An Enemy Lies Within

Preface

This book may not be for everyone. If your mind is completely renewed and continually set on things above, and if you continually take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, then you will not profit from the revelations and strategies offered here.

For the rest of us, there is a desperate need to give attention to the carnal mind’s methods and maneuvers, its deceptions and distractions. I know this firsthand. My carnal mind has played tricks on me for the entirety of my life. God continues to reveal the foothold it has established and the damage it has done.

There are others who would rather not be bothered and challenged by self-examination. They are holding on to the possibility that these things will work themselves out without too much involvement and effort on their part. Some have gone so far as to assume that the war for our souls is over.

Beware! This is exactly what our carnal minds would have us accept and believe. Passivity and procrastination are two of its favorite weapons, for they draw very little attention, allowing our carnal mind to remain undetected within the camp. Again, I speak from personal experience.

This hiddenness is quite the phenomenon, particularly when you consider the power and importance that has been awarded to the carnal mind in this, the Age of Reason. Indeed, the carnal mind has been placed upon something more than a pedestal. The carnal mind now occupies a throne.

And who do you think put it there? WE DID! The carnal mind – our collective carnal minds, to be exact – has managed to place itself on a throne for all of mankind to worship.

This truly is an incredible accomplishment. Think about it. Consider the carnal mind’s creative trickery in the Western education systems. From kindergarten through high school, we are trained to depend on our ability to reason until finally, at the university, that reason is worshipped. Indeed, mankind believes – more than anything – in the power of the reasoning mind. Few question the destruction it has wrought.

That brings us to the purpose of this book – to encourage Christians to think about how they are thinking; to recognize that we not only allow the enemy to reside in the camp, but we turn to it for counsel and advice. It is no wonder we cannot get the lost world to think differently. Generally speaking, we are not thinking right ourselves.

Acknowledgements

God has used more individuals to disciple me than I could imagine. Some have known they were being used; many did not. God has used family members, friends, acquaintances, strangers, pastors, teachers, etc. It takes a village to disciple a man; we all get to play a part. Each one of these instruments of God helped me think differently – to think more like a son of God. For this, I am eternally grateful.

Introduction

Our Desires and Mission

inLight Consulting was birthed out of a heart’s desire to help Christian leaders find joyful, Spirit-filled ministry. Surrendered to God, desires become missions, shared with God for the advancement of His kingdom. The mission of inLight Consulting is to encourage, edify, and equip leaders in the workplace to become disciple makers and transformation agents. We identify a workplace leader as anyone with a sphere of influence in the workplace (including the religious workplace and the home).

God uses inLight to put courage into leaders, build them up in His word and will, and help them find healing and unity for the good works He has created for them to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). We accomplish this through one-on-one and group discipling, and through blogs and books. Our desire is to see Matthew 5:16 manifested through these leaders, as fruit that will glorify our Father in heaven (John 15:5-8); that they will experience the greater-than life Jesus promised to those who believe in Him (John 14:12). Furthermore, we are convinced that these leaders will become houses that stand in the storms of life, as beacons and refuge to those less prepared (Matthew 7:24-27).

Our desire and mission are to be God’s vessel and instrument in this great work.

Our Purpose in this Book

Approximately ten years ago I attended a lecture at a workplace leaders’ conference on the physiology of the brain. It was really quite unusual. What was I doing at such a lecture? What was such a lecture doing at a workplace leaders’ conference? Looking back, I now understand that God orchestrated that lecture, at that conference, for my edification and encouragement.

The presenter showed us how scientists observe physical changes in the brain of patients recovering from alcoholism; that new electronic pathways are created over time. It occurred to me that this research scientist was talking about the renewal of the mind. I came to understand that the renewal of the mind is as much a supernatural miracle, at the physical level, as the healing of terminal cancer through prayer (something I have also witnessed). The notion captivated me.

This discovery connected well with my prior vocation: working with a team of enterprise architects to change the way banking executives thought about the use of technology. Our ultimate purpose was to transform their business with technology. We called this changing their paradigm. The analogous term in Scripture is mindset. Others prefer worldview.

I spent more than a decade in the technology field proving that changing someone’s paradigm is much easier said than done. As promising as technology was to their bottom line, the executives I worked with resisted us religiously. Why? Because the implementation of technology required them to transform their thinking about work and to change the way they did business.

The ensuing twelve years of workplace ministry have proven that the mind’s resilience to change exists in every sphere, and no less with my brothers and sisters in Christ. This is lamentable, for our transformation into the image of the glory of the Lord requires the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18). We must change the way we think!

Over the years, this matter of the mind has become increasingly important to me. I have tried to make it important to others. And so, we have come to the writing of this thesis and study to encourage and help Christians think about the way they think, and to empower them to think in line with God’s prescription for the renewing of our mind.

Ultimately, our hopes and prayers are for the transformation and reformation of the Western church.

Our Thesis

The church in the West desperately needs a reformation. Where do reformations begin if not with repentance? According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary, repentance means to change one’s mind or purpose (Vine, Unger, & White, 1985: 525). Not what you expected, right? I too was surprised. Most people consider repentance to be a matter of behavior. As we will discover, true repentance leads to a change in behavior for those who first change their mind.

This brings us to Romans 12:2, where we are encouraged to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Perhaps, in the Age of Reason, we need a reformation in the way we think. We need to start seriously and soberly thinking about the way we think as Christians. We have gotten lazy with our thinking. We trust our thinking way too much. Those of us who preach and teach trust the thinking of others more than we should. The results are obvious, and they are not good. It is time we tried something different.

God is a process-oriented problem solver; He uses processes to solve problems. For example, God uses the salvation process to solve the problem of our rebellious separation from Him; and the sanctification process to address His requirement for our holiness. More to the point of this study, we have a problem with our minds, and we need a process from God.

The process which God has given us for the renewal of our minds is the process of faith. The process of faith, beginning with the word of God (Romans 11:17), produces the good work of God in which we are created to walk (Ephesians 2:10). The renewal of the mind must occur for His word to manifest in His good work. It is heartening, and not surprising, to know that the key to our reformation is the process of faith. We will search this out extensively in this study.

The Study

God has given me a mind for process. Almost everything we write about is related to one process or another. God and I also share an affinity for war imagery. Consequently, this study follows a process for overcoming a covert enemy.

1. Recognize and acknowledge the enemy;

2. Understand the enemy’s strategy;

3. Engage the enemy;

4. Destroy the enemy’s capability to do harm;

5. Rescue, restore, and stabilize; and,

6. Repeat until the enemy has been completely exposed and disarmed.

The enemy that we must overcome is our carnal mind. Its influence is far greater than we imagine. This study will empower Christians to overcome that influence, one building, field and town at a time. I have been through this process several times. As with most of God’s processes, it is iterative and continuous.

Those willing to courageously engage the enemy will come to understand the process of faith and will be empowered to use this study to disciple others. That is the underlying purpose of everything we do at inLight Consulting: to encourage, edify and equip leaders to become disciple makers and transformation agents.

The battles that lie ahead should not be faced alone; there are no lone rangers in the kingdom of God. We encourage the reader to find one or two soldiers to accompany them on this adventure (perhaps your entire platoon). A fellowship will go farther and with greater impact than you can imagine.

This adventure is divided into three parts. Here are a few thoughts about each one.

Part One – Reconnaissance and Battle Preparation: Encompassing the first two steps in our war process, this section is dedicated to identifying, recognizing, and understanding more about our enemy. The infamous Pogo quote, We have met the enemy, and he is us, comes to mind.

Harry Blamires (1963) opens his seminal book, The Christian Mind, with a surprising statement: There is no longer a Christian mind. He goes on to argue quite convincingly that Christians have forgotten how to think Christianly. Now get this: Blamires made this observation over sixty years ago.

Generally speaking, Christians no longer realize that this is even an issue. The deception runs deep. By exposing the carnal mind and several of its tactics, we hope to encourage a renewed level of Christianly thinking.

Part Two – Engaging the Enemy: God has a way for everything. His ways are exquisite, amazing, and mysterious in their design. Graciously, He gives them to us in ways that babes can enjoy. Notice, I did not say understand. Sometimes we have to first commit our way to Him, trust also in Him; and He will bring it to pass (Psalm 37:5). Understanding only comes through obedience and exercise.

The process of faith is a wonderous example of God’s intelligent design. The relationship that exists between the perfecting of our faith and the renewing of our mind is awesome. I mean AWESOME! Neither is possible without the other; they are co-dependent. We hope that understanding the process will encourage and empower Christians in their faith journey.

This section addresses battle steps three and four. It introduces sixteen disciplines that can be used to overcome the carnal mind and its effects on the rest of our being (e.g., heart and soul), our relationship with God, and our relationship with others. Do not freak out; you will not be encouraged to incorporate all sixteen into your already busy life. The Holy Spirit will guide you; trust in Him.

Part Three – Liberating Others: You have seen it in the movies: men rescued from enemy captivity wanting nothing but to return to the battle to liberate others. Those are our heroes, the ones we hope to emulate. Jesus calls it making disciples. He was sent to set the captives free (Luke 4:18-19). As the Father sent Him, so He sends us (John 20:21).

With this in mind, the third section provides encouragement and guidance in steps five and six of our war process – the opportunity to more fully eradicate the enemy from our lives and from the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. It presents seven distinct ways in which Christian thinking in the Western Church should be challenged. The reader may recognize the relationship that exists between several of the challenges. However, each one has been written to stand (and be shared) separately, as the Holy Spirit leads. Think of them as paradigm disrupters that will ultimately lead to liberation.

These challenges are offered humbly by one who recognizes his own contribution to the issues, one who is not so naïve as to think he has it all figured out. That is why I prefer platoons. They keep it real and keep me honest.

Knowing and Knowing About

I have been told on several occasions that I think too much. While I agree that over-thinking and analysis-paralysis are to be avoided, too much thinking is not our problem. Indeed, most Christians fail to think much at all. We have become lazy in the exercise of our minds. We have grown accustomed and comfortable with others telling us what to think. This is as dangerous in the church as it is in the world.

Some will say that knowing God is more important than knowing about God, and we should therefore pursue relationship above understanding. While I agree with the first assertion, I propose that the second is a bit short-sighted. You cannot have relationship without understanding.

It is possible to worship a god of our own imagination (2Corinthians 11:1-4). This is a foundational issue for the Western church. Knowing about someone is key to knowing them. The reverse is also true. You cannot separate the two. In our seeking to know about Him, God reveals Himself to draw us into ever deepening intimacy. Our knowing Him relationally is directly proportional to our knowing about Him.

Here is the exciting news: There will always be more to know about God. It is the glory of God to hide a matter, and the glory of kings to seek out a matter (Proverbs 25:2). We are to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God, and He is the greatest mystery of all time.

A Word about Prayer

Have you noticed how quickly and casually our minds come up with excuses not to do something? How we can turn a genuine concern for one thing into a reason to avoid an otherwise healthy activity? For example, spiritual disciplines can be legalistic; they can be done in the flesh. However, that does not mean that spiritual disciplines are legalistic, or that they are something to be avoided.

Legalism is dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith. (www.dictionary.com, 2019) This is a helpful definition; from it we learn that legalism is associated with dependence on moral law, not on the practice of spiritual disciplines. Furthermore, the converse of legalism in regard to the spiritual disciplines is to practice them with a dependence