Leon Fontaine - Think It Through
So many people do not think for themselves. They are shallow thinkers. Even the people who think they are uniquely different are completely mesmerized by some culture here and, and they just follow after. Edward T. Hall, a professor of Anthropology said, "Man has put himself in his own zoo. He has so simplified his life and stereotyped his responses that he may as well be in a cage". This act of thinking is greatly modified by culture. Your thinking. Now thinking is asking yourself questions and answering questions according to Plato. That's what thinking is. People will try to, what is thinking? And so it's so impacted by culture.
Now, cultural anthropology which also be called social anthropology is the study of human behavior and how it is influenced by other people and the culture they're living in. We know, just from doctors who have studied this that right from the womb up, there is an inculturation of every individual person. And it's impossible to be free from the influence of culture. But we can become very aware of it, and then we can resist its seduction. Popular culture is one of the most powerful and seductive forces in our lives and we need to be very aware of it. Solomon was very aware of it. He continually talked about things that put away foolishness. Do not listen to fools. Do not listen to sinners. Do not give in to people who run quickly to lying, stealing, cheating, money, all these, these things. And he continually gives us this wisdom.
Thomas Merton, I'm not quoting a religious leader. I'm just quoting people who have studied this for their lives. This impact that culture has on you, on me. He said, "We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves". The world is, is it can be so deceived to be so conformed and yet they think they're so unique. Life is literally for almost the entire population an exercise in mindless conformity. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not model your behaviour on the contemporary world, but let the renewing of your minds transform you". That word transform in the Greek is the very word where a worm spins a cocoon and becomes a butterfly. It doesn't just become a better worm. A complete transformation takes place.
And literally the Bible and, boy, it is like everywhere. When you begin to see this everywhere, it is all about you beginning to think free. Getting your head up out of this culture. This popular culture. Getting your head up out of all of the things you've been taught even in your home. Every one of us comes from a different culture in our home, and then our school. Some of us come from different countries. There is so many things that we have been in cultured with. And we need to understand something. There is a kingdom culture that completely frees people to be who they are and think, and it's not a religious culture. Religion sucks. I hate religion. I hate it. It's the reason so many people, when you say, "Come on, the church is going to..." Are you kidding me? I'd rather go to the dentist. Sorry, the dentists are here. Because they don't even know what kingdom culture is. For you and I to begin to live with wisdom.
Now, this is crucial. Because the Bible teaches us that wisdom is the principle thing. People will often say to me. "Wow, you are so lucky. God has so blessed you". And I go, "Are you saying that I'm uniquely blessed"? Well, well, well, well, well, well. No I'm not. God does not pick and choose and have favorites. Okay? He literally, His blessing is upon all of us. And one of the problems with doctrine in the church is that for every mile of truth, real truth, got two miles of ditch. We got one group that didn't believe in miracles. So you just hanging in there, in this woeful world till you finally get to go home to your reward. Then we got people in the other ditch and they're just a firm believer in miracles.
Do what you want. Live which you want. Make all the dumbest decisions you want and then just pray for a miracle. That's the lowest level of Christianity, is needing a miracle. There is a wisdom. And that as we begin to develop wisdom, the choices you make are determining your life. And where God wants to get involved in you in a powerful way is choices. You made 2000. You're going to make 2000 choices today. Whether or not to stop or run the red. Whether or not to eat or not eat. How do you respond to what your wife just said? What do you do with your, with your son just did? Do you go talk to that person or ignore that person? Do you make the phone call or not make a phone call? You're making choices and these choices continually take you on a continuum.
Some people are on a death continuum because they've never renewed their mind. They've never dealt with the wrong beliefs. The misbeliefs that are so entrenched in their heart. And they walk out this amazing array of bad decisions. I'm not talking to anybody here. So if you look straight forward, no one will know you're getting hit. One of our biggest problems as we talk about this, I'm going to share a little bit, is our propensity to never want to be wrong. Did you know that a human being today hates being wrong because they attached right or wrong to their identity? So if we talk, and I'm wrong, I feel stupid. I feel like you're smarter than me. I feel like... And so because people have to be very secure in their identity to allow people to question their wisdom, to question their knowledge base.
And so the Bible teaches us that when you look at the spectrum, fools, they get upset when you question them. A wise man, he leans in. He'll buy you a coffee because this is about to become a great conversation. You have your own opinion. Let's talk. We live in a world that is so conformed that the second someone disagrees with you, you automatically feel like, "Oh, I'm dumb". You've got to become secure because you are never going to grow until you are open to thinking, and you are open to people talking to you, and you're open to what they think. The greatest compliment you can give somebody you disagree with is to still look at them with this anticipation and go, "I want to know what you think".
We as believers need to recognize that if you do not deal with this issue of thinking while you are born again with the Spirit of Christ within your human spirit, and you are alive with more capability and ability than you could ever imagine. It will be completely capped by your inability to think. James 3:14 says, "And by all means don't brag about being wise and good if you are bitter and jealous and selfish. That is the worst sort of lie. For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, inspired by the devil". Let's say something right now. There's an educated part of the world who likes the kind of smile on a condescending way when you talk about evil. And that there's a dark kingdom. That there is a spirit world where there's a real devil.
Now, at the same time they'll go, "Oh, yeah. We know through science. We have seven to eleven dispensations here". So you believe that. Yet you talk to policemen, firefighters, emergency nurses and doctors, paramedics. I know because I spent years in that area. And they're very aware through the sickest things they've ever seen. They're very aware there is such evil. People do such disgusting things to one another. There is evil. People often wonder why is that person doing that? And if you can't see any reasonable reason, there's evil somewhere here. All the way from the garden of Eden and up. If you study history, they want you to think that before the modern age, they were just and wonderfully in caves and teepees. Just gathering, and nuts and berries and killing meat. It was such a beautiful simple pastoral life. Oh, no. It wasn't. Read the Bible. Read history. It was brutally hellish and horrible. The death, the dying, the killing. The stuff that went on. You can't even preach it on a Sunday morning because kids are present.
There is a wisdom that is earthly, sensual, and devilish. And it comes from the dark kingdom. And any time a born again believer begins to become self-centered, self-focused, self-aggrandizing, all about yourself. You begin to give it influence into your life. But then there's a wisdom. It says in verse 17. Well, I'll finish verse 16, "For wherever there is jealousy or selfish ambition, there will be disorder and every other kind of evil". And it says this repeatedly, I mean, book after book all over. Now, verse 17 says, "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peaceful, peace loving, courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness".
If you want to judge leaders, verse 17 and 18 from James 3 is what you would judge them by. You're not allowed to judge. No, you're wrong. You're not allowed to judge their heart which is their motives and their intentions. But you are commanded to judge their actions and the fruit of their lives. And this way we can begin to not just blindly stick our head in a hole as a Christian and just go, "Well, you know, whatever will be, will be. And if it happens, it's God". What a ridiculous, simplistic, unwise. Look at the Bible. In Psalms 119:98, it says, "God, You, through Your commandments". That word commandments means the wisdom of God. The precepts. The principles. It says, "You, through Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies. For Your words are ever before me".
Why would you need more wisdom than the people coming after you, if you're not supposed to do anything? What good is it? God just gave you wisdom over any person that ever comes after you, relationally, financially, career, physically, just spirit. You name it. You have more wisdom than your enemies, more wisdom than your teachers, more wisdom than people older than you. Oh, but you're a Christian. So do nothing. Solomon says repeatedly that wisdom is the principle thing. And he will teach principles all through the book of Proverbs. The wisdom books. And then all through the New Testament. And these principles are amazing. They're stunning.
Now, here's the thing. The blessing of God is upon you as a born again believer because Jesus qualifies you. But you can do unwise things. And that unwise decision can cause you to miss your destiny, to miss God's best. In Ephesians 2:10 in the Amplified, it says there that God has made a path for you ahead of time. And that you should walk in it. He's not going to force you. Freedom comes in to such a level that even God will not manipulate you and force you to do what He wants you to do. He wants you to grow and learn in wisdom, so that He can guide you that way. And if you do not pursue this wisdom, if you do not see the value of this, you will be absorbed by the present culture that you are in. And you'll be deceived into thinking your unique, deceived into thinking, and yet you have not even touched the capabilities that are within you, that opened up when you became born again.
And the very Holy Spirit that created this planet and universe is within your human spirit. And now while you had kind of a either an evil wisdom or your five senses garnered your knowledge. You have access to the wisdom of God. But to renew your mind will be crucial because your mind determines the outcomes of how you make choices and decisions. In Romans 12:2 in the Message Bible, it says, "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking". Jesus walked on the planet in a distinct culture and people were just thronging Him. They were so attracted to this man. The way He thought. The way He forgave. Who He went home for coffee with. You could not take this man and fit them into a religious culture. He was free from religion. He was free from what the world wanted to fit Him into. Even His own disciples couldn't understand Him because they were either religious in thinking or they were secular in thinking. That He was going to free them from the Romans by war, or on the religious side He was going to set Himself up again. They just, they could not grasp what is going on.
And today in the church world, we have the same thing. We've got, we've got leaders who just don't know how to navigate the times. And so you just put your head in a hole and submit to whatever goes on, Jesus said so. Then you got others just go fight everything you can see around you. Wisdom is the principle thing. If you don't learn consciously to make your own decisions and choices, you will unconsciously live and not even be aware of it. Matthew Kelly says this. "We must decide what is really important, really necessary. Make it a priority and make time. Otherwise the siren call of the world will always keep us busy and distracted from what really is important and what really counts". You need to examine your own life and ask yourself. What are my values? What do I value? What are my priorities? And then live a better life looking after them.
And I promise you right now, that if you begin to think you will be so rare on this planet, but you will cause everybody to begin to look at you and talk about you, try to woke you, try to put you out. Because if you don't conform, it makes them feel inadequate. It challenges their identity. It begins to reveal to them that you are so conformed that you think you're unique. You don't think beyond shallow. And when someone begins to think that way, and lead organizations that way, raise their kids that way. When they begin to rise up, and you can't touch their identity, and you can't touch their thinking, because they're going to think in the very presence of God that's in their spirit begins to help them.
Man, something changes and now you can be a person that impacts your area, your country, your family. And see generations of your family name go on and do great things. But you be conformed to this world like Romans 12:2 says and you will not. In the King James it says, "Don't conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you might prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect. Which is the most mature powerful will of God in your life". You're so full of potential. You're so full of gifts. You're so full of abilities. And religion, it just puts you to sleep. The world will put you to sleep. Most important thing is get enough sex, enough money, enough people to like you and then just drift until you die. You will be so bored.
Wise people listen to understand. I want to bring up that point again that I, that I talked about. When people get around you and they have an opinion. Stop feeling so insecure. It just shows how insecure you are in your identity and listen to them. No, I'm not saying the things that you know for sure. I'm not saying compromise them. I know Jesus is my Lord and Saviour. Not only I give my life to Him, but I've spent 40 years researching and thinking and growing and developing. So no one's going to convince me that Jesus is not my Lord and Saviour. But if you've got a difference of opinion and I've got time. I'd love to know how you think. It helps me know you. It helps me understand people. It helps me go deeper in what I believe and think.
And if you can challenge areas that I have not thought through, I want to think them through. I love to think. That's how we have to be. Otherwise, we're just this religious person preaching at people. And ask anybody on the planet if you like being preached at. No. My desire, my purpose today is to simply say how precious and wonderful and incredible you are. But if you're sitting around waiting for a miracle to take you into the next level of your life, or for someone to discover you, or somebody to discover your giftedness, or someone to encourage you because you're so discouraged. I've got news for you. It's probably not going to happen. The world does not owe you a living. And the world is not going to seek you out and lift you up. The world's going to take you out. It's a fallen world.
The storms are going to come. And it says in Luke that if you do not listen to Jesus' sayings and obey them. That when the storm comes, it doesn't strengthen you. It doesn't drive the screws in deeper and straighten out the walls and stick the shingles down. It says utterly destroys the home. But those who are built on the rock, which is listening and obeying the sayings of Jesus. It says they cannot even be shaken. You just put your TV on, put your feet up. Grab some popcorn and a milkshake. And while it's blowing, you don't even think about it. Why? 'Cause you're founded on the rock. These principles are the principles of how you believe, how you think. It's the wisdom that rises out of you. Everywhere you go, every person that you speak to, every move that you make with investments, every move that you make in every area of your life according to the Word of God, wisdom is the principle thing. And if you will simply take the beautiful teachings of the Word of God, which for some reason people think is so shallow.
Yeah, I read the Bible. I get it. Wrong! It will take me in my lifetime. I might touch a little drop of all that God has poured into me. And in a hundred years, I will never reach the end of the potential, the giftedness, the possibilities. So what it does? It totally changes your life. And it gets up and makes you go, "Man, I need to partner with Holy Spirit".
Now, if you're born again and you've given your life to Christ. Wisdom is something that you go after, okay? But you're filled with wisdom. The wisdom of God is within you. But you do have to renew your mind. To have the facts and not understand how they apply to you is to have useless facts. But if you'll meditate and you begin to understand how the data, the facts, the things, you've just learned are applied to your life, your marriage, your home, your body, your mind, your addictions, your future, your kids, your business, your career. The storm that you're in, gives you a stunning ability. There's an understanding. And then the Bible says you can walk in wisdom.
There's another word now for the born again believer, okay? That they didn't have in the Old Testament. And that is, and they'll use the word perceive there. But this perception, this perceiving, this awareness of what's rising up from your recreated spirit. It gives you a stunning ability to make decisions, to lead billion dollar organizations, to lead countries, to have this ability. And as you mature in the Word and you renew your mind and it dives into your heart. And your identity is so strong and healthy that nobody can manipulate you. Because the more you struggle with your identity, the easier you are to manipulate. But the more secure you are in who you are in Christ and His value for you, no one else can attack you. I mean, they can say all they want about you. You just smile because your identity is secure in who you are in Christ.
So as other people are struggling, as people come against them for the decision they've made and the things they speak up for. And the woke group are just coming after him. Oh, my. You just go, "Ah, whatever". Because you're secure. If you don't know this Jesus I'm talking about, that He's in your heart. You don't know if you're a born again believer, then you need to make sure. The Bible says that Jesus died on a cross, went to hell in our place, rose again with a new life to give you. And He sits at the right hand of the Father like that legal expertise, or that high priest to make sure that you can experience what He gave His life for. And so all you need to do is invite Him in. He's been waiting, wanting to, He'll just never force Himself on you. And so all you need to do is just say:
Jesus come into my heart. I give You my life. I want to develop a relationship with You from today and on, in Jesus' name, amen. That's a powerful thing you just decided.