Intellectualism
One of the things I’ve noticed about our western culture is that we have a high value for intellectualism. I don’t mind being classified as an intellectual—it’s a beautiful thing, and I’m all for using analytics, logic, and intellect. However, I want to make an important distinction: our intellect isn’t supreme. Our intellect is designed to serve our spirit.
Many people believe that their mind is completely separate from the spirit world but I’m going to blow the whistle and expose this falsehood. What we think is actually a result or symptom of the condition of our spirit. Most of us live our lives deciding and judging what is good or bad, right or wrong, what is valuable or worthless, beneficial or not...by our thoughts. What we don’t realize is that our thoughts are coming from the spirit realm. We tend to try to shove everything coming at us through our mental door. If it makes sense, we accept it. If it doesn’t, we reject it. The problem here is that the enemy can make a lot of sense to your mind and the Lord sometimes doesn’t.
Think of it this way: your spirit is a king or queen. Your spirit was designed to rule and sit on the throne of your life while your mind is the king’s advisor; it is an important role, but it is only a supportive role. If your mind sits on the throne and tries to rule, your kingdom will suffer. Your mind isn’t capable of running the kingdom as it literally doesn’t know how to do that. Your mind can learn from the spirit, it can refine, change, and grow. But it cannot rule. Don’t get me wrong—you do need your mind. Your spirit needs the information your mind gives to rule well, but both your mind and your spirit need to be in their proper place.
One of the symptoms of our mind has usurping the throne is double-mindedness. But we don’t call it that in our culture—we call it “Plan B,” being responsible, doing research, being informed. When we follow this train of thought, we make choices based solely on information and practical matters rather than on what’s happening in the spirit. The thing is, the Holy Spirit is not afraid of circumstance, timing, or limited resources. It’s not that God doesn’t look at that stuff, He’s just not limited by it.
Another symptom of our mind sitting on the throne is when we have a thirst for control, when we want to guarantee a specific outcome in a given situation. We want to ensure we get the results we want. If I propose that you trust a person in a matter in your life, with the understanding that they could make a mistake, choose poorly, or even betray you, would you trust them? The logical mind would probably say no. If there is just a chance they could mess it up, logic might inform us it’s probably not worth the risk. This train of thought is the mind learning to avoid problems instead of letting God show us what is possible regardless of the circumstances.
The Bible contains many passages about how we must enter the Kingdom as a child. The thing about children is that they are vulnerable. They are dependent and willing to trust someone greater than them for their provision, relationships and protection. Living with our spirit on the throne, instead of our mind, will demand that we trust God with the outcome.
There isn’t a neat, 5-step learning guide to living by your spirit instead of your mind. The tricky part about this subject is that learning how to be spirit-led, in my experience, can’t be taught. It has to be caught. My suggestion to you is this: observe and get around those you know who are living by the spirit. Follow leaders that live this out on the daily and you’ll pick up on the nuances of following the spirit yourself. Also, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you! The more we trust Him, the more our minds surrender to Truth.
For more on this topic, check out my podcast: Confessions of a Reformer, Episode 22: Intellectualism