jas. 1:14-15). James says that thinking about sinful things is the conception of sinful acts. Just as natural conception will produce a child that looks like its parents, so sinful thoughts produce sinful actions. We can see this in what happened to David when he sinned against Bathsheba. If he had not thought about the possibility, then he would not have sent for her and sinned with her.

Jesus taught the same truth in Mark 7:20-23: ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’ Our prisons would be empty if the inmates had thought correctly before committing their crimes. Many church disputes would not have happened if the conflicting parties had thought correctly beforehand.

The Christian life is often described as an inner warfare. Within the heart of each believer, there are two competing powers: the power of grace and the power of sin. The battle will be won by the power we feed the most in our thought life. If we feed our sinful tendencies, then we will know the strength of sin; if we feed our gracious desires, we will know the strength of grace. One of the most common ways of feeding our inward tendency to sin is by listening to the media. Newspapers, magazines, television programmes and DVDs do not present a Christian understanding of life. It is impossible to have a Christian mind if we spend our time absorbing the worldviews of secular people. There is a very simple test for what we read and watch: will the item of reading or the programme I am about to watch cause me to break one of the ten commandments? If it will, then we should not read it or watch it.

When should we engage in right thinking?

One obvious occasion for right thinking occurs at conversion. In Isaiah 55:7, the prophet exhorts, ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ Before conversion, individuals will have a variety of different thoughts about God. Some will assume that he is not very interested in humans, others will presume that he will be merciful to everybody, others will imagine that he is pleased with a sinner’s self-righteousness. Whatever their thoughts, they are to abandon them and think about what God has revealed about himself. People should think about the way of forgiveness (repentance), the extent of forgiveness (all their sins) and the provider of forgiveness (the God who sent his Son to be the Saviour). Thinking about God as he is revealed in the Bible will result in one’s coming to not only know about him but also to know him as the Father. Thinking about God the Son in the Bible will lead us to know him as the Redeemer and thinking about the Holy Spirit will cause us to know him as the Sanctifier within our hearts.

Another occasion of right thinking occurs at church. It is surprising to discover how many wrong notions are picked up in church. Sometimes, the hearer assumes that the preacher is always correct, and in doing so forgets that the men of Berea were commended for searching the Old Testament to see if what Paul told them was so (Acts 17:11). Or the hearer may resent the conviction of sin that he experiences through the preacher’s words, imagining that the pastor is out to get him, when what is happening is that God has arranged in providence for him to hear the message about his sins. In such situations, the listener should ask, is the message true, is the preacher desiring my good, is his intentions pure? Church is a location for active thinking, and not mere absorption of what is said or done.

Another occasion of right thinking is at moments of consecration. These moments occur frequently, often many times a day, but they should never be done thoughtlessly. In Romans 12:1-2, in light of his explanation of several great doctrines of the Christian Faith (such as justification, adoption and sanctification), Paul urges his readers: ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.’ The path of consecration is continued by having our thinking continually renewed by ongoing exposure to the content of God’s Word.

A common occasion of right thinking occurs when choices have to be made? Often issues connected to a choice are reduced to asking banal questions about it, sometimes because the person suspects his intended action will not be God-glorifying. Paul, in this verse, provides a set of markers by which we can estimate the range of options and enable us to make the best choice.

A fifth occasion of right thinking are the times when a crisis appears suddenly. Instead of taking time to think, we often respond by panicking and running about like headless chickens (who, of course, cannot think and don’t get anywhere). In times of trouble, our first response must be to ask God for wisdom and help, for a mind that will recall his promises, for a heart that will submit to his providence, for his hand to lead us through the problem and uphold us throughout it.

No doubt, there are many types of occasion when right thinking is required. But I want to consider another aspect of the matter.

How do we make right choices?

This verse by Paul indicates that there has to be a priority in the things that we think about. Common sense tells us that there is a limitless range of options on which to focus. We need guidelines on how we can select which subjects should occupy our minds. Paul here gives eight guidelines to help us think about the best things. The topic should be true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy.

Regarding these guidelines, some commentators propose that, since Paul uses terminology that was also used by pagan philosophers, he meant his readers should go to these secular sources for help (and some use Paul’s citations of pagan philosophers in his address at the Areopagus in Acts 17:28 as evidence). Personally, I think this suggested meaning is highly unlikely, if only for the basic reason that these pagan teachers did not understand the character and ways of God. The suggested interpretation also assumes that words used by non-Christian teachers cannot have a different but Christian meaning when used by Christian teachers. Whether or not Paul borrowed philosophical terms is not the point that matters; what is of importance is what he meant by them. Each term he uses is easy to understand in a biblical way.

Apparently, each person thinks about ten thousand thoughts a day. Yesterday, I thought about politics (local and international), sport (soccer and cricket), people (some here, some who I have not seen for years), preaching (I was preparing for this sermon), tragedies (people in distress and fear, some ill and others concerned), and about God and his purposes. These are the things I thought about, and obviously there is a range of priority in them. I should put God first.

I think Paul’s list also points to the necessity of making progress in the things that we think about. Surely there is something sad about those who merely repeat the same thoughts over and over again. Often they live in the past, in the good old days when things were better with them. Yet they can still think of God, and even if the rest of life has become stale, he never will. We may become static in other areas of thought, but we should not become so with God. Instead we should have fresh experiences of his love and mercy to think about, as well as deeper insights into his character and purposes.

Yet in order to know how to prioritise and progress, we have to make preparation. The best way to do this is by meditating on the Bible. Psalm 1 is a wonderful description of the effects of right thinking. A believer who meditates on God’s Word becomes strong and is able to stand firm as a tree when troubles come. It is amazing how often passages of Scripture learned years ago come to mind when needed. But they will not usually come to mind unless we have thought about them beforehand.

In addition to reading the Bible, prayer is an essential form of preparation for right thinking. Sometimes we imagine that prayer is a complex matter in which we persuade God to change his mind, as if he was intent on denying us a particular benefit. Such a view is wrong. Usually, true prayer is reverent and simple. We can say simply to our heavenly Father, ‘Lord, teach me how to think about your Word.’ Or, ‘Lord, guide me how to practice your Word in this situation.’ Such an activity is far better than racking our brains in order to find our own solution.

In addition to making biblical preparation, we should learn from suitable patterns or examples of living. We can note how characters in the Bible developed their outlook, or we can read biographies of believers who were devoted to God’s service. The best pattern is Jesus himself. Often the answer in many a situation is to ask the simple question, ‘What would Jesus do if he were here?’ Yet Jesus knew what to say or do in every situation because the law of God (the Old Testament) was hidden in his heart. He had meditated on it and prayed about it, and so he knew how to live. In fact, we can say that in Philippians 4:8 Paul is describing the mind of Christ.